Koret Children's Playground

Best playground we have ever visited. The carousel was a blast and absolutely beautiful. Very safe. Great restrooms. Clean. Great coffee at the cafe. All ages welcome. Our 2 year old had a blast!

Great park nestled in the Golden Gate park of San Francisco. Lots of activity when we went on a Sunday afternoon which led to drum circles and groups gathering for the evening scene. Overall great fun with large lawns to play games and chase kids. Will return.

Love this park! So many fond memories of playing as a child and now I get to bring my own kiddo ❤️

Nothing is better than the concrete slide of your childhood with your own kiddo. This playground is so large and easy to see everything. Cute little cafe next to the carosel is sometimes open too! Public restroom not too far away and lots of green area near by

This playground is great for kids. I have paid for park access in other places that were not as fully-equipped at this park. There is lots of seating available and green areas nearby to play soccer and other more organized sports (I learned what lawn bowling is just today!).

Super fun playground, definitely come check it out if you have kids. The carousel was closed for maintenance. But looked fun, the sign said it was two dollars for adults and one dollar for children which I think is a great price! Fun playground, and a great way to get exercise for kids.

Great playground for kids which is located inside Golden gate Park in San Francisco. Lot of free street parking. There are so many unique equipments, especially It have a long concrete slide for kids that you climb stairs to get to. Remember to bring your own cardboard to slide down so you don't burn your skin or break the pant 😂 High recommended, btw, talked to a local lady Ellen, she was very nice and informative! Introduce lot of local restaurants and attractions to me. Thanks again 😁🫡😀

The parking sucks, but aside from that, it's one of the best parks in the bay area. There's a huge playground, a cement slide, a cafe, an arts studio, a caurosel, lawn bowling, and a massive field that actually gets used. A must visit for families.

Honestly the most amazing playground we've ever been to! They have 2 playgrounds with an area to dig, lots of things to climb on, a historic merry-go-round and even a cafe! Even mama had fun on their huge concrete slides! Bring your own cardboard box cut to fit the length of your body for a smooth ride or grab one from the floor below and get ready for a thrill ride! Carousel tickets are just $1 for kids and $2 for adults, hubby and our eldest enjoyed this classic ride! I would HIGHLY recommend this fantastic park, you could easily spend the whole day here! After visiting our country's oldest playground, take a romantic stroll through the San Francisco Botanical Garden or Japanese Tea Garden and then peddle boat at Blue Heron Lake! And if you love checking out historic landmarks like I do, there are several here!! We'll definitely be back to explore more, we are especially excited to take our kids to the California Academy of Sciences!! SYOY! :-)

What a great find. We were walking through the Golden gate and decided to take a break at the park for our daughter to play. What an amazing playground. Lots of great opportunities for climbing, swinging, sliding and what not. This park is amazing and so big. Plenty of bathrooms as well just minutes away. Can't wait to be back to explore more!

Free three hour parking. Clean toilets. $1 carousel ($2 for adults but under 5s that go free must be accompanied by an adult) Wonderful lawns Fun plaza for your coffee and ice cream needs. Do I need to carry on ??

I am a fan of Esmeralda slides in Bernal Heights. When I was talking to my friend about it, he said there was one similar close to where we were which brought me here. It was a nice walk through GG park and under a cool tunnel (which reminds me of Central Park) to get here. Check out the giant carousel next door as well. The big concrete slide is fun but not quite Esmeralda. ;-)

An awesome location to have a picnic with family or celebrate a child's birthday. It's suitable for toddlers as well as older kids. The carousel was great value for money especially if your kid wants to do multiple round. $2 for adults, $1 for children 5 and up and free for children below 5. Some of the parts of the playareas are not toddler friendly. Please make sure to accompany your toddler at all times.

What not to love. Some play structures has changed since I was a child . The iconic cement slide and carousel is still a favorite for me then and my kids now . Now that I have my kids , brought them here , They too enjoyed this playground. Bathroom is clean , plenty of picnic area to spread out the mat on the grass . Parking is small , but can also park in the streets as well .

