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The Holy Grail Drain

The Holy Grail Drain

This spot has been on the top of the to-do list for quite some time. It took us embarrassingly long to actually find it, however. In fact, we found many other creek spots during our exhaustive hunt. Besides the obvious … Continue reading

At the Beach

At the Beach

We had some time to kill, so we went for a lovely stroll on the beach.

Lock Company

Lock Company

Word has it that this used to be a famous lock company. Now the building is home to art and the occasional squatter. The building is absolutely beautiful inside, I wish I could buy it.

Beach Tube

Beach Tube

This tubular tunnel exists straight out to a beach. Oracle was there to lead the way.

Mountaintop Fun

Mountaintop Fun

Believe it or not, these buildings involved hiking to the top of a mountain. I’m surprised at the quality selection up here. Great art and great views!

Misc Creeks

Misc Creeks

None of these creeks were really special enough to warrant a post of their own, but they are very close geographically.

Treasure in the Cuts

Treasure in the Cuts

This yard was hard to get to – no easy parking, and the only ways to get to it are pretty treacherous. I’m surprised at how well painted this place is, since it’s somewhat remote and difficult to get to. … Continue reading

Four Monsters

Four Monsters

This was a set of four total, voluminous, long tunnels set in two parallel pairs. The first two were surprisingly empty, but then again they were annoying to get to – the mud was like super glue. The latter two … Continue reading

Time Tunnel(s)

Time Tunnel(s)

We got a tip to check out the “Time Tunnel,” but when we got there we actually found two tunnels. Not too much to see inside these ones, but thought I’d post it for the sake of the legend of … Continue reading

Bonus Yard

Bonus Yard

Persistence prevails yet again. After finishing up a spot, we decided to walk the creek to it’s end, just to see what’s there. After a long walk we came across this bonus yard we didn’t know existed. It’s pretty small, … Continue reading

Mini Rail Corridor

Mini Rail Corridor

One thing I preach is persistence. Though we had already found what we were looking for in the area, I suggested we walk the extra 500 feet to see if there was anything around the corner. Sure enough we stumbled … Continue reading

Dusty Yard

Dusty Yard

Like many graffiti yards, this spot has found a home under a major freeway. Strangely, though, all the artwork is covered with a thick layer of dust. To make things more confusing, the nearby spots don’t seem to be affected. … Continue reading

IMPY Runoff

IMPY Dam

This was another lake runoff, but for a lake that still exists! The artist IMP seemed to cover this spot well, so I called it the IMPY Dam.

SMB3 Dam

SMB3 Dam

This was once a damn and a run off spillway for a lake which no longer exists. Since the lake has been filled in, this defunct infrastructure has now become home to some graffiti. When I found out about this … Continue reading

PVT Tunnel

PVT Tunnel

This tunnel was actually attached to a creek we covered earlier but we didn’t go far enough to find it. It’s got a great line up, so luckily we found it later.

The Wall

The Wall

I’m not sure if this yard has proper name, but considering it’s essentially a giant wall, I entitled it as such. There’s a handful of burners out here.

Lush Warehouse

Lush Warehouse

Not to be confused with the writer named Lush, this warehouse is literally Lush with overgrowth and art. It’s uncommon to see a warehouse with a dirt floor, so this makes an interesting subject.

336 Rooms

336 Rooms

With four floors, 6 halls, 14 rooms per hall, this building had over 336 rooms. It’s shaped like a giant Asterisk, and is one hell of an urban exploration. The icing on the cake is the huge amount of classic, … Continue reading

Tripple 'Rafa

Tripple ‘Rafa

For lack of a better name, I clearly titled this one after the piece that sticks out to me most. A rare, classic, Girafa. But that’s not all that’s there, you’ll also find a couple Musks, a couple Oracles, a … Continue reading

Interrogation Hotel pt 2

Interrogation Hotel pt. 2

While we were in the area, we stopped by for a quick revisit of the Interrogation Hotel. Not too much had changed, but there was a nice crispy new Oracle there, as well as a Galaxe among others.

