Cal Anderson Park

This park is located just off Broadway. Great park to meet up with friends, play football, kickball, baseball/​softball, soccer, tennis, skate, relax with the family or walk around with your dog. I usually come here to practice football with my team, which is usually in the afternoon.
There’s street parking just east of the park.
Since its just off Broadway, it’s a great place to enjoy a meal from Dick’s or ice cream from Molly moon.
At night, it can get pretty live! Just keep in mind it is in the city so you will encounter some of those who will ask for some spare change.

I don’t like on Capitol Hill anymore, but I sure do have trips down memory land when I walk through this park. From being 18 and a freshman in college, sipping lattes at Vivace and pretending to read sociology textbooks and looking over at the fountain, to being a bit intoxicated and camping on on the fake astroturf as a post graduation cynical 24 year old, this park will always have a soft spot in my heart; a memoir, in a sense, of a time in my life for when I did a lot of growing the f**k up.
I still make pilgrames in the warmer months so I can be a Seattle stereotype and stick my feet in the water of the fountain. Just watch out for syringes.

This park is pretty awesome, great place to hang out during the summer!
Cal Anderson is the everyone park: a fountain, basketball, ping pong, playground, open fields… there’s a little something for everyone offered here.

great park. one of the best actually. last summer i met an artist painting in the park. oil paints on a large canvass. he had been working on this piece for several years. The painting depicted a scene on mars. A mexican NASA astronaut shown planting a mexican flag on a subterranean martian landscape. there was a tiny flying saucer and a step pyramid in middle. The artist gave an elaborate description of all the symbolic elements in the painting which including flowing subterranean rivers and prominent astronaut footprint in the martian soil. great painting AA++. I hope to run in to this fellow again someday at cal anderson to check out what he has been working on.
the park also includes a large water feature, synthetic grass playfield, basketball courts, and all sorts of interesting folks. there are many happy looking dogs running around doing dog things. I once saw a young man struggling to remove the shoe from a prosthetic leg that i am assuming he found in the park. after managing to free the shoe from the leg he discarded the leg and kept the shoe. My mind often returns to this scene when i am around Cal Anderson. where did the leg come from? what was this man’s intent with the shoe? the universe is full of secrets.
A+++ would park again.

My favorite day at Cal Anderson is spent sitting on the side of the fountain, running my fingers through the cold water. Then I snap a few pictures to catch the motion of the fountain and go about enjoying the rest of the park. If you have little ones, there’s a wading pool nearby that’s partially covered by the shade of a few trees.
There’s a field with turf for those who like that sort of thing. I’m more of a lazy park kinda gal. There’s a play area for kids with a few cool places for grown up types to sit and wait. If you’re into lying on the grass and reading a book, there’s plenty of spots for that as well.
Overall, the park is accessible to a lot of businesses so if you get hungry or thirsty, you’ll no doubt find what you need.

Cal Anderson Park is like a mini amusement park. EVERYTHING is here:
+Playground
+Basketball
+Soccer
+Benches — lots and lots of benches
+Bathrooms
Aside from the mosquitoes, I can’t say anything bad about this park. We watched several people playing «bike polo,» which I did not even know was a thing until now. A crowd gathered around the court, someone had a boombox playing (what year is this?!), so it was quite a show. Others played kickball in the field, walked dogs, or relaxed on benches near the fountains.
As the night gets later, the park doesn’t appear to be dangerous, but there are crowds that gather outside the bars across the street.

Awesome lit park parallel to Broadway. Bring everybody! And a picnic basket. Watch people. Baseball. Basketball. Tennis. Bike polo. Frisbee dogs. So many tasty eats within a two block radius.

During the school year, it’s a great place to get some air, study on the grass or by the fountain, and people watch. I also eat lunch here sometimes when it’s sunny outside.
Homeless people come here every now and then and use the bathrooms. They are so friendly and nice. One of my college classes decided to have a potluck and my classmates and I decided to share the excess food with the homeless people and they were no less than friendly and thankful.
It’s a great environment in the morning when there are dog walkers, joggers, kids playing and running, and sometimes sport games going on. I wouldn’t hang out here if it was really late.
At night, anytime I pass by after getting off work, I get stares or catcalls and I guess that’s where a lot of men «people harass» and it’s really annoying and uncomfortable.

