Balboa Park

can get pretty windy, but my family and i love this place. and then afterwards we just take a quick walk over to Pineapples. good quality time with the kiddos.

This is a lovely location with beautiful architecture and lovely landscaping. The museums which are relatively small are very expensive as is a multiple museum pass. I sought out the free locations — Mingei Museum and Botanic Garden. I’m not sure how families with children afford to spend time in the museums. The Saturday I was there it seemed like there was an abundance of dog meet-​ups: poodles in one spot, huskies in another, and greyhounds elsewhere. I got on one of the free shuttles that supposedly take you around the park and after about ¹⁄₃ mile the shuttle driver announced it was her lunch time and made everyone get off in a big parking lot.

So glad this place exists! Parking on the street wasn’t bad on a sunny Sunday afternoon. There’s a structure for toddlers and a bigger structure for the bigger kids. Will definitely go back here!

Great addition to the mission terrace and is kept fairly clean with janitors picking up garbage. I came here looking for somewhere to eat and they do indeed have picnic tables with an ample amount of trash bins! SO KEEP YOUR EARTH CLEAN!
The tennis courts are nice and big and the renovated playground looks very clean.
Grass is kept green and free of animal feces (where I walked at least)
Dogs were seen running around off leash but all dogs (and their humans) were friendly.
Plenty of parking spaces around and plenty of public transportation nearby.

Great park!
My sons in the phase of escaping the fenced in areas and luckily we found this park which isn’t just fenced in but has gates!
Great parking, clean, new, updated, safe, padded ground, good for all ages.

Playtime.
Lots of space for running around (humans or dogs) and fields and equipment for playing sports or just playing around (humans).
For those looking for a quiet spot to have lunch in the shade and playful conversation you’ll find that too.
Hours can pass quickly. Make sure you have plenty of time to play.

I had not been to this park since the renovation, I always passed by it and thought it looked nice. But I was finally able to visit yesterday because that’s where we hosted my nephew’s birthday party.
We had reserved two tables that were the ones «closer to the park» (we were given the choice of two tables closer to the pool). There were four tables, so we assumed we had the two closer to the park. But we realized there were tables inside the playground area. So we moved there because they were vacant, maybe those were our actual reserved tables, who knows!
The kids had a blast on the playground. It had a lot for them to do, slides, monkey bars, rock climbing walls, rope structures they can climb. Kept them entertained for hours.
I gave ⁴⁄₅ stars because of the wind. It was ridiculous by our seating area. We had to stay there to make sure things didn’t fly everywhere.

It’s a lot nicer after being renovated. I enjoy taking our dogs out there. The playground is definitely better for the kids. It’s much cleaner, no trash littered everywhere. Plus it’s just nice a park to soak in the sun.

Wonderful park!
I used to not like being in the area as it was kinda sketchy. but after a recent renovation, I don’t mind coming here anymore! Kid-​friendly park :)
Located close to MUNI bus station, BART, and freeways.
There are different play structures that can be divided into different age groups. I took my niece here and she had lots of fun! There is also a grass field where kids play soccer or football. Next to that is an indoor swimming pool but I’ve never been inside. so I’m not sure if you can go in. Police station is also close by. There’s also a skate park for teenagers. Tennis and basketball courts for everyone! Everyone gets some sort of benefit ;)

Love this place great for kids over 6 and under 6 separated play areas and sits next to the Ingleside police station! How safe are you doesn’t get better than this. Remember no DOGs allowed! Love it

This post is from a neighborhood resident who has lived in the area since I was born.
I love the recent renovation that was completed a year or two ago at Balboa Park. It made a adequate park into a marvelous open space to enjoy. I really like the addition of picnic areas as well as the basketball courts. For the longest time, I disliked the fact that I needed to travel to Crocker-​Amazon or Stonestown to play basketball as Balboa Park never had a hoop. Now they have two courts that are never crowded and almost always available when I go to play. I must also say that I liked how they fixed the tennis courts. I cannot wait to try them out. Overall, I think it is a great park and a wonderful benefit for the area.

