This jaunt required a 10 min car ride and is totally worth it when it’s 65 degrees and no wind in the city. It felt like 70 and a mid summer jam.. The heart of this park is a pool, expansive athletic fields, and a bright beautiful playground. There were lovely tiled steps and art commemorating the 2012 remodel of the playground itself. Very residential and relaxed. Zygie loved the school bus fixture and tried to turn the wheels like his beloved cars. We also caught a glimpse of the Muni train and kept practicing our choo choo. He is still most bullish about walking on concrete with a strong desire to play basketball with the older kids.
52 Playgrounds: #20 Balboa Park
52 Playgrounds: #19 Parkside Square
This is a frequent hang on the weekends but I realized we usually do a walkabout and Zygie had never actually played at the playground so we made it a plan!We took a very long stroll. The little kid swings have been removed, but there were so many little people. It’s so nice to see how open and easy it is for kids to connect with each other. The theme here is a pirate ship. Highlight was the awkward slide Zyg and I went down where he and I both flipped but kept our limbs in tact.
52 Playgrounds: #18 Cayuga Park
This was an early morning up and at em. Cayuga Park is in the southern part of the city and is quite unique. The park is layered with beautiful hand carved wooden structures. The playground itself is small but lovely. The play structure was flat and relatively low to the ground and while initially stoked because Zyg could run up and down, we were so early that morning dew made it slippery. The highlight was Bart running by every 10 minutes. We learned the word train!
52 Playgrounds: #17 Koret Playground in GGP
It always happens that the days we plan a potential meet up with friends is the day Zygie decides to sleep 2 hours :). In between playoff games and a long nap we drove to the Koret Playground. Absolutely beautiful location with a vintage carousel, the Sharon Art Center, Hippie Hill, and Sutro Tower views. A mix of sand and rubber flooring with an under water theme and even more steep cement slides compared to Mountain Lake earlier today. We did a small walk around but ultimately the 49’ers game was calling.
52 Playgrounds: #16 Mountain Lake Park
Today we made our way to the Richmond District to explore Mountain Lake Park and the beautiful playground attached. We loved this playground because of the natural way it’s built into the environment. We had a late start today so there were tons of little people and families, but it still felt wide open. Zygie is still really into mounds, climbing up the stairs backwards, rolling any ball that comes his way while pinning to explore the big kids section and do what they do. The big kid section had a gorgeous cement slide with 5 year olds whizzing by. The trails here connect to the Presidio. Tons of tennis courts, a gorgeous lake, and meadows like the wide open spaces in Golden Gate Park.
52 Playgrounds: #15 JP Murphy Playground
This playground was a 30 minute walk from our house. Up and over the Quintara steps over to Forest Hill. The setting of this playground is gorgeous as you have views of surrounding tower (not captured), tennis courts, basketball courts and the cutest little club house. The theme was airplane and while the ground floor has seen better days, Zygie was into it. He spends a lot more time walking than crawling these days.
52 Playgrounds: #14 Reservoir Playground
Old faithful. This teen little spot is a gem. Unassuming but located at the top of a hill with epic sunsets. Only challenge now is Zygie wants to run into the road.
52 Playgrounds: #13 West Sunset Playground
On Sundays we love to walk down to the farmer’s market so we looked to see if there were any playgrounds close by. We were in luck. West Sunset Playground is a big sprawling playground for big kids and tots. It’s huge with multiple tennis courts, basketball, and even a baseball field. Pictures did not capture the ocean views on this clear day, but Zygie had a blast. He was most fascinated by the remote control cars from some of the bigger kids and of course all the obstacle courses. Seems like playground then farmer’s market is the move as we saw some of the folks at the playground while shopping. It’s another gorgeous day in the city!
52 Playgrounds: #12 Cabrillo Playground
This is a neighborhood playground in the Richmond district. It’s green space is a block away in Golden Gate Park. We loved this one as the little tot side is pirate themed with soft bouncy ground. Zyg loves the dangerous act of going up stairs and slides with a car in one hand. He is also very interested in basketball and kept interrupting games to try and join in on the big kids fun. What a blast as he practiced walking over and over again.