Three Tunnels

Three Tunnels

Out in the middle of nowhere, a train crosses three tunnels. Of course this makes for fertile painting ground…

The Pits

The Pits

Apparently this land was once owned by a gravel company. The company excavated several giant craters in the middle of nowhere, before shutting down their operation. The locals have named this one “The Pits.” It’s now become an oasis of … Continue reading

Burning Man Warehouse

Burning Man’s Storage

Apparently this graffiti yard is where Burning man stores it’s sculptures the rest of the year. You can’t go in this warehouse, but that’s alright because the best work is all outside. While we were there, we also visited a … Continue reading

Jurne's House

Jurne’s House.

Named after the Bay Area writer, Jurne, this warehouse was a spectacular showcase of his work. Apparently he discovered the place and kept it on the DL, continuously updating it with some of his best work. Though I had been … Continue reading

East Bay Creek

East Bay Creek

Got up bright and early, and hit this creek up literally at the break of dawn. Though it was mostly whack, there were some nice gems to be found.

Uter's House

Uter’s House

This warehouse was mostly bare, unlike the Liquidators Jungle. However, it had a small office complex with a large Uter featured out front. I find it hard to believe this place isn’t completely coated.

Liquidators Jungle

Liquidators Jungle

What happens when a large furniture retailer goes belly up? You end up with a gigantic warehouse still completely stocked. This place was a jungle inside, with a maze of furniture, broken glass, and of course, black mold. Good thing … Continue reading

West Oakland Sign

West Oakland Sign

This mini yard has become somewhat infamous due to it’s West Oakland sign painted by the popular artist GATS. Thought there’s not much to see, I had to make the pilgrimage and capture this mini yard.

Chandelier Tunnel

Chandelier Tunnel

To distinguish this arched tunnel, I call it the “Chandelier Tunnel.” About half way through this looonng tunnel, is a Chandelier someone has mounted on the ceiling. There was a lot of well done graffiti here, but without a proper … Continue reading

Parallel Creeks

Parallel Creeks

This is a set of various tunnels and bridges along an east bay creek. It features a set of two parallel tunnels that were rather long. Unfortunately it was too dark to properly photograph and many of our shots came … Continue reading

Roar Arch

Roar Arch

My exploring buddy and I refer to this beautifully arched tunnel as the “Roar Arch,” for obvious reasons. Though it’s not super long, this tunnel is a nice adventure.

Sound Wall

Sound Wall

We pinpointed a tunnel that goes under a major freeway and decided to check it out. Little did we know, upon arrival we would discover a huge freeway sound wall completely painted.

Musk Tunnel

Bonus Musk Tunnel

We weren’t planing on finding this place, but it was a nice bonus surprise to stumble on.

DIY Skatepark Revisit

DIY Skatepark Revisit

Last time we visited this homemade skatepark, it was winter and the park was flooded. We revisited this summer after learning that Girafa had put up some new work there.

Two Tunnels

Two Tunnels

One tunnel seems to be a naturally formed cave, which is followed by a gap of open skies and a second, man made concrete tunnel. The latter tunnel is coated with decent graffiti, though the piece that we were looking … Continue reading

Spongebob Girafa

Spongebob Girafa

Not to be confused with the Spongebob Yard, this is an entirely different location also tucked away in the coastal hills. It’s prominent piece features a new-style Girafa that merges into a Spongebob.

Fremont Train Yard

Fremont Train Yard

Trains come and go, and train yards aren’t exactly secrete spots, so I used the real name for this place. Chances are if you show up, all the art will be somewhere else on earth.

East Bay Tunnel

East Bay Tunnel

We found the point-of-entry for this dark damp tunnel on a previous adventure and decided we needed to do it one day. After psyching ourselves up for what doom may lay in this underground tunnel, we proceeded in. This was … Continue reading

Spongebob Yard Revisit

Spongebob Yard Redo

We had to pass through this area to get to another spot, so we snapped the things that had changed since last time, including a few interesting pieces we missed. We had been looking exhaustively for this brick Girafa, and … Continue reading

Cookie Yard

Cookie Yard

They say if you visit this graffiti yard at the right time of day, it smells like oven fresh cookies from one of the nearby buildings. It didn’t smell that good when we visited, but it did have a delicious … Continue reading

Long Creek is Long

Long Creek is Long

This drain water creek spans about 3 to 4 miles. Since it requires rain boots, it’s a tedious walk round trip, but worth it for some of the amazing graffiti down there including Charles crew and Maska.