It’s nice that there’s a park in the middle of my favorite neighborhood, but the place is always dirty and people are always doing drugs here. I’m not sure how people can bring their kids here and not have the smell of marijuana bother them. There are basketball and tennis courts, baseball fields and a small playground for kids. There’s a fair amount of space for dogs to roam. But I suggest going to Volunteer Park if on Capitol Hill. Its much spacier and cleaner.

Cal Anderson Park is one of the most popular parks on Capitol Hill. It is quite a large park as it covers about two city blocks. There is plenty to do here as there are tennis courts, a soccer and baseball field. There is also a children’s playground and some nice water fountains displays.
It is great to visit during the daytime on a sunny day. Though being in the core of the city, it can get sketchy here at times. Even criminal. Try to avoid the park at night, or at least keep in well lit areas. Despite the bad elements, Cal Anderson Park is a nice spot.
Plenty to do here. Or not, if you just want to enjoy doing nothing and take in the beauty of the park.

Saw someone overdose in the middle of the day. He died in front of families and children. This park has a homeless/​drug addiction problem.
Update: police presence has gone up in the park BUT violence is still an issue.

Beautiful park with a lot to offer such as a baseball field, basketball court, playground, and fountain you could play in.
However, there are a TON of homeless people hanging around here, sleeping under trees, sitting my the fountain, and smoking in groups. Groups and groups of them, with shopping carts, luggages, and all.

Awesome turf field, grass, courts, fountain, and location. In the middle of Capitol Hill area, this is a great place to be! I come here often to play pick-​up sports. Soccer during the weekday nights. Ultimate Frisbee on Saturday mornings. Spike ball on Sunday afternoons. Well there is a tennis court, basketball court, and a court for Bike Polo. And Friday night — late night dodge ball, which is crazy! They did installed a brand new Ping Pong table. It’s a big park, and it is pretty clean. Well the bathrooms are similar to any other Seattle rec bathrooms, stinky. Police station is near by, so is the fire station, so you know you are safe.
I always drive and park for free on 12^th ave & Pine. There are lots of paid parking spaces around the park. A lot of activities goes on here during the sunny months. Kids running around near the play ground and the water fountain. It’s great for all ages. Woohoo!

HAHA!!! How this disgusting park has a 4.5 star review honestly has to be the biggest joke ever. There are homeless people in every square inch of the park. During my softball games (which were unfortunately played at cal Anderson), there was a homeless couple having sex in the foul ball section in the outfield. AND later we found out they also had a new born somewhere under all their rubbish. Also, before every game, there are at least 2 homeless people taking up the entire dugout with their shopping carts and various trash and god knows what else dropped out from them.
Going forth: the AstroTurf. It is clear that the turf has not been maintained for several years. One slide to 2^nd base and say hello to flesh eating bacteria, MRSA, and a dirty needle going up your knee.
Thirdly; the bathrooms. I have seen some bad bathrooms, but my god this one had to be the worst one I’ve ever seen. Toilet paper fully overflows the entire toilet. The toilet is absolutely disgusting and is truly unusable.
Over all– great concept… but terrible park infested with drugs, homeless people and gross bathrooms.

Located centrally at the Pike /​Pine corridor of Capitol Hill, Cal Anderson park is great for playing sports, have a picnic since there is so much good eats around there, just chillin in the sun, take a nap, and my favorite is people watching. You can play tennis, basketball, softball field used as multi-​purpose for soccer, ultimate frisbee, team building games, and spikeball… I dont get that game.
Artificial turf on the main field, but there are some grassy spots around it and some trees if you need shade. Dog and kid friendly park. Its nice to sit out in the sun here, hang out with a friend, and just relax with a delicious Molly Moon’s ice cream from across the street. If you keep walking to the other side, there are some sculptures/​fountains to check out.
There are some downsides to this place such as the huge amount of vagrants, hobos and just strange individuals. No one has ever bothered me but its sometimes annoying when they are openly peeing when clearly there is a restroom 100ft away. During the day its fine, but at night its not the greatest spot to be in.
Overall, I enjoy coming here and a cool spot to chill!