One of the best, and largest, toddlers and small children's playground that has free admission. My son had a blast. Tons of other kids. And it's in one of the best parks west of the Mississippi. With things so expensive it was a huge relief to do something free that kid loved.

Great decent sized playground with very modern equipment that is in excellent condition. There is also a neat, smooth concrete slide for kids. Nearby you'll find a merry-go-round and a food stand. Great family oasis in one of the best urban parks in America and don't forget to take advantage of the central JFK Promenade that is now and forever car free!

Smiles all around. Climbing, sliding, swinging, digging, riding, laughing, eating, running, giggling, crawling, touching, enough action? For all ages! No one left out. Benches for the weary adults. Loud screams near the concrete slide (BYOC-bring your own cardboard). Snacks with hot dogs, pretzels, churros, chips and for the thirsty, drinks. My favorite is the carousel- old fashion, go back in time, just beautiful hand crafted animals, bringing you round and round to fairy tale land. Timeless.

So many happy days spent at this wonderful playground that's nestled into Golden Gate Park: Slowly spinning on the 1890's restored carousel, running around on green, grassy fields, climbing play structures and swinging on swings. If it sounds idyllic, it is. And unlike anything you've ever seen, it has a giant, magical stone slide built into the side of a steep hill where kids merrily climb up 100 steps and speed downhill on sheets of scrappy cardboard. You've never heard so much happy shrieking. There are play structures for pint-sized to older kids including these adorable teacup saucers that toddlers love spinning in. Bring snacks or buy them at the small concession by the carousel (that also has three kinds of really good hot dogs). Many of our best days have been spent here happily laughing and playing in the sunshine.

What more could you ask of a playground in Golden Gate park? This one has it all, two sand play areas, two playground sets as well as slides and a carousel and swings. Our little one had a blast exploring each area and especially loved the little cups he could sit in and twirl around. Parking was easy to find and it's a hidden gem in the oasis of Golden Gate Park.

I like this playground, it's fun and the concrete slide is unique and fun. I like the fact that there's a Merry Go Round Carousel that costs $2 per person per rider that's adjacent and good for young kids. This place was recently vandalized in the Fall of 2017, but was fixed for a grand re-opening in the Spring of 2018 where the Mayor came over the Easter Holiday Weekend on 03/31/18 for a ribbon cutting of sort, ceremony. The rides (playground stuff) is nice for kids. Parking can be challenging but it's like that all over SF. If you use a GPS or Waze you'll possibly be given the run-around navigating one way streets and making U-Turns galore, so it's easier if you know how to get here and not rely on GPS that will be misleading rerouting and frustrating.

Just an OK park. Nothing unique to see or experience. FYI -- the carousel appears to only be operational on weekends. :/

Highly recommended for kids while in SF. Location: Near Kezar stadium on the eastern edge of golden gate park. Parking: We were able to find parking at the top right off the street. I think there is plenty of parking, but there may be a parking structure near Kezar that you can walk from. Play: They have a really nice small kids and large kids area. Swings are across the way. It looks like the structures are fairly new as of our visit in summer 2019. Iconic: Stone slides! These have been a round for a while. Make sure to bring some cardboard to sit on or hope to find some left behind. Sitting: There are a lot of adult areas to sit. A nice little grassy spot near the little kid area. The carousel is nearby.

This is a great playground in the middle of Golden Gate Park. I remember coming here as a kid to go on the concrete slides. I'm glad that I could take my son back here to go down the same slides. (I'm also glad that people still leave cardboard by the slides for everyone to use.) Parking is pretty close to the playground, so that's easy. The structures are well maintained and clean. On a weekday, there's plenty of space for kids to play and no wait at the swings or the slides.

