Spring Hill Mosaics to Penn Brewery or Scratch & Co: A T&M Pittsburgh Steps & Dine Hike
April 16, 2026
There is no better time than the early spring for a Pittsburgh City Steps Hike to see several beautiful tile mosaics in Spring Hill. These include a free-standing mosaic wall, mosaic row houses, and whimsical pigeons arrayed along a cliff bottom. And it's all thanks to Linda Wallen, a local artist committed to beautifying our communities. Penn Brewery is on the way back down to River Ave, making for a convenient dog-friendly lunch spot. And on Sundays, try stopping by Scratch & Co for a delicious brunch.
Pittsburgh is known as the City of Bridges, crossing over rivers and ravines, and over 800 public staircases that vertically bridge different neighborhoods. After moving into the city, we are constantly discovering new views, both grand and intimate, as we walk the city steps.
A few years ago, we noted colorful birds decorating the base of a steep rock cliff rising sharply up from Itin St. Then, we took a steps hike with a Facebook group, and discovered a row of three Yetta St. houses, with a fourth nearby, whose ground level and staircase walls were covered with mosaics. As our eyes sharpened, we recognized a common artistic hand behind these, and other mosaics discovered elsewhere in Spring Hill and Spring Garden. A bit of research revealed that local artist Linda Wallen was involved in all these projects, and that the racing pigeons reflect the German heritage of the area.
Whereas our Mosaic Stairway hike in the Southside is centered around steps art created using Italian tiles, according to her blog, Linda Wallen took her inspiration from a trip to Barcelona, Spain. It's a lot of fun to see the different elements incorporated into her mosaics -- with new discoveries each time -- from depictions of old springs that give the neighborhood its name, to a toy dog or memorial message incorporated into the mosaic by students working with her.
We have taken friends and neighbors on several variations of this mosaic hike, most recently followed by lunch in the outdoor courtyard of Penn Brewery. After describing a basic hike passing most of the mosaics, some variations are presented. This includes a detour past a secret mosaic my husband found that is completely obscured by vegetation for most of the year. Another variation involves staying up in Troy Hill for Sunday brunch at one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, Scratch & Co. If you are lucky, the Gallery Closed exhibits in this loop will be back up.
For other Pittsburgh urban T&M hike and dine routes, check these blogposts.
Mosaic Stairway to Dish Osteria (Southside)
Troy Hill Four Stair Loop with options for traversing 1, 2, 4, 6 or 7 steps of stairs in Troy Hill.
West End Overlook to Chaykhana (West End-Elliott)
Spring Hill Mosaics & Penn Brewery
As with most of our hikes in this area, you can park in the gravel lot that supports the River Trail. While a portion of River Avenue is currently closed, it is open to the parking lot. Then, proceed northeast along the River Trail, crossing River Ave using the crosswalk to the left sidewalk when it appears. Navigate the traffic lights across Route 28 and proceed up the Rialto St. steps. As you pass the side steps that branch off to the left, look up and ahead to see the Troy Hill Incline Mural.
Steps and Sights
At the top, after climbing 180 steps, turn left down Ley St. until you approach the triangle intersection with Froman St and Lowrie St. Across the intersection, you will see a large blue-grey building at 1733 Lowrie with an 8-foot tall bronze plaque.
Cross the street to read this historic plaque, placed in September 2021. It describes the history of the site, from prehistory through its use as movie theatre, the upper incline train station, and several banks.
Today it houses the main installation of a set of changing art exhibits called Gallery Closed. Peek through the window and note the locations of the other 4 sites along the street. All five of these are readily viewable if you elect the Spring Hill Mosaics to Scratch & Co hike described below.
Spring Hill Mosaic Mural
But for now, we will head west back up Froman, past the Troy Hill mural painted on the side of the building. Turn left on Hatteras and then right on Tinsbury St.
This will take you past the parking area for the Most Holy Name of Jesus church complex. Note the double steeple of Saint Anthony Chapel, which is known for having more relics than anywhere else in the world except Vatican City. We have yet to venture inside, but plan to do so in the future.
Turn left at the T-intersection onto Harpster St, and keep going straight onto a metal railed stairway. As you descend the 134 steps, notice the street signs that indicate these stairs are part of Harpster St. The mail service staff are undoubtedly pleased that the mailbox for 1601 Harpster is now at the bottom after the residents added a driveway down to Lager St.
