Adolph Sutro purchased much of the undeveloped land on and around the hill in the late nineteenth century. He planted eucalyptus trees imported from Australia, believing they would provide timber, windbreaks, and beauty. The eucalyptus grew vigorously in San Francisco's climate, creating a dense canopy that today covers Mount Sutro in a green cloak visible from miles away. The forest has become controversial in recent decades, with debates between those who want to preserve it as a rare urban forest and those who argue the non-native eucalyptus should be removed to restore native grassland and reduce fire risk. The University of California, San Francisco, which owns much of the hillside, has managed the forest with selective thinning.

Sutro Tower was completed in 1973 to consolidate broadcast antennas for the San Francisco Bay Area's television and radio stations. At 977 feet, the red-and-white lattice tower is one of the tallest structures in the western United States. Its distinctive three-pronged silhouette appears in countless photographs, paintings, and films of San Francisco. The tower is both beloved and bemoaned: it dominates views from many neighborhoods but has become so integral to the city's visual identity that proposals to remove or replace it provoke fierce opposition. On foggy days, the tower's prongs pierce the cloud layer, creating the surreal image of antennas floating in white space.

Mount Sutro's eucalyptus forest contains a network of trails that feel surprisingly wild for a location in the geographic center of San Francisco. The UCSF campus occupies the hill's lower slopes, and the Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve protects the upper forest. Trails wind through groves where the eucalyptus canopy blocks the sky and the air smells of menthol. Fog drips from the leaves with an audible patter that sounds like light rain. The hill is bounded by the Inner Sunset, Cole Valley, and Parnassus Heights neighborhoods. From the summit, on clear days, the views extend from the Pacific to the bay. On foggy days, which are most days on this particular hill, the forest swallows you whole.