If there’s one thing that forest-worshipping pagans and even the most devout Christians can agree on, it’s this: Holiday trees are awesome! Whether you favor prim, tasteful white lights or you’re the kind of family that searches out pickle-shaped ornaments that look like Nicolas Cage while untangling strings of fat bulbs together, San Francisco is—perhaps unsurprisingly—full of majestically bedazzled conifers.
The Standard is always your place for evergreen content, but we’ve gone from the Palace Hotel’s Garden Court to Golden Gate Park’s McLaren Lodge to bring you this rundown of the city’s oversized firs and pines. Do note that the tree at Pier 39 was removed a week before Christmas because it dried out. And don’t forget, if you just want to gawk at a maximally decorated house, there’s always this one.
Civic Center Plaza Tree

McLaren Lodge’s “Uncle John’s Tree”
501 Stanyan St., Golden Gate Park

555 California St. Tree

Union Square Christmas Tree

Neiman Marcus Tree
150 Stockton St.

The Palace Hotel Christmas Tree
2 New Montgomery St., SoMa

The Fairmont Hotel Christmas Tree
950 Mason St., Nob Hil

Grace Cathedral’s “World Tree of Hope”
1100 California St., Nob Hill

Honorable mentions: The tree at Thrive City outside Chase Center, a tree inside of City Hall and the Tenderloin People’s Holiday Tree at Boeddeker Park (246 Eddy St.) The tree at Pier 39 was removed last week after it dried out.
Peter-Astrid Kane can be reached at [email protected]