Julius Kahn Playground

Julius Kahn Park is a tidy, green little playground in the Presidio that was refurbished and upgraded within the last ten years or so. It includes a play area with the sculpted soft surface top, swings, several climbing structures, a nearby grassy field, public restrooms (!), a small SF recreation facility (most of these are for rent through City Parks) and benches for sitting. Nearby there is a short hiking trail to Inspiration Point, where you’ll find amazing views through the Presidio and directly down on the Palace of the Fine Arts.
Especially those with kids appreciate a picturesque uncrowded public park with a clean restroom because it means you can stay, play and picnic. Here at JK, you can park free along the side of the road (3 hour parking). The setting has a secluded feeling: you are surrounded by trees, hills and nature. Its always a fun surprise to discover something new in San Francisco that’s been here the whole time.

One of the better playgrounds. A bit of a drive to get there and dirt parking lot. But once u get there early they have a cool saucer swing and some neat playground fixtures u normally dont see elsewhere. Decent bathroom for public playground too

Been here a few times for kid’s birthdays. A fun area enclosed area, for young kids to have fun, be wild, and carefree! Bring your own soap and a canopy for hot days.
There is a large play ground, grassy field for soccer, picnics, etc

Pretty much everything you’d want in a children’s playground. Sunny and shade areas, good climbing equipment, a gated playground, swings and a soccer field plus it’s not too crowded.
The distant view of the GG Bridge isn’t shabby, either.
I reserve giving JK Playground 5 stars because I didn’t check out their restrooms however other reviews claim they’re clean.
Nice place to bring your children just inside the Arguello gate of The Presidio.

1) has bathroom (flush toilet)
2) very nice playground
3) not that crowded.

Great playground in the beautiful, historic Presidio. Lovely Rec Center, nice baseball field, great play structure.
One star taken off for two safety reasons:
First, the dangerous parking situation: if you park your car by the side of the road, you have to *hope* that the cars FLYING up and down this street will slow for pedestrians. There are no signs to tell people where to actually park, and it’s a bit haphazard with people parking this way and that by the side of the road.
Second, folks are pretty lax about closing the gates in the play area, which is especially dangerous because of the aforementioned cars flying up and down the hill.

Love this park.
Amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge, very clean playground area and bathrooms. Tennis Court, baseball field.
Had my sons first birthday here. Very reasonable prices.
Very attentive staff, easy to get ahold of.
I’m only docking one star due to the cleanliness of the inside area. Windows are very dirty and glancing inside it looks messy.

If you’re owned by a person under 4 years old (haha, I’m a Papa), then this hilltop park/​playground is one of the best places in SF to chill out to the insane view of the park and GG bridge (fog is surprisingly permitting before 4pm, april-​sept) while your progeny lose their minds in the panoply of slides, swings, sand, and misc climbing contraptions for 5000 kinds of play.
Afterwards, if they’re not tired out, the basketball and tennis courts provide additional room to air it out. Bonus points for the CLEAN toilets (esp. for toddler toilet training), water fountain and tons of benches!
5 Stars!

I grew up in this park. I first tripped in this park. First baseball game, Flag football, Cigarette, Kiss etc etc.
JK park still is an awesome park with a baseball diamond, basketball court, Tennis court playground, small kids area, hiking areas (dogs welcomed), and wonderful picnic/​people watching place.
People from all over the city come here to let their kiddies play and have fun.
Parking is great but tough on the weekends.
Park and walk all over the park and the surrounding Presidio.

Don’t have kids, but if I did we would bring them here. Very cool safe park with nice walking areas for adults nearby.

Plenty of parking up the street on Saturdays. Cost $ 55 to book the field for a few hours for softball.
Field needs some work — grass is long and has some bumps. First base line has no fence so if you overthrow it, kiss the ball goodbye! Also the right field fence is shallow, probably 225 feet or so and the ball will disappear there too if you hit it over.
Lots of kids playing soccer on Saturdays so gotta be careful.

Of course being a mother I like to review playgrounds, so here’s another park review. First off… this is an amazing park for multipurpose uses — large field, basketball and tennis courts, recreation center, awesome playground. It is located in the famous Presidio in San Francisco. A few minutes each way around, you’d end up in a different part of SF (Exploratorium, Marina, Crissy Field, Golden Gate Park, etc.). Don’t get me wrong… it’s a labyrinth to get here for those who are unfamiliar with the area (like me). However, it was well worth it once we got to the park. It’s tucked away in a fantastic SF neighborhood. We drove to the park in the middle of the week, so parking wasn’t too difficult. I do picture parking being a challenge on weekends though. But who knows… there may have been a parking lot that I missed. The playground is wonderful. Even in the middle of the week, there were lots of children playing. There were two separate structures — one in sand, and the other on astro turf. I’m not a big fan of sand, but it’s not to say that my son isn’t! He loved it. I got dizzy chasing him and trying all the different things the park had to offer. We will see you soon Julius Kahn… hopefully not getting lost the next time.

