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    Sky Terrace

    3.6 (38 reviews)

    Sky Terrace Photos

    Recommended Reviews - Sky Terrace

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    Here's the second elevator bank down the hallway PAST the first two elevators.
    Tom G.

    Don't be misled. Some reviewers here have literally gone in the wrong entrance, have been asked to sign in, and have left a poor review due to them not paying attention. The 833 Market entrance does have access to the Sky Terrace elevator, but you'll need to sign in. You've gone to the wrong address, but they're being helpful. Go to the mall, 845 Market (the address listed in this very post) and head downstairs. The first elevator bank on the left is where you need to head! Go past the first two elevators and FOLLOW THE SIGNS to the rooftop terrace. There are FOUR more elevators down the hall. One is overtly marked and there's even a SPECIAL CALL BUTTON on that elevator only. The space is amazing, clean, and ready for you to enjoy your visit.

    Carmen V.

    That was one of my missing POPOs (privately own public operated -or something- venue). I am a fan of the rooftops and what different view from the city you can get from each of those. Plus the sense of adventure that comes along. I have been trying to come to this one during the months I was working in SF but it was closed for renovations. Yesterday I had the opportunity to go and wasn't disappointed at all. Super quiet, actually an oasis of calm in the middle of the chaotic traffic and transit downstairs on Market St. Not the usual terrace with tables to have lunch, some some benches and nice view to the classic dome and the background that get obscured by some more commercial style buildings. Pretty well maintained plants and simple and clean. Remember to check in with the receptionist as she or he will have to get you at the elevator.

    Plenty of seating
    Uli B.

    Psst, don't tell anyone but this is a great place to enjoy a lunch. Its entrance is rather hidden and you have to register with the security. (Make sure you have a valid ID on you!) Whether you bring your own lunch or buy it a nearby café (I can recommend the grilled veggie salad from SF Bistro), spending some time up here will surely re-energize you for the rest of the afternoon. Kudos to San Francisco and it's policy for companies to create POPOS (Privately-Owned Public Open Space and Public Art)

    Anh H.

    This appears to be an example of public open space in urban development. It is part of a network of privately owned open spaces throughout San Francisco. There is a sign posted at the main entrance. You must have a valid ID in order to use the open space. Upon entering - the receptionist will log you in and record all key information on your ID (including your driver's license number!). I'm not sure why they need that information and if they're collecting data for other purposes. After you've been signed in the receptionist will walk you to the elevator and guide you to the 9th floor. The open space (Sky Terrace) is on the 9th floor. There are a variety of seating options. The views are okay.

    Romina P.

    Some reviews here might be outdated, so I'll share my recent experience with this place. The bf and I followed the signs on the bottom floor (where all the food places are) leading to the Sky Terrace's elevator. There was a hallway near Walgreens that ultimately brought us to the elevators. We made the mistake of trying to go straight to the 9th floor but the "9" button wouldn't function without a swipe from security. So from the C floor, you should just go up one floor, where you'd find a check-in area for the Terrace. ID requested, also must be 18+ if you're alone. I wasn't disappointed in what I saw, but I wasn't blown away by it either. I still really enjoyed my time up there (stayed for like a whole hour lol) thanks to the sun, the spring breeze, and good company. Saw several couples come and go, a few people taking their lunches or napping, and a group of college students. Overall chill place to be when you have some time to kill.

    Glad I get to see this view after the rain!
    Jimmy C.

    After leaving work by 3:15 pm before Christmas vacation, I thought I use this opportunity to head to Sky Terrace to see what visiters love to see, the grand view of our city! I admit, it took me half an hour to look for an elevator which leads to 9th floor. It looked more like word search, very difficult to find a last word. Once on the 9th floor, I head outside to see the view was amazing, but slightly smaller than the one from City View of Metreon. A perfect resting area to eat lunch and relax until it closes at 5 pm. Just be sure to sign in first if you want to see the grand view.

    Rhett G.

    Thanks to a nice bit of investigative journalism by the Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/maps/cityspaces/) a buddy and I managed to find our way to the "public" space on top of the Westfield mall. I say "public" in quotes because they clearly don't want to make it easy. More of a bullet point on some planning document that a legitimate effort at providing some public service. But whatever, the secrecy was half the fun. Not a bad place to eat your lunch. Especially on a sunny day. Pretty good views, and of course it was mostly empty. But be prepared for a security guard that isn't really that thrilled that someone took them up on the offer. You have to use a special elevator and everything.

    Matt J.