It is a beautiful day out and what better way to spend it then to take the kids out to the park? The play structures are safe and massive. There is a small kids area and a big kids area. There is no sand, but the «floors» are made of foam. The reason why I mention the safety aspect is because I remember at Golden Gate Park when I used to haul cardboard and sand to slide down the slide, and saw others just EAT IT lol! Well at Balboa Park if you pay close attention, you will notice that the slides have grooves at the bottoms to slow kids downs towards the end of the slide. Warning: This is such a parent thing to put in a review, but hey… now I care about these things lol. There are also tons of kids playing baseball and softball. Another bonus is the park is super close to Roxie’s so you could buy sandwiches before or after playing! Good, wholesome family fun!

A neighborhood type of park. There is a new swing/​play area for children. Plenty of street parking.

Lots of stuff to do there. There’s a nice playground for kids, tennis courts, several baseball fields, a few basketball courts, and another field for other sports. Be careful of the dog mines on the field next to the basketball court and tennis court.

Though the weather in this part of the city can be pretty gruesome during the summer months, the park itself is great! And it makes you appreciate those sunny, windless days even more!
This is a big park and has different «sections». There is the baseball field area, the kids playground area, the tennis courts, the basketball hoops, the field, and the indoor pool area.
The entire park has recently been redone, which was really really needed. It was pretty shabby, and there were always mounds of trash and wood debris near the pool and basketball courts for some reason. There are now park benches and tables, new tennis courts, new hoops, and an updated playground. All that trash is gone, and the overgrown vegetation is now being maintained. Looks much better!

Parking is not awful (Dolores Park, I’m looking at you) and this place isn’t awash with hipsters lounging away their youth/​faux-​youth (Dolores Park, I’m looking at you). This place is great for little kids and little kids at heart and is always full of kiddos having a great time.
Just a note: If, perchance, as an adult you decide you want to go on the swings, one of them makes a sound so loud it can be heard all over the city. This is, I repeat, not the sounds of a swing hinge groaning under your weight, but is instead, the sound of a hinge that needs lubrication.
I second the WTF? regarding closing the restrooms at 3:00 PM on Sunday.

While still a work in progress, obviously lots of vision — not just tons of money has gone into renovations here. Kids playground renovations done right. Lots of fun for locals or families passing through from the Peninsula.

Oh Balboa Park with your unpredictable weather. Whatever shall we do with you? We’ve been playing softball at Balboa Park for now the second season of the Unilocal Battle of the Bay Softball Game.
It’s easy to get to by Public Transportation and there are always plenty of seating and room for our BBQ set up and such.
The Softball and Baseball Diamonds don’t really look regulation, but they are good enough to play. The grass is okay, just as long as it hasn’t been overly raining.
The bathroom situation since has been fixed, so I can’t really complain about that. They used to close them at 3pm — even though our reservation was until 6pm. Note: It’s funny how the bathrooms stayed open until 6pm — yet some chose to hit the bushes instead. Toilet Paper and clean water are essential at any BBQ, especially when we were paying to rent the facilities.
Although we are moving our games to greener and sunnier pastures, we will always have Balboa on back-​up and will have fond memories there.

Dear Irresponsible Old Lady with Disobedient Dog,
How can you ignore your dog when he goes right next to the children’s playground? If your dog doesn’t come when you call him put him on a leash. I was not put on this planet to clean up your dog’s shit.
Sincerely,
Jennifer P.

Parking wasn’t hard to find.
Lots & lots of grassy area for baseball or football
. We played baseball on the baseball diamond. I believe there’s a couple of them.
Across the street are 4 tennis courts, 6 old looking swings, & one new looking kid park
. The tennis court here was empty, which is rare in the Sunset. Maybe residents in this area don’t play… I wonder why this area is so empty. The old swings were empty too. The only area that had A LOT of people was the new kid park. I guess that area looked the best, it had bright colors, & lots of play structure to play on.