52 Playgrounds: #11 Blueboat Playground in Golden Gate Park
It’s January and it felt like 70 degrees and the perfect day for a Golden Gate Park into Ocean Beach hang. The the Blue Boat Playground is quite popular so we were up and at it at 8:30 to beat the madness. It’s a wooden structure covered in sand. Zyg was unsure at first, but he found his footing and explored. We swung and rolled and climbed. He loved the actual beach the most and it was warm enough for us to splash in the water.
52 Playgrounds: #10 Larsen Park
We love this little park although it is located by a busy street. No swings, but it has a beautiful space ship that Zygie got to crawl through. The ground was also soft enough that he could push his car through all the structures and dig up dirt in the open fields flanking the park. We watched the sunset as we walked back home and it was stunning.
52 Playgrounds: #9 Yerba Buena Gardens
Yerba Buena gardens is home to the MLK Memorial in San Francisco so it is only fitting we explored the attached playground and crawled through the gardens in honor. This playground is expansive and the hills and slopes were so fun for Zygie to crawl all around. He met a new friend named Jack who was bigger and they crawled up and down the big kids slide. This is a unique experience in the middle of downtown. What was interesting is that there were no swings and we didn’t miss it one bit.
52 Playgrounds: #8 Mission Bay Playground
Today is MLK. Dad had an early golf round and Zygie was up before 7. We decided to go downtown to check out the MLK Memorial at Yuerba Buena Gardens. There were two playgrounds relatively close so we decided to have a picnic breakfast at Mission Bay. We skipped a stroll on the waterfront since we would be crawling and walking all through the gardens.
52 Playgrounds: #7 West Portal Playground
Just 5 minutes away, this is the first playground we’ve been to that is attached to a school. It was recently remodeled with a beautiful dragon play scuplture. It’s the most colorful and unique playground we’ve been too thus far. Zygie loved the mounds and the swings. There was also a little metal tunnel he could crawl on back and forth.
52 Playgrounds: #6 Mccopin Square
McCopin Square is 7-acre green space with two playground structures. One for Zygie size littles with a smaller slide and swings. There are walking paths, tennis courts & a baseball field. All have killer sunset and ocean views anchored by a mid century library.
52 Playgrounds: #5 Walter Haas Playground
My good friend Natalie recently had a little girl Zoe so we invited them to join one of our our playground jaunts. Walter Haas is gorgeous. It is situated next to Billy Goat Hill in Diamond Heights and a stone’s throw from Glen Park Canyon. There is a sand pit and expansive play structures for toddlers and older kids. Zygie loved swing and sliding. He mostly played in the sand pit and.took in the views.
52 Playgrounds: #4 Christopher Playground
Located in Diamond Heights with a direct path to Glen Park Canyon, Christopher Playground is adorable. I was cognizant of the birthday parties and loads of kids running around and kept the snaps to minimum. We hiked Glen Park Canyon first. Glen Park Canyon is a 66.6-acre green space canyon in the Glen Park District. Zygie was more interested in people watching than actually playing given the foot traffic.
52 Playgrounds: #3 John Mclaren Park
We visited Mclaren Park which is on the east side of the city. At 313 acres, McLaren Park is San Francisco's second largest park. We did a walkabout on a few of the trails in the park and also checked out two playgrounds. The Redwood Playground area was recently remodeled and beautiful, but it was geared towards big kids. He loved the Peru Playground which had stunning views and Zygie sized swings and obstacles. This park is quite large so we’ll be coming back to explore the Purple Playground and the Herz Playground.
52 Playgrounds: #2 Golden Gate Heights Park
This gem was recently remodeled. It’s relatively small, but it’s got everything. It was a brisk day out, so little man was dressed like the Michelin Man. The playground is designed for primarily older kids (5+), but it is covered in turf and has enough space for little man to crawl / walk. There were no traditional peewee swings here and the slides were slightly too steep for Zyg to go down on his own. But he was able to lay on a rope swing, climb on mounds, and push a random firetruck with a new found friend.
52 Playgrounds: #1 Potrero Hill Playground
We had a bit of winter cleaning to drop off and the only Goodwill currently open due to COVID was in Potrero so we took the chance to visit this playground. Top of a hill, massive with a circular trail with killer views. 2 playground structures here as well catering to toddlers and big kids. Lots of room for Zygie to run around and explore which he did.