Wow, this place is big. If you're looking for a good sized playground where your kids can hop from area to area, then this would be it. Parking can be challenging, but it's doable. If you come here enough, you'll find the secret entries to this park. There are a few ways to get into this park from the perimeter which I don't think is a good thing. More on that later. The park is so large though that you'll really need to keep your kids in each area before moving onto the next unless you're the type of parent that lets your kids run wild. There's sand at this park. That's important to some people. If you're like me, you kinda hate it b/c it gets in your shoes, in your kids shoes and it's just a big mess. There is some soft groundcover. There's actually a variety so I'm sure you'll find something you like here. Not a lot of trees for shade. A few spots, but they're not in strategic areas where you'll be able to watch your kids easily. Safety rating I'd say is a 5 out of 10 only b/c the park is so large that it might be hard to keep an eye on more than one kid at once unless they're disciplined to stay together. This park is not gated. It also has many entrances some legit and some not so it's really hard to keep an eye on who's coming in and out of this place. Of all the parks I've been to, this has the least clear entrances/exits. Stranger danger. Carousel is cool, but closed during Covid. What else is closed? The playground itself. This playground has been part of my quest to find the best FPV quadcopter flying areas now that the playgrounds are mostly closed for Covid. My quad is toy grade. It's less than 250g and will probably feel like a fun-sized bag of Skittles hitting you if my quad does happen to hit someone who may also be breaking the "no-entry" rules. Propeller guards on the quad helps too. No collisions with humans so far and I do my best to keep away from people/dogs so chances of that are mostly impossible. Swings. The first thing my kids look for are the swings. The swing area is higher up in elevation than the rest of the park so it's got its own little area. Some seating nearby, but mostly you're going to stand. The back side of this park is open to other parts of Golden Gate Park. This is an example of a non designated entrance/exit which I hate for safety sake. This playground is fairly deep from the street. There's a balance where the ideal distance is far enough where passerby's aren't going to access it but close enough where you don't feel alone at the park. This park is so far in that if you scream, no one will hear you. Think about that.

Parking very close to this playground with a carousel really close. This playground has a lot of different parts including a sand area, climbing, large concrete slide, swings, picnic tables, etc. There's even shade since there's trees nearby. I didn't see a water fountain though.

For the Southern California versed, consider this Atlantis Park North, if not just for the concrete slide that rivals the famous dragon slide in Garden Grove. Despite the 30 foot yard wave structure, this park lacks the overall nautical theme of Atlantis, but it is free and nobody is going to kick you out for bringing cardboard for the slide, which was admittedly much more scarier than I expected (I'm 50, with a brand new hip and teeth that are highly susceptible to cement). Originally promoted as the country's first public children's playground, it's been around since 1888, making it as old as National Geographic, Kodak, a baby Harpo Marx, the Washington Monument, and the Jack the Ripper murders. So when you think of murders, think of Koret Children's Quarter!

Wow, Koret is the absolute best play ground I have ever brought my daughter to. We live next to the largest playground in Brooklyn and Koret kicks its butt. I would go back to SF just for that playground, it's that amazing.

I personally love this playground for everything it's got. It has a full set of swings, 4 baby and 4 kids. A 7 ft tall wave to climb on. A huge concrete slide built in to the side of the hill that is situated in the shade most of the time. A gigantic spider web towering above all of the other structures. 2 huge play structures with multiple slides. This playground has almost everything with a few exceptions, no tire swing and no marry-go-round. On one side you have the red barn, a perfect place to host a party. Just beyond that is a world class carousel. The grassy knoll on the other side is the perfect place to set up a blanket and hang out for a few hours. One of the best playgrounds in the city and certainly the best in Golden Gate Park. Hours of entertainment.