Hidden gem of a park/​playground on the edge of the Presidio.
Two of the tennis courts have unfortunate cracks in them, but the others are fine. I don’t think most people are even aware this place exists, so you’re pretty much guaranteed a free tennis court even when the weather is good.
Julius Kahn is also a favorite for local birthdays, there are bouncy houses nearly every weekend and the playground is also frequently packed with kiddos. You’ll also find a baseball field and a basketball court and chances are you won’t have to wait to use them either.

First off don’t go by the address on here, it’s wrong!!! MAPLE Is a dead end with no access to West Pacific Avenue. I should have known better with all the accessible parking on Maple.
The closest opening is on Spruce!!!
Anyhow after finding parking and the opening to get to the playground, I let the kids loose. It was rather crowded today with 2 groups, one school and one summer camp program, but still lots of play space to take advantage of. We’ve been to a different park nearly everyday this week and I doubt we’d come out of our way to hit up this park (we just happened to be in the area, killing time while mom was at a Dr’s appt).
It is another updated playground with half on the rubber top and the other half in sand. Basketball court and tennis court nearby, as well as a field and some walking trails. There’s also a hall but I’m not sure if it’s available for rent. Lots of lush and pretty landscaping.

Well, we went back after the big Golden Gate Bridge 75^th Birthday outing, this time with my hunny.
I won’t repeat what I wrote two years ago. It was a different vibe this time, no parties happening now and fewer kids. The kids were all well behaved, and my almost-​kindergartener made three more friends.
I was struck, though, by the different equipment here: the Christmas tree-​like merry-​go-​round, the flying saucer-​like swings, the see-​saw for three people, the rope contraption that you climb on. There’s also a more traditional structure in a sandbox. These, along with the Presidio Heights neighborhood just over the stone wall, make for a good outing for your little ones if they need to blow off some steam while in The City.
Koret Children’s Playground gets a lot of the attention, and it should, but this place should not be passed up.

Another great playground in the City.
In the Presidio with fantastic views, playground itself is medium-​sized, but near by tennis courts, basketball courts, soccer field, baseball diamond and walking paths make it highly diverse. There is also some great landscaping (exotic flowers) which are very well maintained.

I love this park. Oh yeah and so does my nearly two-​year-​old son. Modern equipment, cushy flooring AND sand. The best of both worlds. And such a pretty view of the GG Bridge too!
Rarely do I find garbage here (and we usually come at the crack of dawn before the groundskeepers start their work). This morning one of the staffers let my son who’s *fascinated* with machinary look at his Workman truck. He warned us there are some pointy edges so be careful. He was so friendly… even told me he keeps the deflated soccer balls the kids leave behind so the dogs in the park can chew them up.
I feel safe here because there’s a very defined playground vs. park space, as opposed to some of the older parks that don’t have fencing.
Minus one star for the parking situation and the one spinny chair that’s been broken for months.

Icky water fountain overflowing onto the sand below = a standing cesspool that your kid really can’t avoid.
Gross.

I had been going to Mountain Lake Park since we moved here nearly a year ago because it’s a bigger park with a lake. However, Mountain Lake gets a more eclectic mix of visitors. I once saw a man in a long trench coat walk through the playground, clearly looking out of place like a homeless child molester. Not saying he was, but he looked very disheveled and out of place. Mountain Lake is a cool park, too.
However, Julius Kahn is two blocks away from us, much much closer. I hadn’t been going there as much because coming home is a really steep hill that I don’t look forward to. But I recently rediscovered it and I have to say it’s better than Mountain Lake.
The Clubhouse is a nice bonus for parents or toddlers to get out of the sun. The park is so clean and well-​kept. The flooring is rubber is made of rubber. The swings are clean, my baby loves it.
There are houses that look into the park so it feels safer to know that it’s not secluded.
Very well kept, clean, modern. I need to not be afraid of that hill.

A very nice park in the Presidio. We were waiting for the crowds to die down at the Exploratorium, so we came here.
Its nice coming to a park that is clean and not overrun with drunks and derelicts. The restrooms were clean, too.
To get here, don’t follow your GPS. It will put you on a residential street next to the park but you have to scale a small wall. Enter the Presidio from the gate and make a left down Pacific Av.
On a Friday morning, it was full of Nanny’s taking care of young rich kids. It was easy to tell when you would see the blond hair kids talking to their Hispanic nanny’s in Spanish. Very cute and will be advantageous to them in their futures.
The playground equipment is very nice and the soft cork floor makes it easy for kids to take a spill.
There is also a lot of trails to do walks on. I saw a lot of people walking dogs.