Turn left on Spring Garden Avenue, and walk past the Welcome to Spring Garden display on the left. Turn right on Homer St and look to the left for an attractive set of stairs that will take you 116 steps from Homer up to Diana St.
Continue down Diana St. and take a right on Iona St, followed by a left on Itin St, and then a right on Rhine St.
Continue down Rhine St and take the downward right fork on Walz St. You will pass a convenience store where you can pick up a cold drink in the event that someone in your group forgot to bring a water bottle!
At the bottom of the hill, where Walz St joins back to Homer St, you will see a historic brick firehall that now houses a boxing club.
As you follow the corner around the firehall onto Damas St, take a peek inside the fence and see if you can spot mosaic flowers.
Cross Damas St to view the fountain structure. This is the Spring Hill Spring, which is still running -- kind of like all those aqueducts in Rome.
Head back down Damas St and walk right up to the free-standing Spring Hill Mural, and its rose garden. This mural was created by high school students working with Linda Wallen and members of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild to tell the history of Spring Hill.
Besides the racing pigeons, look for familiar landmarks and professions pursued by these immigrants, which have been artfully incorporated into the mural. Indeed the Spring itself appears in more than one place.
But also take a closer look at the 3-dimensional objects embedded into the mural, and the side panel contributions of individual students.
We find something new to see every time we come up here.
Yetta St. Mosaic Houses
After enjoying the Spring Hill Mural wall, head across the street and start up the 109 Steine St. steps to rejoin Rhine St at the Stiene and Rhine intersection.
Head left (south) down Rhine. As you approach an attractive steepled church building, which is for Sale, turn right onto Yetta Ave.
You will pass one of the tallest buildings in the area, St. Ambrose Manor, which is easily seen from the river. Say hello, if you pass one of the senior citizens that reside in this building. They are often quite interested in the concept of a steps hike.
On the north side of Yetta, you will see some colorful murals arrayed along the lower or street level of several row houses. Linda Wallen lives in one of these houses, and started the trend.
On our earlier visits, there were three of these houses in a row.
On the left, a pink-trimmed house at 1208, which is Linda's own home. This project took 6 years, and contains donated pieces of ceramics and glass, including a ceramic lizard sent by an anonymous donor in New Mexico.
Look for the different animals, including an octopus that was added upon request by a neighborhood child.
Next door at 1212, and connected to the first house by a second floor bridge, is a yellow house with blue trim. Flowers seems to be the main theme here.
And attached to the right at 1214 was a blue house with more of a southwest or dessert feel to its murals. This one tended to get a bit overgrown with plant life. Check this site for images of these foundation mosaics, taken in 2016.
Sadly on our latest visit, the blue house had been torn down, with only a remnant of its mural propped up against the red trellis work of the neighbor's house at 1204.
Hopefully, the aardvark that used to be here has been rescued and will go back up somewhere.
Continue west along Yetta, and just before the wooden steps to the right, take a look at 1202. The residents of this house were from Puerto Rico and Philadelphia, and the artist designed in elements to reflect these themes.
Of the three houses, this one was hardest to see due to plant overgrowth. Visiting in the winter or early spring is highly recommended.
There is a vague whale-shaped darker region with jazz instruments positioned over some tropical waves.
Itin St. Birds
Take note of the Hunnell St steps that run alongside 1202 Yetta. While not part of this loop, these steps will lead you to the hidden house mosaic detour, described below for the Scratch & Co variation of this hike.
Instead, continue down Yetta until you come to Lappe Lane. To your left, you will see a staircase headed down into the trees.
After 47 steps, you will emerge on Haslage Ave. Cross the street and continue down 30 steps from Haslage to Zane Way or Kenzig Ave.
Go down one more long 164-step segment of the Lappe Lane steps to emerge onto Goehring St.
Take a slight detour to the left where Goehring joins Itin St, and look for the birds arrayed along the steep cliffside.
These represent the highest concentration of racing pigeons in the area, although you can find others scattered around the neighborhood.
Then go back along Goehring St, past the base of the Lappe Lane steps, and take the downhill fork onto Vista St.
Chestnut St. (East Deutchtown) City Steps Mosaic
Near the rightward bend on Vista St, look to the left for a nice set of concrete stairs with black metal railings and a bright yellow bike rail.