Let me start of with this place is also known as Golden Gate Children's Playground http://www.yelp.com/biz/golden-gate-park-childrens-playground-san-francisco?utm_source=ashare&ref=yelp-android . With that said this is an awesome park and a must go if you have littles. This wonderful playground is located within the Golden Gates Park. Awesomely they have a sign that says "Adults must be accompanied by children" It is awesome because you can weed out the creepers who goes to the park without the children they claim to usually go with. It's like ok what are you doing here without them then. Creepin' much? Yah awkward and scary. Anyhow this play ground is HUGE! And gorgeous! There's a wave like sculpture with crocodiles that glistens to climb on. A giant cement slide where we use cardboards to slide down. We all took turn going down with my 1 yr old at the time and my baby loved it! There's to separate playgrounds side by side for the younger kids and the older kids. Lots family just having a blast (^_^) I would definitely recommend coming here at least once (^_^)

Great place to bring the kids! My kids loved the slides and play area, a must stop when in SF!

Seriously one of my favorite playgrounds. Large, nearby carousel, and even with the burnt older kid play structure behind fencing, there's still lots of things for kids to play with. My biggest complaint is that the bathrooms are a fair ways up the hill (taking into account little feet.) One of my life goals is to have a closer bathroom for this play area. That, and world peace.

We were driving around the city, and weren't quite sure what to do. I'd like to thank my fellow yelpers for pointing us in the right direction. Great park! High climbing and impressive cement slide for the older two. Smaller, very appropriate, low to the ground playground for the 1 and 5 year olds as well. There was actual sand ( nothing sketchy at all- I'm a little high strung) no booze bottles, cigarette butts, none of that. Next time we'll bring our sand toys. Plenty of swings, it's rare that all four of my kids can swing together. We went on a Saturday, and it was full of happy kids, but not so crowded that you wished half of them would take a hike. Speaking of hiking, we parked in the garage and walked through the beautiful park. Later, we bought pretzels and drinks from the food cart by the carousel. ( heads up- very attractive young man with an accent working the food cart) Oh sorry, lost my train of thought. It was a lovely day. So glad I saw all of the red stars while searching for a fun spot. Thanks yelpers!!

This park is perfect for the walking and up crowd! We went here on a weekday so I'm sure parking wasn't nearly as bad as it could be on the weekends. If you're lucky you can snag a spot right on MLK, but if you're heading northeast on Kezar, it looks like you can't make a left onto MLK and will need to loop around if you don't want to park on the other side of the street. Also beware- lots of cars get broken into in broad daylight at GG Park, so hide your valuables - obvious but still good to keep in mind. As for the park itself - I love how this park has rubber turf and lots of playground features that appease toddlers on up. It seems well-maintained so no concerns about broken playground equipment even with th a park that sees so much foot traffic. Plus it's clean! There's also the really cool cement slides too which are a blast! No need to bring your own cardboard either - people just leave their pieces of cardboard on the sand pit at the end of the slides. There's also plenty of swings (bucket and big kid). We love how there's several big field areas where you can lay out and have lunch and then there's the carousel ($2 for adults, $1 for kids 6 and up I think) and the hot dog stand next to it if you ever left any snacks or goodies at home. I wish we lived closer because this park us great! I really can't think if anything wrong with this park at all!

I feel so foolish for traveling all the way to Disneyland just to realize that all that made our toddler happy was the shooting water play park at A Bug's Life. Now that we've discovered this amazing playground, a trip to Disneyland can be put off for, I don't know, another 5 years perhaps. We could spend a whole day here! There's so much fun to be had here! All elements are here: water, land and air (in the form of climbing ropes). As much as I would like to narrate each and every feature of this park, I will resist and leave some excitement for future visitors. But let me note down some tips for a more enjoyable day at this park: 1. Bring sun block, lots of it, especially if you plan to be there all day. The play area is large and open. Trees line the edges of the park but you have no protection or shade when you're supposedly keeping a close eye on your kid. 2. Bring a complete change of clothes for the kids. There's a wet sand area and we all know what that creates besides sandcastles. 3. Bring a first-aid kit. Most of the kids who try the concrete slide come out with pretty nasty scratches (including mine). Of course, there are those kids who are made of steel. I know I was one of them. 4. Most importantly, bring good playground etiquette. Share. Be considerate. Be safe. Use proper language. Don't litter. You know, all the things that will help everybody have a good time. It's really not inconvenient to bring this with you.

