Interior Greenbelt

The Interior Greenbelt is a hidden sanctuary that spent over half a century behind a fence, effectively erased from public maps. For generations, the only hint of its existence was a set of rickety, anonymous stairs squeezed between two homes near the corner of Stanyan and 17th Streets. Residents passed these stairs for decades without realizing they led to a lush, twelve-acre forest that had been closed off since the city acquired the land in the nineteen fifties. It remained a mystery until the city finally opened it to the public in 2011, revealing a dense urban glen that had been growing in near-total seclusion.