Excelsior!

SF mural and mosaic stairway walk

Some of San Francisco’s most outstanding art isn’t found inside museums. It’s seen on city streets in exuberant neighborhoods. Among the most vibrant: Excelsior. Go on a 1.2-mile (round-trip) urban ramble through this cool and colorful part of the city, and be treated to murals galore and a hidden mosaic stairway.

For the most art-intensive route, start from the Excelsior Branch Public Library and finish at Kenny Alley, an enclave that’s been revitalized into a secret succulent garden with a beautiful mosaicked stairway. As you head south from the library on Mission St. through the Excelsior’s commercial district, each block you encounter reveals a new sprawl of inventive paintings. Garages, businesses, schools, and urgent-care centers each showcase an addition to the colorful landscape. At the corner of Mission Street and Francis Street, see “Music Is Freedom” by artist Delvin Kenobe Leake, a celebration of culture and diversity that highlights how music and dance can unite a community.

Shortly after, at the Excelsior Avenue intersection, see “Waiting for the 52 Excelsior,” a mural by local artist Marta Ayala presenting a fishbowl vantage of the neighborhood. Across from it, find the 2007 Precita Eyes Muralists’ “Excelsior Love,” with quotes like “Education is the key,” and “Follow your dreams!” After 0.6 mile of murals, come across Kenny Alley, a quiet garden and mosaicked stairway, renovated to reflect the bright community in which it rests. An extension of the neighborhood’s cleaning-and-greening-through-art philosophy, here you can spy a garden of native plants, a nature-celebrating mural, and water-inspired tiled steps. The project, a City Arts and Tech High School and community team effort, was created as a welcoming space for visitors and residents alike. It’s a sanctuary on a city street. Muralaculous!

Tip: Double your mileage by starting just beyond the 280 overpass at the Mission-Bosworth intersection. You’ll cross a portal into the Excelsior (the 280 overpass), painted with the highly international street names within the district and celebrating its diverse cultural history.

The Excelsior Branch Public Library is located at 4400 Mission St. The Kenny Alley Stairs are located between 4941 Mission St. and 4945 Mission St., connecting London and Mission Streets. Street parking. Dog-friendly!

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories
  1. Serene Las Gallinas

    A serene stroll alongside marshland, passing ponds and grasses frilled in seasonal wildflowers, with Mount Tam a beacon in the background … how nice. As part of the esteemed Bay Trail, San Rafael’s Las Gallinas Valley Birding Loop and Wildlife Ponds comprises about 3.5 miles of wide-open trail.

    View
  2. Paint Brushy

    This time of year you’ll have good reason to head for the hills—the electric-green rolling hills of Brushy Peak Regional Preserve in Livermore. This 4.5-mile loop hike is like stepping into a plein air painting.

    View
  3. Sponsored

    2025 POST Wildflower Walks

    Get flower empowered! POST’s complimentary 2025 Wildflower Walks guide blooms with the best places to see a variety of florals across the Peninsula and South Bay this spring.

    View
  4. All right, Almaden!

    Take a trip through time on this 5-mile loop in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Explore the ruins of an old cinnabar mine and enjoy the first hints of wildflower season.

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories
  1. Sponsored

    Weekend in Reno Tahoe

    Weekend plans? Reno Tahoe! Just a few hours by car or a short flight away, Reno Tahoe springs to the moment with great ways to combine adventure and relaxation in its beautiful mountains-meets-desert setting.

    View
  2. Hiker walking along the North Bluff Trail on Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park

    Purely Wild

    Channel Islands National Park lives up to its nickname as “North America’s Galapagos.” This less-traveled national park is an undeveloped and isolated series of five dramatic and distinct islands reached by boat. Hike the largest of the islands, Santa Cruz.

    View
  3. Woman hiking the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon

    Truly Grand Day Hike

    One of the best spring day hikes in the Grand Canyon? See layer upon layer of the park’s grandeur—including the river—on this 3-mile (one-way) journey to Skeleton Point via the South Kaibab Trail.

    View
  4. A woman stands amid an array of yellow and purple flowers at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles

    Petal Paradise

    Tulips, lilacs, and daffodils—flower power is in full bloom at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. Sprawling across 150 acres surrounded by mountains, the gardens are putting on their best show right now.

    View