This playground is AWESOME. Even I want to play in it! (Actually I did... I went on the concrete slides and spinning pods with my 2 year old niece.) This playground is only a hop, skip, and a jump away from the carousel. The playground has many features which makes this park THE place that kids of all ages want to come. Slides, swings, climbing stuctures, spinning pods, sand boxes.. such a fun park! Must check this place out yourself with your little ones. They will have a blast and you will too!

I continue to frequent KCQ (Casey-Queue) on a regular basis mostly on weekends; I was just there last Sunday. It was crowded, but you have to go either early and leave by a certain time before lunch or arrive at 5:30 PM when families are starting to pack up and go home for dinner. Those are magic hours for those of us who hate crowds. It is still a brilliant playground, I'm happy to report. Those pieces of cardboard you find at the concrete slides just don't cut it, so you have to save your diaper boxes, fold them up, and use those for sliding!

It was Saturday & we just headed to San Francisco for our weekend fun. We just love the city! My hubby was driving, baby asleep & I was typing the word 'baby' on my iPhone yelp app. Yup! I found this place on yelp & we went straight to there. The photos were so helpful to get an idea of the place! It's a playground for all ages. My baby is 15 month old & there are so many things to play with! Part of the playground is so well made & artistic. I felt like I was at a natural museum near the shell section. Carousel was the best! My baby tried it for the first time! She was scared but when we were done, she wanted to go back there again. It's much better than those indoor gym! It's free & beautiful. Fun for parents too.

My son loves this large playground. There seems to be something for everyone. He particularly loved the concrete slide. We brought our own cardboard box for him to slide down the concrete slide in/on, since I planned to arrive early. Later in the morning, several people brought boxes and all the kids shared. However, after a while my son just slid down with no cardboard - so dress your kids in clothes you don't care too much about. If I remember correctly, this part is located close to the Academy of Sciences. Next time we visit the Academy, I'll budget time to spend here!

Wonderful park for children & their parents! It's clean, pet friendly, with tons of space to run, grassy areas to lounge, and play structures! Parking is tough, but worth the walk to get here.

Lovely and fun playground. My 7 year old daughter played here for over 3 hours. She loved the playground. It has playground with zipline, sides. Three are also sand boxes and swings. Even my disaffected 10 year old son enjoyed crawling to the top of the web structure for an hour. The concrete slides are fun and there is cardboard at the park for sliding down then. If you were arriving early, you might want to bring your own cardboard. There are plenty of places for adults to sit. You can also pack a lunch and blanket as there are places to have a picnic. You will want to bring your own water. I didn't see a water fountain, but we didn't look hard either. There are also restrooms nearby.

Nice playground, but the slide sucked. Nobody could make it down the 2nd part, was really slow. That was the main reason we went.

My daughter love to play in this area it was fun for her enjoy slide and swing and also have carousel ride next to park very nice! She loves ride!

Children's Playground it forever and will always be! Man oh man has that place gotten a face lift and for the better. The only original parts are the carousel, the red barn, and the slide wall! I do miss the teter totter type swing things that could fit a ton of people, and even had people hanging on the sides. But I definitely like that they got rid of the defunct wooden structures that were well on their way out. I mean come on, half of it was boarded off b/c someone broke something off or burned it. Now there are 2 different play areas, one for 6 and up and one for 5 and under. There is a water play feature that I doubt my kids will ever play it. I'm all for water play but not when it's mixed with the sand. Eww. DIRTAY! The swings are way on the far end away from most everything else and there is this new crazy rope climbing structure. I'm just waiting for a lawsuit to ensue, someone is bound to sue the city for that thing somehow. Pssh! *rolling eyes* My fave are what I have called "the buttercups" these spinning cups that are at a slight angle. We got a good laugh at my poor 2 year olds expense. For some reason as soon as she got in the thing spun itself and got faster and faster. Poor thing, we saved her eventually! Only gripe is that the bathrooms are so far away!