Dust Tanks

Dust Tanks

These rusting, graffiti coated tanks are now sitting empty on a hill side. Well, not completely empty – they do have a lot of dusty, rusty air inside. Though we snapped some shots of the inside from the exterior piping, … Continue reading

Gats Warehouse Revisit

GATS Warehouse Redo

The first time we found this location, it was boarded up too tightly. We were able to snap some pics of the inside from a hole in the exterior, but that’s not good enough! This trip was from a revisit, … Continue reading

Adventure Time

Adventure Time!

This is one of my favorite graffiti creeks of all time. There are some really nice pieces and the atmosphere was pleasant. But the Adventure Time piece sticks out to me, as I am a fan of the show.

The Waterway

The Waterway

The Waterway is a huge concrete water channel tucked away in the hills. Though it was completely dry, I’d love to see it in action, perhaps a revisit during the winter is in order. I can’t imagine why this big … Continue reading

Maska Train Tunnel

Maska Train Tunnel

For lack of a better name, I called this graffiti yard the Maska Train Tunnel after one of my favorite artists featured there.

East Bay Mini Creek

East Bay Mini Creek

We spotted this graffiti coated concrete creek from satellite view, and decided to check it out.

Stairs Bridge

Stairs Bridge

Whether intentional or not, this train had some sort of stair case which gave the place a very cozy, picturesque feeling. If I lived in the area, I’d spend more time down there. While we were there, a couple fish … Continue reading

Yup; an SJ Bridge

Yup; An SJ Bridge

I actually liked this SJ bridge. The bridge had just a mild creek under it, with stepping stones set up by homeless across it. It was very zen like, the air was cool, and the homeless had a fire going … Continue reading

Yet Another SJ Bridge

Yet Another SJ Bridge

Tired of San Jose bridges yet? Here’s another.

SJ Skatepark

SJ Skatepark

We weren’t planning on this spot, but happened to walk by it. This is a graffiti covered skatepark located somewhere in SJ.

Too Many Poles

Too Many Poles

I wonder why the engineers of this bridge chose such an unusual design. The bridge didn’t seem too much bigger than anything I’ve seen before, but the poles were just too many! Not too much graffiti to see here…

Southern Tracks

Southern Tracks

We walked along a stretch of southern bay area commuter tracks.

Another Freeway Bridge

Another Freeway Bridge

Once again we find ourselves under a major freeway, though this San Jose bridge was much less impressive.

Southern Train Bridges

Southern Train Bridges

These were two bridges right in a row, so close they could almost be the same bridge. Mostly whack stuff, but it is what it is.

Car Carrier Yard

Car Carrier Yard

This train yard seemed to specialize in car carrying cargo trains. We explored the yard itself and the nearby surrounding tracks. We found a couple of Girafas, including one we didn’t even know existed!

SJ Randoms

SJ Randoms

Random shots from around San Jose that don’t fit anywhere else.

Freeway Bridge

Freeway Bridge

This was a large bridge accommodating a rather busy multilane freeway in the bay area. There was a large homeless camp set up here as well.

Musk SJ Bridge

Musk SJ Bridge

This SJ Bridge surprised us with a Musk!

Random SJ Bridge

Random SJ Bridge

Nothing too notable about this random bridge in SJ.

Spacious Bridge

Spacious Bridge

This bridge in the SJ set of bridges was very open and spacious underneath.

Bonus Train Bridge

Bonus Train Bridge

We were taking a shortcut through an open field with tall grass, when we discovered this train bridge we had no idea existed. It doesn’t really go over an active creek, but maybe it once did. This was a delightful … Continue reading

Lowes Bridge

Lowes Bridge

Just a bridge near a Lowes.

Toon House

Toon House Bridge

A cartoon house painted under this SJ bridge really stood out to me.

Mini Lightrail Bridge

Mini Lightrail Bridge

Not much to see under this bridge under the lightrail.

