I'm 81 yrs old and ate the age of 13 or14 Kelly pool was in our neighborhood that we had not the the only ione but the only one in tarea area that we where allowed into swim in BUT Kelly was first class we went most every Sunday when the swim period was the longest . The other pool didn't allow blacks ! read more

Perhaps the most beautiful pool in N. America! Lap-swim friendly in 2023: The only public pool in Philly where one can swim laps. There are three permanently roped off, 50m-long lap swim lanes! It's big: Olympic sized (50m x 25 m). It's free: No charge! Capacity & time limits: Sometimes when it's really crowded (eg, hot and sunny weekend afternoons), a line forms outside the pool, because they limit capacity to a number that lifeguards can safely support. When there's a line, every 20 or 30 minutes, they'll ask everyone in the pool to leave the pool grounds, and then they'll invite the next batch of people to enter the pool grounds. If there's a line, you could try to ask the gatekeeper if they can say when they'll next clear the pool, so that you could decide whether to enter for that bit of remaining time or wait to enter with the next batch for the full time limit. Family friendly up to a limit: lots of big kids, little kids, babies. I'd guess the pool is 4 feet at the shallowest. There is no wading pool. Fun for grownups to hang out (in 2023): this season they've instituted adults-only hour on weekdays, 6-7 pm. I think kids can continue to hang out on land, but can't be in the pool after 6 pm. Showers are meh: There are 4 outdoor, totally exposed showers (and no indoor or private showers) and their drains tend to swamp with standing water, so you'll want to rinse your feet separately if you shower when exiting. They don't mind if you shampoo and soap in those outdoor showers. Also it sucks that they leave the showers on continuously, wasting hundreds of gallons of water per day. Great setting: Ample parking. Next to beautiful Please Touch Museum, lots of beautiful, soft, green grass for sitting or laying on, and the pool is surrounded by Fairmount Park's acres of picnicking lawn. The rules are pretty standard: wear a swimsuit, no floats. The only things that would make this pool better: more life guards to increase capacity, add a wading pool, add a snack stand (but then they'd always be overcrowded, so they'd have to hire even more lifeguards), let people use floats during adult hour. And clear the shower drain and fix the shower controls so we don't have to waste water and leave them on all day. read more

To many rules and regulations. Can't wear googles with the nose covering , can't have blow up or floats. The only open up one little section . Where we all are piled up and under each other . Can't bring in food or drinks read more

Kelly Pool has all of the potential to be a great summer option. For starters, it's 100% free to visit. It's also HUGE, Olympic sized with partitioned areas for adults, kids, and lap swimmers. It's an easy drive from Center City, parking is plentiful, the water is clean, and there is ample space to set up chairs and towels. We brought a small, inconspicuous cooler of canned spiked seltzers, a couple of chairs, and grabbed a great spot in the corner under the shade. It was the perfect warm, sunny day and the water was absolutely refreshing. ALL UNTIL just twenty minutes into our sunbathing, we're all suddenly ordered to leave the pool. Apparently, the pool had reached capacity (which was weird, because there weren't that many folks around), and there was a line of about 40 people outside the gate waiting to get into the pool. Those of us who had already been in the pool area were ordered to leave the premises and go to the back of the line. It was bizarre, inconvenient, and annoying. Being a group of three, I ordered my friend to run and save our spot in line while my other friend and I packed up all of our stuff. We had set up nice little nook just 15 minutes prior, and we're forced to break down our chairs and pack our bags. We stood in line for about 20 minutes and barely made it in the gate before they reached capacity. Thank goodness our friend ran and held our spot in line, or we easily would've been locked out. After another hour, this cycle began again. It was ridiculous. We decided to leave. I'm not sure what the situation was - a quarter of the pool was unused, and the life guards rude and lazy. We honestly just wanted a place to sunbathe, and only took a little dip. It was obnoxious to be forced to get up and move around so much - either hire more staff or come up with a better system. read more

Kids want to practice swimming on a vacation in Philadelphia, found this place to our surprise, it's big, clean and easy to find parking.

Free for public use beautiful Olympic sized pool but not very hospitable. There are lap lanes that you have prove you are worthy of using by swimming freestyle for however many laps they want you to do, although there were open lanes. I was questioned as to why I didn't have goggles. I guess they have a lot of triathletes come there to swim. Sorry, I just want to swim without a bazillion kids jumping in next to me. "Chlorine checks" require everyone to vacate the pool for upwards of 20 minutes to stand around. I've only been to two Philly public pools, this one by far was the most whistled. About 1/3 was lap lanes, 1/3 closed, 1/3 everyone else. read more

PATTY the lady in charge was so rude to me. We went once , was great. Second time , AWFUL. Me and a friend went trying to enjoy our time there and she comes up to us saying that we can't be in the pool unless we have children, that the adults only swim would be in a hour. Understandable, but i explain to her how we arrived and was let in already, that it is way to hot to wait another hour. She walks off, and when the hour is over we are all told to clear the pool so they can transition into the adults only. We leave and decided why not stay a bit longer it is still hot out. PATTY sees us and stays quiet, about 10 min pass we are about to walk through the gate when she stops us and says "since you guys decided to swim when you weren't supposed to, you can leave". WHAT?? Who does that?? Even the policeman there agreed with us but couldn't go against her wishes and we had to leave. If you were gonna tell us to leave anyway, why make us wait out in the heat? This woman is despicable and doesn't belong working in a job like this that includes children ! BYEEE PATTY read more

It's definitely not a hospitable pool. Full of absurd rules. Life guards don't give example and don't shower. More absurd, lifeguards have break instead of turns and everyone in the pool has to get out on their break. Then, we watch a spectacle of lifeguards enjoy the pool by them selves while everyone else's is waiting the lawn. If you're up to a laughs, this is the place. read more

Unfortunately, You cannot find the schedule when is family time, or when can your kids swim, because you need to go there to ask from staff for the one. One day you can swim between 11-1 with your kids, then on the other day not. Its very frustrating that you have ability to use this wonderful pool, but you cannot due to organizational issues and unpleasant staff there. Good luck, and going there can really be upsetting because of nonsense that you will face with staff there. Shame... read more

Waited in line for 20 minutes only to be told they had reached maximum capacity. This was not posted anywhere. Would have been nice to know ahead of time. read more

Staff is so mean and rude. They make up their own rules that do not make sense just for a power trip. Make sure your child's vest is US Coast Guard approved even though no other children I saw there weren't wearing any kind of rescue devices at all. I was stopped and scolded for having my child wear one but the tag didn't say US Coast Guard approved. No other parents there took any kind of safety measures. Children were dunking each other under water and being extremely unsafe. However, I was singled out because my child was wearing an unapproved vest. read more

Kelly pool is olympic sized and there are partitioned lanes for serious lap time. The pool is always very clean and there is grass around the entire circumference of this lovely pool. The ports potty sometimes runs out of toilet paper, so consider bringing your own. The parking lot lacks official parking for scooters and MCs. read more

This Olympic sized pool is amazing, well run and clean. I can't believe it's free! Great green space to sit also within the pool grounds. 3 lanes for serious swimmers at all times, and plenty of space for leisurely swimming and hanging. Love it! read more