The biggest and most popular playground in the City. Finding parking can be challenging and playground sometimes over crowded (with older kids). There is a lot of great and new equipment, but the steep concrete slides seem a bit dangerous for younger kids.

Big playground, but slides are directly in the sun, and therefore becomes extremely hot! Carrousel was also closed (on a wednesday) so the area was quite dead. Would maybe come back on a day where it is not 100+ degrees, but it wont be highest on my to do list. Kid is 2, and she did like the playground (except for slides, swings, or anything to sit on in general)

It's such a cool place, I feel like I should be paying admission to be there. Very cool place to watch my kids play, plus it's spacious enough that it's not too chaotic and overcrowded. The zip line, carousel and concrete cardboard slide are all very cool. My kids enjoyed themselves.

Such a great little playground designed for creative play.

Got here and the whole thing was fenced off and closed for construction. Would have been nice if there could have been a warning on google. The swings were still available, but were the loudest squeaking swings my toddler has ever been on. Dreadful. And of course the carousel wasn't open either. Very disappointing.

Love this place! We always take the kids here when in SF. It's on the east side of the park. We love the concrete slides that you can use the cardboard to slide down. They have a really tall spiderweb rope thing you can climb up and two great playgrounds. There is a sand area and swings as well as a grassy spot to relax. The turf is that soft bouncy material. There is an indoor Carousel and a snack area that is sometimes open (not sure the hours). There a restroom up the hill and we are always able to find parking when we come. Plenty of room to run and play.

A San Francisco gem of a playground in the heart of Golden Gate Park. If you have a small-medium child, go here now! Highlights are the giant slide (cardboard sometimes utilized) and the netted climbing structure. Carousel nearby.

Great playground. Hard for your kid to get bored of this. Lots of kids lots of ages, food and the carousel and just the best weather around. Wear a hat and bring sunblock.

Any other day: "Adults may not enter the playground unless accompanied by a child." BOO HISSSSSSS. Seriously though, I get it. Pederasts have ruined all the fun for grown-ups with Peter Pan complexes. But today... Today my friends, was no ordinary day. Today was the day that I WAS accompanied by a minor. That's right, Uncle Bucky was accompanied by his niece. First off, let me give you a little tip. When you are at the precipice of the concrete slide and you have the cardboard under your rumpus, sprinkle a wee bit o' sand down the slide before your descent. It will increase your speed exponentially. You're welcome. Some phenomenally great equipment here. The rope pyramid is excellent for King of the Mountain. Those little pip squeaks didn't realize they were in the presence of greatness. I. Ruled. That. Mountain. After some intense play, my niece was ready for a break so we retired to the plastic townhouses where twelve hours earlier chances were it was inhabited by a transient giving himself a black tar/Oxycontin enema but presently we were using it to prepare sand soup sprinkled with pixie dust. MMmmm tasty.... You've heard all the goody goodies. What's not happy fun time?? Honestly, would it have killed them to put in a swing or two that's not made for someone under the size of three foot five inches?? I mean seriously, how I am gonna clear some air and touch the sea-shell-wave-rock-wall-thingamajoober in one jump if I can't build up some steam without slamming my knees into the ground?? Come on!! Height requirements aside, this is a excellent FREE children's park located inside Golden Park which is located in one of the coolest cities in the world!!!! We are truly blessed...

This is the best playground in the city. There is a carousel, swings for big and little kids, a wave to climb on with cushy ground below, a rope climbing structure, a big kid play structure and a small kid play structure with plenty of slides and two sandy areas. My favorites are the concrete slides and the two chairs that you can spin around and make yourself dizzy (good for adults as well as kids). Don't forget you need to be accompanied by kids to be in city playgrounds (or go after hours so you're not so creepy). There is a hot dog stand and restrooms in the same area. There is also plenty of green space to picnic. Reserve the red barn for children's parties. They have two time slots and there are two picnic tables. Bring a change of clothes for the kiddos if you think they will take advantage of the wet sand play area.