Compartment Bridge

Compartment Bridge

Another SJ bridge, this one was divided into compartments underneath that individuals seemed to have set up as their homes. There was some kinda chill-out party going on down there when we arrived, but they didn’t mind us photographing the … Continue reading

Southbay Tunnel

Southbay Tunnel

This is the first in a series of San Jose tunnels and bridges. This dark tunnel was actually one of a pair of parallel tunnels. Unfortunately, the other side was full of water and we were unable to explore it. … Continue reading

Fences Fences Fences

Fences Fences Fences

Though you would typically find backyard fences painted along side train tracks, these fences were in a proper community suburb. Some outstanding work here, a must see album!

Mission Alley #2 Redo

Mission Alley #3 Redo

Due to the diminishing light during our first trip to this epic alleyway, we had planned on visiting again to take more thorough photos. This was the second trip since we were in the area.

Mission Alley #4

Mission Alley #4

This alley in the mission had a nice Plantrees set.

Mission Alley #3

Mission Alley #3

Yet another astonishing alley coated in graffiti in the Mission.

Free Space

Free Space

Freespace is/was an experimental community project in San Francisco. The idea was to rent a previously industrial / commercial building in SF and turn it into “free space” for the community to come and relax, create, study, cook, or generally … Continue reading

Spooked Bridge

Spooked Bridge

We spooked a couple of graffiti writers as we approached this destination. Sorry guys. They must have been keeping an eye on us from a distance, because after we left we saw them return to their craft.

Industrial Waterfront

Industrial Waterfront

This forgotten industrial area shores up against a beautiful waterfront view. Even the graffiti want’s to swimming!

Freeway Cliff

Freeway Cliff

This was an interesting yard. It as a multistory section of retaining walls holding up a cliff next to a major Bay Area freeway. Each story was made of several concave divisions that became shelters to homeless as well as … Continue reading

Under the Royal Road

Under the Royal Road

This was a cozy little yard under a major Bay Area road, featuring CCTV, Jist, among others.

CCTV under the Freeway

CCTV under the Freeway

After months of searching, we finally nailed down this location on the map. We had seen pics of the awesome Girafa, Musk, CCTV, and Phase rollers down here. This spot seems to remain elusive for many writers, as the quality … Continue reading

Caltrain Walk

Caltrain Walk

We decided to walk a several mile stretch of Caltrain tracks, in the hunt for Girafa. Many bay area folks became Girafa fans from riding Caltain, even if they previously weren’t into graffiti. This set has our journey down this … Continue reading

Walls of Fame

Walls of Fame

Someone told me the name of this place is called the Walls of Fame. I’d hardly call them walls, but whatever works. We discovered this place by accident when we were checking out the near by area. It was a … Continue reading

Mission Alley 2

Mission Alley #2

We found this alley towards the end of our day. Light was low, so many photos came out grainy and we couldn’t fully finish shooting. We will cover this area fully, later on.

Storage Yard

Storage Yard

The back of this public storage center has unofficial become a place to paint. One of the best Girafa’s out there is hidden, fading, in this yard.

Dogpatch Mini

Dog Patch Mini

Girafa peaks over the roof tops, in this mini yard in the dog patch.

Caltrain Yard

Caltrain Yard

This yard is visible from the Caltrain tracks, lurking in the shade from the streets passing above.

Bayshore Tunnel

1928 Tunnel

This underpass tunnel built in 1928 has become a decent yard.

Roundhouse

Roundhouse

This dilapidated structure was once a busy round house for Bay Area trains. It now has become an art gallery of sorts.

Bayshore Misc

Bayshore Misc

Random graffiti in an open space in the Bayshore area.

Stinky Tunnel

Stinky Tunnel

Being next to a waste processing facility meant this tunnel had bad breath. Never the less, we held our noses and snapped the work out here.

Cliff Yard

Cliff Yard

For lack of a better name, I named this yard based of the fact that it runs a long a cliff. It made getting good shots of the work difficult, because there wasn’t a lot of room to move backwards. … Continue reading

Oakland Hall of Fame

Oakland Hall of Fame (Dream Tribute)

This public storage company commissioned the Bay Area’s finest to grace their walls with the “Oakland Hall of Fame.” The overall theme was a tribute to the legendary Bay Area writer, Dream, who passed away. RIP. Some stunning work here.