Go down these 177 steps from Vista St. to the intersection of Itin St. and Concord St in Deutschtown. Then turn around to look back at the steps you just descended.
While overgrown in the summer, in the winter and spring, you can really enjoy the sunflowers, yellow bridge and red/pink flowers of this beautiful mural.
The mural was placed on the previous version of the steps in 2015 by Linda Wallen and Amanda Wolfe in collaboration with local residents. The city did a great job of preserving the mural and reinstalling it on the new steps in 2021.
At the corner of Chestnut St. and Spring Garden Avenue, you will see the Garden Cafe. This is a nice spot for a small casual bite, and you might even be able to pick up a copy of Laura Zurowski's (aka mis.steps) book on City Steps of Pittsburgh.
Go left on Spring Garden Ave past Fire Station #32. This is one of the best kept secrets in town if you want a cold vending machine soda. A few years ago, they apologized for having to raise the price to 50 cents.
Angle right onto Vinial St.
Loop up Fireman Steps for Great Views (Optional)
At this point, if you are exhausted, you could simply continue down Vinial St, which will take you right past Penn Brewery. But it really is worthwhile for some great views of Pittsburgh to tackle the steps from Vinial St up to Province/Brabec St near their junction with Goettmann St.
Nicknamed the "fireman steps", because the firefighters run up and down for training and fitness, this staircase features an unusually high rise, making it a good fitness workup for the number of steps.
At 177 steps, it does not technically meet T & M's criteria for supersteps (any staircase with 200 or more steps). But he has made an exception for this one.
Take your time going up, stopping at a few landings to look behind you as the urban scenery emerges.
The top of these public steps can be a bit hard to find, but it emerges to pass next to a black and white house with an optical illusion painted on the stoop/basement wall.
Jog to the left to take Goettmann St. east to the Troy Hill spray park.
Walk along the spray park to the corner, and search for the Basin St steps heading down towards the river.
These 98 steps will take a right turn and lead past a beautiful view of downtown and the Heinz smokestacks, to Province St.
Enter the upper parking lot for Penn Brewery and make your way down the Penn Brewery steps (81-98 total depending on your route) to the outdoor seating area.
Penn Brewery
Regular text
Return to parking area.
After leaving the Brewery, cross Troy Hill Road and admire the mosaic sign with its owl and flowers. This ceramic and glass mosaic was created by James Simon.
Look for the Charles J. Leiberth pedestrian walkway, named for Mr. Science of PBS, across Route 28. Then follow the path towards the Sarah Heinz House.
Turn left onto Heinz St and follow it back to the Three Rivers Heritage Trail on the river side of River Ave. Turn left onto the path (watch for bike traffic), and walk back to the parking area.
Mosaics > Penn Brewery Route Map 🐾 and Logistics
The River Trail parking area is convenient for this loop. See the Steps of Troy Hill post for additional parking in the area. Staircases are marked with bold purple letters, points of interest with pink diamonds, and eating establishments with yellow hearts.
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| From River Trail parking (blue P), head northeast to the 31st St Bridge. Stairs heading up (red) or down (green) are shown: A. Rialto St; B. Harpster St; C. Diana St; D. Steine St; E. Lappe Ln; F. Chestnut St; G. Vinial St to Province St (near Goettmann St), and down H. Basin St steps and the I. Penn Brewery upper lot steps to the restaurant (yellow 1). For an easier route, stay on Vinial St, skipping G-I, until you get to the Penn Brewery entrance. The Garden Cafe is also on the way (yellow 2). Points of interest: Historic Site plaque on upper incline train station building, now the main Gallery Closed building (pink 1), Voegtly Spring and Spring Hill mosaic mural (pink 2), Yetta Ave mosaic houses x 3 (pink 3), bird art on cliff along Itin Rd (pink 4), mosaic art on Chestnut St stairwall (pink 5). |
Spring Hill Mosaics to Scratch & Co
This is a stem loop hike coming up and down Rialto St. steps. As such, it makes sense to park under the 31st St. Bridge on Herrs Island.
Note that Scratch & Co is open for Sunday brunch, with only dinner service on the other days.
In the summertime, Redfin Blues waterfront restaurant is a dog-friendly option.
Steps and Sights
The hike proceeds up and down the same Pittsburgh staircase, past the Spring Hill Mosaic Mural to the Yetta St. Mosaic Houses as described above.
