Sunset Recreation Center

Yet another fine recreation spot brought to you by the very excellent SF Parks & Rec department. I’ve yet to be disappointed by any of their facilities, pools, programs or staff: they’re all outstanding.
A newer or rehabbed facility, Sunset Recreation Center at 29^th & Lawton offers a large (competition-​sized?) basketball court and rooms for ping pong, yoga and other Parks & Rec offerings.
Outside are two medium-​sized children’s playgrounds with all the state-​of-​the-​art safety features included a sponge-​y surface to protect little bodies in motion.
(Other Unilocalers are right: there are a paucity of swings but it’s still an A-​Ok spot, nice and clean too).
A large field behind the facility can easily be used for baseball, soccer or just running around which is exactly what my little boy did today, with grassy/​muddy patches on his knees, evidence of a fun-​filled afternoon.
(Outdoor play, urban hikes, playing with Legos and drawing, it’s important to encourage exercise & creativity & get your child away from TV & computer screens).
Whether it’s swimming, a day hike to Point Reyes or a week-​long winter camp, I continue to be so impressed by this fine city department that offers programs for everyone young and old with almost any interest — and at an extremely reasonable cost.
This winter camp, for example, is only $ 110 for the week (9am-​3pm) with extended care before/​after hours for a small extra cost.
(Compare that with any other private camp that’s $ 495+ per week. In my opinion, Parks & Rec camps are too inexpensive, they should be at least $ 100 more.)
With everything in San Francisco being so costly, it’s nice to know that SF Parks & Rec offers accessible & interesting programs for everyone — and financial aid is available!

This place is really nice after the recent remodel. The gym is clean and has bleacher seating. 4 stars because its always so crowded and you’re lucky if you can get to shoot at a hoop in the gym. Playground is great for kids and tennis courts are well maintained. Baseball field and open grass field are also well maintained. Bring a jacket. It’s in the sunset district in SF

Sunset Rec Center is a surprising public recreation facility when you consider it’s public and free. Indoor basketball? You probably won’t find that for free downtown. Just walk in and start playing! 2 tennis courts, outdoor basketball, some fitness areas, a good-​sized playground, a baseball field, and a running path around it — this area in the middle of the Sunset district is a peaceful respite from the city life and busy streets elsewhere. There were plenty of people to play pickup games with on both the basketball and tennis courts.
I’ll definitely be back to play tennis here. Thanks, SF.

I love this place good hoop games friendly competition
My son loves it as well cool family environment

Great playground for kids of all ages.
Pros: newly renovated, close bathroom
Cons: limited swings

Best place to hoop! Been going here since I was 10 years old. Only reason why I didnt give it a five star due to fact this place can be very teritorial by asians. I just come to this place to sweat, ball, and have fun, not get in fights or start one.

Went here last Saturday with two friends, honestly couldn’t believe it when one of my friends, who worked here before, said all SF gyms were free (I’m from Daly City), so I was like, «hey, I should really try it out here».
The baseball field and blacktop basketball courts also look really good. Also a pretty nice playground for your little kids right outside of the main gym.
So we got a couple of games in, all the people are chill, just looking to play some basketball as well. The gym is really clean, floor still looks brand new, also like how they have glass backboards like the two baskets on the main court, and not the cheap, usual wooden ones like in most schools or smaller gyms.
Great place to shoot around or get some runs in, highly reccomend this place if you’re in need of hooping in a gym for free!

Great recreation center. Friendly people, gym is nice. You’ll rarely see littler on ground, even around the block. Bathrooms are clean and tidy. Only negative is the gym gets really stuffy

This is an excellent neighborhood park for all ages.
My toddler is in love with the playground and loves to run around, swing, sit on the benches to eat his snacks, and climb everything. He also happened to see someone with a basketball walk into the gym — where he wanted to sit and watch teens and adults play basketball indoors while we stayed by the bleachers.
There’s also a baseball field for people to play, tennis courts, ping pong tables, and they offer classes for the neighborhood.
There are also changing tables and water fountains.
While my dog isn’t allowed in the park, he definitely enjoys walking on the sidewalk around the park on-​leash.
All in all, it’s a great neighborhood rec center that I recommend for everyone in the area!

I basically grew up at this recreation because I went to the k-​8 school a block away and lived a block away from here. So many memories :) i haven’t been here since the remodeling but I must say, it looks good! The play structure is new and sturdy, the basketball gym actually separates from the Ping pong room, which is much safer for the people playing ping pong. The new gardening looks good and everything looks much more modern. Will always love this place!

Love the new remolded gym.
I played ball over the weekend and it felt good hitting the courts again. Surprisingly, is wasn’t that crowded for some reason. The gym floor is nice and the bleachers are clean.
Definitely an upgrade from the old gym when I grew up.

