Helen Wills Playground

This is a great little playground with a few good options for toddlers like slides you can go down with them and a sandbox and toddler swings. The only downside is that it’s at a busy intersection with a lot of cars and not much green space around. They do have some story times for kids 0 – 5 on the 4^th Thursday of every month.

Fun neighborhood playground! They have decent restroom facilities and the rec center is available for rent. I only wish that the basketball courts were surrounded by a fence so the little toddler kids don’t have access to it. Other than that, it’s a nice play ground.

This was our favorite playground to take our daughter to in the city. We never found anywhere else that was as friendly and down to earth as this one.
The playground is easily missed when passing by. It doesn’t have the usual swing set, monkey bars, etc., you see everywhere else. The concrete & steel structure thing in the center where the slides come down, and where three concrete tunnels where the kids run through, are the heart of the park,
We took our daughter up to Alta Plaza and Marina Playground in the beginning. Alta is a nice playground, but lots of snobby parents — rich neighborhood. Marina was OK, but it felt weird being there with these very rich kids being cared for by their nannies.
Then we tripped over Helen Willis.
Lost track of the random conversations I had with other dads and moms who brought their kids there. Had a pair of Korean-​Taiwanese sisters nearly adopt my daughter :) Bumped into a mom whom I used to run with at Niketown. Was funny to see each other years later, after we had started our families. Met a dad who was happy to introduce my daughter to blowing bubbles. Saw several other kids & parents from our daughters old daycare taking their kids there. It was like our weekly daycare had a weekend extension.
Also met the nicest groundskeeper in the world as he was cleaning up after a birthday party at the community center. The park has been there since the 1950’s. Went through a scary period in the 80’s and 90’s, with junkies shooting up and dumping their needles overnight. Then 2004 time frame it got cleaned up completely and locked up after dark to keep it clean and safe.
I learned from the groundskeeper that several generations of local kids grew up on the swings, learned to shoot hoops. Back when the city had more money, there were tons of after school programs. He personally introduced a lot of the local Chinese kids to various American foods during after school snack time.
Glad my daughter got to play here for a little while. And glad I got to introduce her to this place.
Will miss the place awful I think…

Love this playground. It has really nice foam flooring under the kids play area. I have no concerns if my child is running around and falls because the impact is absorbed. It’s a little sterile but that’s also a plus. I’ve been here and seen workers sweeping and picking up litter. yay! Also, for the most part, bathroom are stocked with soap & paper goods except on busy weekends.
Sandbox is a nice size and the parents here are very good about teaching their kids about sharing. Love it when there are parents who are involved. Plenty of nannies here as well, you’ll often see the chatting together although there are some that really annoy me when they ignore the kids and surf on their smart phones.
Also great place for basketball. Almost always a great game going on here.

I don’t go here a lot anymore. Although I still like the stuff there. It is a good park for me. Sometimes the bathrooms are closed when I need to go. I suggest Unilocal will change «Playground» to «Park» like what it’s called and Helen Wills add more basketball hoops.

Lived on Russian Hill for 4 years now and I have come to the conclusion only recently that Helen Wills Playground gets the 5 stars out of any playground in the neighborhood.
I feel very safe there, it is very clean, perfect for my children’s stages. 18months, 3 years and 4 years. and the bathrooms are attached to the playground and are very clean.
Other thing is there is plenty of space to run and climb without bumping into other children.

Really great playground here. Absolutely perfect for the 2−4yrs crowd. Lots of great things to climb, slides, a great sand box, couple swings and huge basketball court. It’s also never too busy. I’ve been many times with the 1.5 year old that I take care of, and it’s just perfect for him.

I always liked Helen Wills. even as a kid. Even with the weird wooden play structure they had, I liked it because it was unique. But I LOVE Helen Wills now ever since they remodeled. It looks so BEAUTIFUL !! =] It has a play structure, a tennis court, a basketball court, and two ping pong tables inside. They also have games such as chess and checkers. It’s just a wonderful playground. It gets 5 stars in my book !!

This is a hidden gem of a playground. In my mind, it’s second only to the fantastic Koret Children’s Playground in Golden Gate Park. Helen Wills Park is in a pretty obscure location, so most San Franciscans probably don’t know about it, but it’s a really fantastic, neighborhood-​friendly space. On the one hand, I’d like more people to discover it, but at the same time, I’m glad it’s never crowded or trashed.
I spend several hours every day with 15 – 20 third graders, and we come here a couple times a month. There are tennis courts, basketball courts, an indoor recreation center with several ping pong tables, chess sets and board games, an enormous and safe outdoor play structure on a foam-​like ground (Both safe and smart!), a sandbox, swings, many balls and bikes and kiddie wagons around, and even an early childhood room which gives out free, healthy snacks every afternoon between 4pm-​5pm.
It’s a space that’s good for kids of all ages. The tennis and basketball courts attract some of the neighborhood Chinatown teens, and not to mention other adults and seniors. The rest of the playground is great for elementary-​aged kids; my kids always have a great time here. Also, a note for supervising adults: the outdoor structure has these, what I would call, aerial bridges which are PERFECT if you need to supervise large groups of children. I generally walk onto a bridge, and it gives me a good birds-​eye view of where all my 20 kids are, which is SO useful if you have more than a few kids to watch for.
I’m also big on healthy snacks, and this place does more than its share to promote good eating for kids. Today, I lined my kids outside the little center, and they each got a fruit juice box and/​or milk, as well as an orange. Kids/​normal people are really into free food, and what better way to take advantage of that than by giving them the right kinds of foods, right?
So, in conclusion, if you’re in the neighborhood, this is a great place to take kids for an hour or so. Heck, even if you don’t have kids, you should go too if you play any basketball or tennis. As for the kids, you can sit back and relax because with the amount of stuff going on here, they’ll definitely be able to amuse themselves for a long time.
Only one negative note: This park is kind of at a really busy intersection. The city was obviously NOT thinking when they were building it. The gate to the playground is also never locked, so it’d be a good idea to be aware of this, being mindful of any kids stumbling out of the park and into the streets.