Some might call this the "Golden Gate Park Children's Playground", but that is just way too generic. This actually has a name, and a wooden sign to go with it. There is also a stone sign that names the area the first official playground in America. Go check it out. So, all danger aside, there is a 50 foot tower for your little tikes to climb on. NO JOKE. I was scared going up there with my fearless boy. The kids at the bottom of it shake/bounce it, and the thing moves like a willow tree in a windstorm. The ropes are all in a pyramid shape, so it would break your fall a little bit, but you can still fall way down if you did it right/wrong. The playground itself is very well designed. Two bridges from the walkway in the back connect to the main structures that can lead to any part of the zone. There is also a sweet two lane stone slide/track to skin your buns and knees on. You really must check this out. Go on a weekday for front row parking, otherwise I don't know what to tell you. Best playground I've ever been to. There is so much more to tell you about, but you have to see it for yourself.

Just finished writing my review for the carousel (search YELP) adjacent to KCQ and my 5 yr old a.k.a 'the boss'...insists that I 'pen' something for the playground too. Well, when the 'boss' says 'jump', I ask 'how high?' O.K...here goes! In her words, this place is a 'blast'. We went on Saturday morn, around 10:00am, and the crowds weren't too bad at all. However, I could see it becoming a zoo at any time. I don't want to duplicate the previous reviews (check em out), but it's a pretty cool playground. Certainly something for most age groups...younger and older...swings, jungle gyms, 'zip' lines, 'munchkin' spinning cups, (you'll see when you get there...they spin fast...guaranteed to make any little insolent shit puke his guts out. Saw one dad get 'even' with his kid by spinning him so fast he almost achieved orbit, almost. But, he did puke. I was bustin' up. Aw, c''mon...visualize it. We've all seen those kids and their frustrated parents. Well, score one for good ole dad. That kid was an angel afterward. No, I don't recommend doing this to your kid, or any other child for that matter. But, in a perverse way and since the kid is O.K., it's funny as hell. Probably hits home with me cause when I was younger, I was that kid. I can relate... Finally, everyone mentions the cement slides. They are fun, fun, fun...and there is usually plenty of cardboard available to use on the slides. However, if you really want to achieve 'breakneck' speeds and maybe 'catch some air', ditch the cardboard and find a way to bring one of those plastic food trays from any fast-food joint e.g. Taco Bell, B.K., K.F.C...you know the places. You'll re-learn the meaning of 'holy shit' as you're screaming down the slide on your 'borrowed' plastic tray. Try it...you'll see. And, NO!, I am not advocating that you steal the plastic trays...sheesh!

This is truly a beautiful playground. There are a number of separate areas, with something for everyone. I liked watching kids fly down the cement slides, climb high in ropes that reminded me of a pirate ship, or just picnicking happily in the fog. I do think this is better for older kids or families with a 1:1 child/adult ratio. No areas are fully enclosed, and if your kid's not wearing something in a bright color, it would be easy to lose track of them. This didn't happen to me, but we did have to scramble to corral everybody. We'll try again in a few years.

I love this park. Every time I come to San Francisco for a weekend getaway and bring my (now 7-year-old) son I make sure to schedule some time to come here. The huge climbing structures, the concrete slides, the location - all are perfect. It's usually mobbed with kids, but the kids don't care, they have a great time, make new friends, etc. You can take a break and get a snack at the little cart right over by the carousel, and while you're there, take in a carousel ride too - love that thing. So far everything seems to be holding up in terms of usability, who knows if over time that will change, but for now it's a great place to meet up some friends with kids and start or end your visit to Golden Gate Park!