    This place is really cool. We went there for the first time this Saturday afternoon. After we entered 835 Market, we passed the empty guard station. No grumpy help today. :) We found that the three non-terrace elevators (two on the right, and one closest on the left) would only let us get up to the 6th floor, and we felt like idiots sitting there trying to get the fourth elevator to get us up to the 9th floor. This is someone's office. We rode back down and lucked out when someone else called the right elevator and it arrived. If you don't have as much luck as us, if the wrong elevator shows up, just hit the 6 button then get out. Then call the elevators again. Eventually you'll get the one in the back left. Aaaaaanyway, on this day it was clean, no trash. No people. And the noise from the ventilation system for the mall is not that bad. It's not exactly peaceful up there but you can definitely carry on a conversation with someone. The views are great. Potrero Hill. Sutro Tower. City Hall. The thunderdome. I'll go here again and bring some Super Duper with me.

    Jessica C.

    Time in the city with a friend and we've eaten lunch and are off to the cartoon museum when we walk by the mall. Suddenly, conversation turns to the about of public space that a building is supposed to have and the Sky Terrace is mentioned. Apparently via SFgate the Sky Terrace is this really hard to get to public space that has breathtaking views. http://bit.ly/amTC0F Immediately, I'm intrigued. I covet the rare treasures of the city, and we decide to temporarily postpone museum time in pursuit of a secret. I read other people's yelp reviews via the iPhone app (shameless plug) and then we find a sign in the Westfield. Sky Terrace! Hooray, we must be going the right way. The other reviews say it's on the 9th floor, but every elevator we enter maxes out at 6. WTF?!?!? We decide to go up to the 6th floor, some SF state office and from there we hit up again. Bingo. The one elevator with access to the 9th floor. We both head up eagerly expecting some urban oasis in the midst of the bustling city. Something amazing, something rare, something special. Sadly we were a little underwhelmed. There were several empty tables and a plethora of chairs. We're the only people up here. While it is beautiful, it's just not quite as nice as showing up with the beautiful glass windows of say The View. http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-view-san-francisco-2 But it is a cute secluded public location that might be good for a myriad of occasions, say having a picnic lunch. I did manage to get some nice photos of it however. Just don't get your hopes up too high, after all it's only the 9th floor.

    Lots of space but not many places to sit
    Kristin A.

    Since I moved to SF last year, I've tried to check out different public open spaces. So far, the Sky terrace is probably one of the most underwhelming POPOS I've been to. Pros: not crowded (at 1:30 pm), clean and conveniently located (for me). Cons: No shade available mid-day, not a lot of plants, no tables (just 7 benches), limited hours (M-F 9-5), noisy, and elevator doesn't work without security swipe. Okay but not great: the view. Since I had previously heard that the Sky Terrace was relatively unimpressive, I was actually going to check out the rooftop at 1 Kearny St. today. However, when I arrived at 1 Kearny the security guard said that it had reached capacity, and we wouldn't be able to go up for 15 minutes or so. Because of our limited window for lunch, we decided to check out the Sky Terrace and were pleased to find it very clean and practically empty. Saying that is kind of relative though, because it is a somewhat large space, but there were only 7 benches total and no tables. Thus, even though there were only 5 people including us on the roof, basically 50% of the seating was taken. Regardless, there is a lot of open space if you are willing to stand. Other than that, there are not a lot of plants: only some succulents in some large pots, and some vine-like flowering plant on the back wall. There aren't any trees, and there was essentially no shade from the mid-day sun. Other than that, although the Sky Terrace is the closest one to my home/work, I've had some trouble getting to it due to its limited hours (M-F 9-5). I'm not really sure why that is because a security guard sits at the entrance during weekends, too. To get onto the rooftop POPO, we entered on Market Street. It is pretty easy to miss the door, but it is right between Adidas and Aritzia, and there is a sign that says POPO on the right side. The security guard told us to just walk through some doors to the elevator and go to the 9th floor. There is only 1 elevator that actually goes to the roof, and it is the one in the back left corner. The other complication was that the elevator didn't really work, probably because it needed some approval by the security guard. Since we didn't really know that, we just pressed buttons until we started moving. Turns out that we just moved because people at other floors wanted to get on. Luckily some of those people were on the 9th floor, so we eventually made it up to the roof for lunch. Like I said before, the view is decent but not great. About 1/3 of the view is occupied by the exterior of the dome of the mall, 1/3 looks towards Potrero Hill/Bernal Heights, and the last 1/3 looks toward Market/City Hall/Japantown/USF.

    Karen T.