Cal Anderson is for everyone and every kind of activity.
Day drinking picnic? Cal Anderson.
Bike polo, soccer, basketball, tennis and softball? Cal Anderson.
Dog friendly? Cal Anderson.
Kid friendly? Cal Anderson.
Kid-​hating adult friendly? Cal Anderson.
Need a spot to meet up with a friend? Cal Anderson.
^See where I’m going with this?
If I grab food from anywhere that’s too crowded on the Hill, I’ll happily eat it here. Cal Anderson is also host to cool events. Summer movie nights in this park are a lot of fun and a ton of people come out for them. I’ve seen it full of people drunk enough to get up and dance at the end of Footloose.
The vibes of the park completely change between different areas — find your niche, guys. You gonna pull a Tina Belcher and watch baseball butts or read at one of the benches by the fountain?

I actually really like this park. It’s full of druggies, homeless, baseball, soccer, softball, frisbee players, basketball players, runners, students and sunbathers. It is part «trail» running, part artificial turf, part whatever.
It’s across from a community college, karaōke bar, running store and ice cream shop. I mean, what more could you want? This place is perfectly Capitol Hill. Oh, and I have my running group at least once a week here so it’s my chance to people watch without being rude. Yes, I’m watching YOU.

It’s nice to have a park in the middle of the city, no doubt. For that I’m grateful. If only the place were a bit more. interesting. There are a couple of austere fountain-​pond-​things, bordered by a series of rigidly perpendicular benches. It feels altogether awkward, like a city bureaucrat and not an architect designed the place. The stepping stones and pyramid on the fountain provide a little visual interest, but they’re not compelling. The nearby light rail construction, and the ravine dividing the park from Broadway, don’t help the mood.
The place is tolerable by Seattle’s haphazard standards, but when we’re comparing with the great cities of the world — or even many quiet towns — this place feels artificial.
In the winter this place is downright unpleasant — weirdly empty and even deader than usual. Summer is more tolerable, with more activity, green grass, and organized events like parties and protests and concerts and all manner of revelry.
If we’re being honest, this is the place you go to make out with someone when you’re on a date but you’re tired from walking around all day. The benches have you covered. For that alone I am thankful to Cal Anderson, wherever he is now.

Cal Anderson Park is one of the most popular parks on Capitol Hill. If Volunteer Park is where residents go to escape, Cal Anderson Park is where they come together.
The park serves as the venue for numerous community events throughout the year. It is quite a large park as it covers about two city blocks. There is plenty to here as there are tennis courts, a soccer and baseball field. There is also a children’s playground and some nice water fountains displays here.
It is great to visit during the daytime on a sunny day to do some sunbathing or simply read a book in the sun. Though being in the core of the city, it can get sketchy here at times. Even criminal. Try to avoid the park at night, or at least keep in well lit areas.
Despite the bad elements, Cal Anderson Park is a nice spot to go for Capitol Hill residents to stay active rather than be stuck in their apartments all day. Plenty to do here. Or not, if you just want to enjoy doing nothing and take in the beauty of the park.

This isn’t a park… it’s an outdoor recreation center. It’s great for tennis, basketball, baseball, soccer etc. but let’s be honest: like the rest of Capitol Hill, it’s not that green. It’s great for people watching but it’s loud during the day and sketchy at night. Nothing wrong with a rec center for sports but let’s call it what it is.
P. S. Beware of the condoms on the ground.

Ce parc n’est pas très grand, mais il a quand même quelques trucs pour plaire ! Surtout au soleil, cela va sans dire. La fontaine au centre est réussie, les étendues de pelouse agréables si vous voulez vous poser un petit peu. Il y a aussi quelques spots qui ont du potentiel photographique aux alentours. Ce n’est pas assez étendu pour y faire l’intégralité de votre footing, mais le parc dispose de courts de basketball, tennis et vous pourrez aussi y faire du baseball, sympa.
Bref vous n’y passerez pas vos vacances, mais si vous n’êtes pas loin ça reste un détour agréable, surtout en grignotant/​sirotant un petit truc acheté dans un des nombreux commerces aux alentours.