What a beautiful rec center. So impressed with the opening of this place. I try to come down with my little one as much as possible… if the fog isn’t too bad :)

former supervisor carmen chu, THANKS!
this is the gorgeous legacy of former district 4 supervisor chu and many folks at the SF Park and Rec. (haha, thought of the hilarious NBC tv show for a second).
the remodel here took about 3 years or so, but from what it was (a broken down mess) to its reincarnation today (the ultimate community recreation facility) is AMAZING!
so wonderful to see our tax dollars at work to benefit the community is such a way. all ages will LOVE LOVE LOVE this new facility with the new gym floors, playgrounds, table tennis tables, and countless improvements.
all i have to say is, «check it out for yourself !»
it is what every gym rat dreams of at night.
see my photos for evidence!
JYW likes!

I used to play here as a kid. Now my son frequents this freshly updated playground. They have a Tiny Tots program here on Wednesdays my son just loves. He comes home and shows me all the exercises and songs they do. He absolutely loves the parachute game! They also have two play rooms spread out between a pretty long hallway great for running. It is pretty awesome.

Ahh the sunset rec!
I spent a lot of time at this rec center as a kid. Since i went to Lawton Alternative School down the street, and we totally lacked a gym. Our gym teacher would make us trek up to Sunset rec for our «PE» time. Good memories here.
Now that I’m WAY pass the age where we should be having PE class, I come here to walk my dog.
Sunset Rec has definitely gone through some improvements through the years. It used to be janky looking but now they at least spruced it up a bit :) I noticed they painted a mural on the side of the building and even added a little garden area. They also seemed to fix up the indoor gym a bit. I remember as a kid that the seats were similar to land mines. You really had to watch where you stepped, or else you’ll end up falling through the benches!

The boyfriend plays basketball here on Wednesday at 6pm-​9pm. I went along with him and noticed a few things:
1. The bball players seemed to be sliding a lot and wiping the bottoms of their shoes. DUSTY
2. Boyfriend complained about one of the sides with the court being dark. The light looked to be out but I understand it’s a big hassle to climb alll the way up there to change a bulb.
I think my boyfriend likes it here though. Decent competition even though it can get pretty crowded here

I’m just reviewing the indoor basketball courts. it’s free, most of the ballers are friendly, and there seems to be just about the perfect amount to have fun games going all day but not so many that you have to wait 4 games to play again if you happen to lose. It’s not too competitive, not a lot of serious (which to me = no fun) ballers in here that are in off season for HS/​college ball, or older angry ones that are no longer playing HS/​college ball and spending every moment on the court trying to relive their glory years. That’s not to say people here don’t have skills, they do, it’s obvious some people did play HS/​college, but it’s mostly just fun games with fun attitudes, i.e. good sportsmanship.
Some possibly helpful information:
It’s closed on Mondays.
Tuesdays start later because they are playing volleyball on the courts (I was told it starts at around 1 or 1:30PM)
every other day seems to be open by noon and stay open until at least 8PM (closes at 9PM I think).
I think weekends it opens earlier (10AM maybe)
They have a schedule (minus the information about Tuesdays) posted inside that I obviously did not memorize.

The swing sets here have to be the same ones from 1990 when i flew for the first time.
I got around 7 feet of air, and then i ate 7 ounces of sand.
I am proud to admit, i first got my wings, here, at Lawton Park.

I use to call this Lawton Park, because it was near Lawton School & the park is on Lawton St. Now I refer it as the Rec, maybe because my bro always went & called it that.
I think they need more tennis courts, every time I go, there are people always playing. I know there is a courtesy rule that you are allowed to play for 20 minutes, but no one is there to enforce it.
I wish they made this park with astroturf like the South Sunset Park
on Vicente (near Sunset Super & Ulloa Elementary), then you wouldn’t have to worry about your shoes getting dirty.

Can you say delusions of grandeur?
I’m way past my prime so I decided if I can recapture some of my youth. Came here to shoot some hoops on my day off and hope to play a pick-​up game or two. It was a sunny day so it was sweltering inside. Good thing they propped all the side doors open to get some air circulating inside. One positive was that it got you sweating real fast just by shooting around. There were only a few guys inside and not enough to play a game.
I did enjoy watching all the old Chinese folks playing Ping Pong, and they’re reflexes were probably quicker than mine. They even had two grandmas playing in one table and they would have probably schooled me with one arm tied behind their backs. Glad to see not much have changed around here. Although they might need new basketball nets, it’s still a great place to play indoor Basketball.
When a few more guys finally showed up and have more than enough to play a pick-​up game, sad to say… I didn’t get picked. I felt like that kid who was always picked last or didn’t get picked at all. But who am I kidding, these were all young guys in the prime of their lives. It was probably for the best as I might have injured myself again playing a stupid Basketball game. I looked at the clock and was startled to see that I was running late in picking up my kids from school. I guess I’ve been shooting around for more than a couple of hours.
Gotta run… I’ll try to recapture my youth some other day. As I was leaving, I couldn’t help but think that I could have schooled these guys in my prime. =)