I'm loving San Francisco and all of its quirky surprises. Nestled in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood is a hidden park with two concrete slides carved into the hillside. The Seward Street Slides are so unexpected--a rare urban delight that you don't expect to find in litigious America. Because of its clandestine location (you won't find it unless you're looking for it), its unknown to most San Franciscans, and the park's nearby residents would probably prefer to keep it that way. Too bad the secret's already out. Sorry, nearby neighbors. I discovered it while doing a search for interesting things to do in the city. There's already a fan following on Yelp.
In need of a study break, I met Cait for lunch and suggested that we try to find these concrete slides. She had no idea what I was talking about, and she's lived in the city for years. I only had a vague idea of where the slides were (and secretly doubted their existence), so we stopped a couple of times to ask for directions from some friendly locals. Cait was a little skeptical when the directions kept leading us up and further up the steep hills with no sign of any park or slides. It was a trek, but worth it when we finally found them. Part of the slides attraction is the tucked away location that makes you feel like you've stumbled onto a little secret.
There are scraps of cardboard cut from boxes left in a pile of sand for you to ride on, or you can BYO cardboard. We also found plastic McDonald's trays that people left behind for riding, and even a metal baking pan, if you're feeling really adventurous. It's pure reckless fun--the kind that makes you feel like you are six again.
The slides are deceptively fast. People sometimes hurt themselves having too much fun. A little boy actually warned us of its dangers, telling us about his older sister who had to wear a scarf for a month because of a cement burn she got on her neck. "It's dangerous, you can get really hurt," he said with wide eyes. Still, how could we resist? The two slides just beg to be, well, slided on...And since there are two, you can race your friends.
So if you're looking to get reacquainted with your inner child, or just want to look for something different to do in the city, the slides are worth a visit. But be conscious of the posted signs about the noise (for the neighbors' consideration), and know that they cite people if you try to slide after hours. The park is only open from 9am - 5pm, which is a rule that the neighbors make sure is enforced. I guess if I lived there, I wouldn't want all kinds of drunk crazies trekking to my neighborhood to ride the slides at 2am either.
How to get there? The slides are located on Seward and Douglass. It can be accessed from 20th Ave, which is very walkable from the Castro neighborhood if you're willing to brave the hike up into the San Francisco hills.