    Being a native of SF, I was tired of seeing the same old mainstream places. For one, everywhere else got a little dull and of course, all the popular places were always crowded with people. I decided to do a little research on the more "low key spots" of SF and stumbled upon this. Thanks to Manabu's clear directions, my boyfriend and I were able to find our way up onto the roof of Bloomingdale's :) It's a great feeling, knowing you can have some peace and quiet RIGHT IN DOWNTOWN. It's definitely a great spot to clear your head a little and just get away from the busy metropolitan city. I absolutely love views, so knowing I can always find a roof to go to satisfy my "view cravings" in downtown is just wonderful. Shopping right in downtown can be extremely exhausting and the food court and restaurants can get quite hectic and crowded. I will definitely go up to the Sky Terrace to relax after a long (window) shopping day since the rest benches in the mall are always taken. The food courts can get extremely full, especially during luncheon hours, so I will definitely get food to go and enjoy my meals on the roof. So the only downside of the Sky Terrace was that it was kind of dirty. I only went up once and I don't know how often the roof is maintained, but I did find some litter (that bothered me a bit).

    View of the Westfield dome

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    7 years ago

    It's too loud and windy up on the exposed rooftop area. But it's never crowded. Great for a sunny day.

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    13 years ago

    Honestly this is a good spot just to get away from the busy downtown on a hot day.

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    Ask the Community - Sky Terrace

    Review Highlights - Sky Terrace

    Take the forward left elevator and select floor nine (there will be the words "Sky Terrace" next to the button).

    Mentioned in 17 reviews

    Read more highlights

    The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps - Plaque

    The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps

    4.8(664 reviews)
    4.1 miInner Sunset

    Who needs a stairmaster when there are actual outdoor steps all over SF?…read more The Moraga Steps ascend on beautifully tiled stairs to a tiny mountaintop with trees and vistas of the Sunset district and beyond. The reward is the view from the top!

    Up and ready to do something early, while the rest of the family was sleeping, my wife and I…read moredecided to go check out the 16th Ave Tile Steps, also know as the Moraga Steps. From what I've read, the project came together started in 2003 all thanks to some of the local neighbors that were tired of looking at 163 plain concrete steps to the top of the hill. They collected donations and raised money, selling tiles, which could be customized with names, dates, phrases, anything people wanted to add to make this project come to life. It took two years of raining money, and assembly, "opening" in 2005. The steps really are truly worth checking out, for being over 20 years old, they still have beautiful and vibrant color. I would have though the sun would have faded them, but i guess the color being baked in to the ceramic tiles really holds up. The design, is very stunning, going "from sea to the star", with so much detail, so much creativity. At the top of the steps, you can hike another set of steps up to an amazing 360 degree panorama of the city. Worth the extra 150 or so steps to go all the way up. If you're able bodied, I'd recommend checking this spot out. It's free, and in a residential neighborhood, so parking is also free and easy to find.

    Photos
    The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps - View from the top

    View from the top

    The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps
    The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps

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    The Wave Organ - 06.15.25 Built in 1986 by Exploratorium artists in residence Peter Richards and George Gonzalez

    The Wave Organ

    3.9(198 reviews)
    2.4 miMarina/Cow Hollow

    This sculpture is really cool! I've known about it for a while but finally took the time and effort…read moreto go check it out. It's a little off the beaten path haha, like after walking through marina greens, you kinda go on a narrower pathway, past a yacht club, and at the edge you'll find this quirky, fun thing! It was really cool to listen to the waves through this "wave organ." I thought it was newer but had no idea it was built in 1986! The Wave Organ uses 25 PVC pipes (and stone reclaimed from an old cemetery!) to channel the Bay's waves into eerie, soothing rumbles, gurgles, sloshes and hisses. Definitely put your ears up to the pipes to hear the magic. Pro tip, wish I knew beforehand: go during high tide (that's when the "music" is apparently the best!). 10/10 recommend for a lazy walk and chill moment with the sound of the Bay!

    Fun place to take a short walk. No parking super close - so not good for people in wheelchairs or…read morewalkers. Great for kids and beautiful views. Off the beaten path you will find this fun spot. Walk past all the yacht clubs and keep going and going. All the way at the end there is a beautiful interactive art installation perfect for kids or adults that never grew up. Tile work and pipes that go into the ocean and make ocean sounds. Press your ear up against the pipes and take a listen. A couple people were fishing nearby but the whole place you can likely have all to yourself. Not all that many people will go take a few extra steps. Perhaps bring a picnic? Benches built into the walls... Maybe not growing up is ok. Taking life too seriously is perhaps overrated.

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    The Wave Organ - 06.15.25 the acoustics of the wave organ are only active when the tide is in, and the music is best heard around high tide

    06.15.25 the acoustics of the wave organ are only active when the tide is in, and the music is best heard around high tide

    The Wave Organ - View from the organ to the bridge

    View from the organ to the bridge

    The Wave Organ - 06.15.25 located on a jetty in the Marina District

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    06.15.25 located on a jetty in the Marina District

    Sky Terrace - localflavor - Updated May 2026

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