Dolores Park and the Liberty Hill Victorians
The palm-lined park with the city laid out below it, and the grandest Victorian street above it. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Dolores Park, lower corner
Start at the flat northwest corner where the J-Church runs alongside the grass. The park slopes up from here; the whole thing is a hillside tilted toward the skyline. Get your bearings before you climb.

2. The palm walk
The double row of palms cutting through the park's middle is its signature line. Walk it slowly uphill — it's the most photographed angle in the Mission and, unusually, deserves the attention.

3. The upper terrace and the view
At the top southwest corner the city opens out: downtown towers, the bay, the slope of grass full of people on any sunny afternoon. Sit on the rise; this is the postcard and it earns it.

4. Liberty Street
West of the park, Liberty Hill holds one of the city's best-preserved Victorian streets — Italianate and Stick-style houses that survived 1906 because the fire stopped short of here. Walk the block between Church and Valencia slowly.

5. Mission Dolores
Drop down toward the 1791 adobe chapel, the oldest building in the city and the namesake of the whole district. The slim white church survived the quake that flattened its surroundings; pause at the front before the last stretch.

6. Down to 16th Street
Walk down and east into the flat Mission toward the 16th St BART. The drop from leafy hill to busy plaza in a few blocks is the quickest lesson in how this city stacks itself.

Dolores Park and the Liberty Hill Victorians