Look to the right as you pass the now rather dilapidated Philadelphia and Puerto Rico-themed mosaics on 1202 Yetta. You should see a set of wooden stairs leading up.
Take this to Leister St and turn left.
We recommend taking the Secret Mosaic loop in the winter or early spring time. If there is a lot of foliage, or you are getting tired, simply skip this side loop and look for the wooden steps heading down from Leister at Lappe Lane. Take the steps all the way down to Itin St.
Secret Mosaic at the far end of Yetta St.
Follow Leister to its end as it curves to the left to intersect with Yetta St. Take a close look at the corner house, 920 Haslage, which has its front door on Yetta, and not Haslage below.
You will see some ceramic birds near the house number. But take a closer look behind the plants. There is a hidden mosaic piece featuring a frog.
Return back up Yetta Ave to Lappe Lane, and head down these long steps to Itin St. Here you have a choice. You can proceed to the right down Vista St to view the Chestnut St steps mosaic, as above, cutting back up the Fireman steps from Vinial to Province/Goettmann and through the Spray Park to Lowrie St.
Or you can turn left at the bottom of Lappe Lane steps for a chance to view all of the pigeons and other birds on the cliffs of Itin St, to take Arcola St. steps down into Spring Garden.
Then head up the Basin St. steps to Lowrie St.
Gallery Closed Art Installations x 5
All five of the Gallery Closed art installation buildings are arrayed along Lowrie St, with three on the river side of the street and 2 on the same side as Scratch & Co. You are invited to peek through the windows of a school, pizza parlor, office, former incline station and a house.
See if you can find them all! Once you find the first one, in a school building window, note there is a little map, BUT the map may be backwards depending on the site.
The sites are marked left to right on the map from smaller to larger house numbers, but the larger numbers are physically to your left.
After viewing the first four, and reading the 8 foot tall bronze historic plaque, go across the street for brunch. The last one, in a house, will be viewed on the way to the side steps back down to the Rialto St. steps.
The side of the Scratch & Co building sports one of my favorite murals, as it shows the Troy Hill neighborhood including Washington's Landing. The same artist left his or her mark at the entrance to the restaurant as well as on some of the walls inside.
Scratch & Co.
A friend gave us the tip to try Scratch & Co, raving about the shortrib, the chicken liver pate, and pickles. The cozy restaurant is part art gallery, with eclectic seating including cozy couches and tables. Every season, we used to trek to Scratch to sample delicious food and cocktails.
Brunch at Scratch fits in perfectly near the end of a Troy Hill hike or this mosaic hike.
Last Gallery house and Incline Mural
After finishing your brunch at Scratch, turn left and stay on Lowrie St (not Ley). This will take you past the fifth installation of Gallery Closed. Then look for the metal stairs headed down from Lowrie to intersect with the concrete Rialto St. steps.
Enjoy an improved view of the Troy Hill Incline Mural, which was painted in 2017 to commemorate the incline that ran from 1888 to 1898, before heading back down the Rialto to complete the stem-loop.
Mosaics > Scratch & Co. Route Map 🐾
The blue circle P marks the closest parking area to the Rialto steps. Check the Troy Hill steps hike post for parking along River Ave, and additional restaurants in the area.
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From 30th St parking (blue P), head up Rialto in this stem-loop hike (turquoise line). Stairs heading up (red) or down (green) are shown: A. Rialto St; B. Harpster St; C. Diana St; D. Steine St; E. Hunnell St; F. Lappe Ln; G. Chestnut St; H. Vinial St to Province St (near Goettmann St), and back along Lowrie St to Scratch & Co restaurant (yellow 1). A shorter alternate route back to Lowrie branches off at the base of Lappe Ln steps (grey line), returning along I. Arcola St steps and J. Basin St steps. Alternate restaurants include The Garden Cafe (yellow 2) and in the summer only, Redfin Blues (yellow 3). Points of interest: Voegtly Spring and Spring Hill mosaic mural (pink 1), Yetta Ave mosaic houses (pink 2), mosaic entry art on corner house (pink 3), mosaic art on Chestnut St stairwall (pink 4), Gallery Closed exhibits (pink 5). |
🍃 Green Tips - be sure to bring a reusable water bottle.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE STAIRWAYS AND RESTAURANTS IN THE NORTHSIDE?
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