Bay Area location for easy mom/toddler meetup
March 24, 2014 8:39 AM   Subscribe

Good SF area playground or similar for meeting up/hanging out, by BART with good parking?

I want to meet up with 2 moms from the peninsula (around Redwood City), I'm in Central Berkeley myself. I hate to drive over the bay bridge, so we originally planned they would carpool over and we'd meet up at Oakland Zoo. But, one of them is heavily pregnant and this would be too much of a hassle for her (also, the Oakland Zoo has steep trails and seems to be a bit too much walking for her, she'd rather sit down). The other mom's kid is something like 18 months and I'm bringing a 2.5 year old. We'd rather do something outside where we can just hang out, as opposed to something with lots of running around, but also some kind of play attraction for the kids would be great. I saw the Koret Children's Quarter playground in GG park, anyone have any experience with that? Is there parking around that area? (I would get there by BART/Muni). I've heard there's some kind of playground at the SFO airport - have you been there, is it any good? Any other ideas?
posted by The Toad to Travel & Transportation around California (6 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I can speak to playgrounds in SF a bit, but if you can get to the little farm in Tilden Park, I'd go there! Public tranist, I have no idea.

I've only heard about the playground at SFO.

There is parking at GG Park by Koret, a parking lot at the west-ish corner. It's a busy place, but there are nooks and areas that are great for hanging out.

Easier maybe for transit would be Rossi Park close to Turk and Arguello in the city. It has easier parking and is a block up from the 38L. Very young toddler friendly.

Also, Duboce playground, easy-ish parking and right off the N-Judah at Noe.

We used to hang out at the playground by Yerba Buena Center, easy for transit, sort of easy for parking (mostly meters though).

There's a really toddler friendly park close to AT&T Park along the Embarcedero that's really fun (or used to be, my kids are older now). Easier for public transit, but not sure about parking.

I could go on, but I think if there's someone who could speak to the new playgrounds around the Mission (Valencia and 20th-ish?) I'd also recommend.
posted by mamabear at 9:05 AM on March 24, 2014


Best answer: Oh, three more! In Presidio Heights, Clay and Walnut-ish. There's a lovely playground there.

The 1 California goes relatively close and parking is not too bad. Catching the 1 from the Embarcedero (at Washington) is easiest with young kids. It fills up fast after the first 2 stops but is a really fun ride with lots of hills and interesting people.

Along the same line, Lafayette Park at Clay/Laguna is just awesome. Nicest playground bathrooms in the city.

Alta Plaza at Clay/Steiner/Jackson/Scott. Some climbing to the playground if you park on Clay as opposed to Jackson.
posted by mamabear at 9:12 AM on March 24, 2014


Best answer: The playground in Golden Gate Park (had no idea it was called Koret) is big and awesome. You can take the N-Judah to 9th and Irving (from any of the Market Street BART/Muni stations). There is some parking in the lot, or you can park on Kezar or MLK.

Also the new playground at Lafayette as mamabear suggests. I agree that the bathrooms are very clean. Parking is street only - its fine during the weekdays but might be a problem on the weekend.
posted by radioamy at 10:38 AM on March 24, 2014


Response by poster: Thank you. I think I will suggest Koret and Lafayette. Tilden Farm is closed for another month due to construction...
posted by The Toad at 1:25 PM on March 24, 2014


Frog Park in Oakland is great and it's pretty close to the Rockridge BART station. The Redondo Playground part is better for smaller kids.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:45 PM on March 24, 2014


I loved taking my nephew to Alta Plaza park. Big, grassy, great playground, great view. Lots of parking around it, plus the parking lot by pacific medical center.
posted by alon at 5:27 AM on March 25, 2014


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