East Bay Tracks 2

East Bay Tracks #2

Another stretch of train tracks tucked away in the East Bay.

Spongebob Yard

Spongebob Yard

For lack of a better name, I called this amazing yard after an epic Spongebog Squarepants parody mural located there. Truly an in-person must-see.

SF Randoms

San Francisco Randoms

This gallery isn’t from any particular day or yard, but rather a collection of random photos that don’t really fit elsewhere.

Off Market

Off Market

On our way home, we spotted this nice wall off Market st. It was dark, but we had to snap a few pics.

Storefront

Random Storefront

This storefront had some colorful artwork on it!

Mission Parking Lot

Mission Parking Lot

All parking lots should look like this one we found in the Mission. The artwork is from some of the most prominent writers in the area, and executed with style and grace.

Mission Alley 1

Mission Alley #1

This was the first of several alleys in the Mission we visited. This alley was mostly commissioned work.

Epic Alley

Epic Alley + Nearby

Epic is the only word to describe the magnitude of this graffiti alley. This set also includes some smaller walls in the nearby area.

Valencia Alley + Nearby

Valencia Alley + Nearby

Running parallel to Valencia St in San Francisco is an alley of well done graffiti. This set also includes a couple near by perpendicular walls.

Burger Yard

Burger Yard

For lack of a better name, I called this yard and near-by alley the Burger Yard, after the multi-story burger painted here. Lots of delicious graff here.

Pizza Zone

Pizza Zone

This local business embraced the graffiti community, by commissioning some interesting artwork for their storefront and side wall. They’re called Pizza Zone, but do they sell Pizzones?

Haight Graffiti

Haight Graffiti

This collection covers many spots along Haight st, from the Fillmore to Ashbury there were some nice pieces all along the way.

Misc Mural

Misc Mural

This is a mural with various artists in SF.

Tenderloins Finest

Tenderloins Finest

Though commissioned, these pieces in the heart of the Tenderloin are breathtaking.

Plantrees Alley

Plantrees Alley

For lack of a better name, I named this graffiti alley after one of it’s featured artists: Plantrees.

1AM Building

Defenestration Building

If the furniture is trying to escape this building… I’d hate to see what’s going on inside. The furniture was part of an art installation in 1997, via 1am: This multi-disciplinary sculptural mural involves seemingly animated furniture; tables, chairs, lamps, … Continue reading

Vaughn Bode Tribute

Vaughn Bode Tribute

The late comic artist, Vaughn Bode has had a tremendous impact on the graffiti scene for several years. Many graffiti artists mimic his characters in their street art. I’m sure this wall will be a familiar site for many San … Continue reading

Sports Wall

Sports Wall

Bay Area Sports was the theme for this commissioned wall. Unfortunately we weren’t able to document it too well, as the business owners shoo’d us away quickly. I wonder if that Plantrees was part of the commission, or if Plantrees … Continue reading

Apex Alley

Apex Alley

For lack of a better name, I call this San Francisco alley,  Apex Alley after one of the featured artists there.

Whack Mini Yard

Whack Mini Yard

I shouldn’t even bother to upload this one… but I did. This mini yard is under a busy street in the East Bay. It’s pretty much all whack down there though.

East Bay Tracks 1

East Bay Tracks #1

This stretch of East Bay train tracks started out pretty whack. Luckily towards the end, the graffiti ramped up and included several epic pieces, including 3 separate pieces from one of my favorite writers: Maska.

Mini Drain Yard

Mini Drain Yard

I spotted a Girafa from a freeway exit near my work. Later, we planned a trip down to this drainage ditch that has become a mini graffiti yard. Not too much to see, but go sharks!

Classic Train Bridge

Classic Train Bridge

This classic style train bridge was homed to a Swampy, a Gats, a Musk, a few Girafa Sigs as well as many other interesting writers.

© Greg Miller, 2009-2024
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