5 stars for awesome an awesome playground which has some unique features. 3 stars for copious park denizens making you feel a little on edge. Brings the average to 4. Our favorite coffee shop (Grinds and Vine) is a couple of blocks away, so we walked down there and picked up some drinks from there and walked back to the park. There was plenty of street parking- it was the first Friday of summer vacation. Not sure how parking fares other days of the year. The kids had a fantastic time on all the playground equipment. Heck, I had fun climbing on some of it with them. It was generally well kept up. The ground is part sand, part that rubber mat stuff. The park had a frog theme, there's one part where you can balance on the frog's tongue that's catching a dragonfly. There's also a sundial that you stand on and your shadow casts the time. Now for the park residents... I'm usually not at all uncomfortable with a couple of homeless people living in parks we visit, but there were probably 30 or so. Mostly quite friendly, but they took up pretty much all the picnic tables and many shady spots, as well as used the bathroom to take sink-baths. But who wouldn't want to hang out at such a nice park. My husband and I decided if we ever ended up homeless, this would be our prime location too! :-) There is a baseball/soccer field that was being renovated. No doors on the restroom stalls, so pee before you arrive. Checkers boards on the tables. There is also a community center in the same block but we didn't go check that out. I'm not sure if the park and community center are affiliated, but when I search the community center on Yelp, it comes up with this park. So note that my review does not include any of that. We will be back, despite the inhabitants. read more

North Park Community Park - Playgrounds Near Me - San Diego, California

Soccer, baseball/softball, tennis, basketball, pickleball, handball, and tons of things going on at the community center (tap dancing kids, pottery classes, etc.). Kudos to the caretaker of this park because there's always overflowing trash bins for him to deal with. And it just wouldn't be North Park without the homeless. It used to be an encampment but the police have done a good job of shuffling them along - well that and all the puppies you'll see. The dog walkers have also done a good job of making them feel uncomfortable. There's also a dog park on the other side near the water tower. read more

North Park Community Park - From the Ted Williams Park with the iconic NP Water Tower - Playgrounds Near Me - San Diego, California

The park is in bad shape. It is like a lost park. It is not very well maintained. It has a little playground area, a restroom facility, a fenced in dog park, and some green space. There is tons of free street parking on the parks perimeter. The green space has a couple of picnic tables to sit, but it was basically an area that dog owners were using to play fetch with their dogs. It could be suitable for picnics, playing football, playing soccer or playing catch. The dog park is just a dirt area with a fence around it. It was packed. The playground area is on a bed of sand with rubber surfaced walkways. There is a bank of traditional swings, a bank of toddler swings, a large jungle gym with a bridge and some slides, a smaller jungle gym with some slides. and some things to slide and climb on. I am not sure if it is part of the park or not, but their is an ball field, that is in OK condition there. But it was locked up tight with a huge fence and no one can get onto the field. The bathroom facility was locked up too for some reason. You will find a desolate recreation center. I would assume that it is no longer operational or functional by the way it looks. The roof is in despair and the building is falling apart. This park has lots of potential, but has a long way to go. It seems to be neglected by the city. As it stands now, I would probably pass this park up and find a another spot to hang out. read more

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This park is nice during the day. Sometimes they have fun events like movies and carnivals. But beware at night, this park is some people's homes and it is treated that way. My bf almost got punched in the face by a homeless here read more

We love to explore a park/playground every week with our littles and decided to come here recently for the first time. I loved that the park is surrounded by parking spots. It made it easy to find a spot but if I couldn't, it is mostly residential around the park so I know I would have been able to find a spot on a close by street. The park is pretty large. We parked on the opposite side of the playground and we walked through the grassy area. There were a good amount of groups of people hanging out and there was even a birthday party with a bounce house but there was still a ton of space for our kids to run around. The playground is fun. There are 2 different structures and there are swings. My oldest stayed with the smaller, older structure and had a ton of fun on it. We went to the big one a couple of times but he wasn't having as much of fun on it. The ground of the playground is mostly sand and a little bit of the bouncy rubbery material. The sand had quite a bit of litter in it. Cigarette butts, garbage, and god knows what else which I didn't love. We do love the bouncy rubbery material though. I think my biggest issue with the playground is that there isn't much shade. There isn't added shade but there are a few toppers as part of the equipment. The problem with that is that there is no shade over the slides, which is basically the best part of the equipment. I believe that is why my son didn't want to hang out on the bigger structure. It hurt to be on it because it was so hot and sunny that day. There are also ball fields. When we were there a kickball league was playing my boys had a ton of fun watching them and they were all so kind to the kids. Overall, this is an okay place. Love the grass, the size, and the parking but my stage of life depends on a playground and I feel the playground needs a couple of things to be even better. read more

Community friendly park with recreation. Plenty of parking... never an issue when I arrive. Located behind the water tower in a cute neighborhood. Herbalife work out events held in the recreation center. Thanks to my dear friend for helping me to get it right get it tight for Hawaii!! read more

Normally parks are parks but this is where we play Kickball weekly. It's best trait is the parking situation. No matter what time you come to your game (whether it's 6 pm or 9 pm), there is always parking. The neighborhood is safe enough even if you parked a couple of blocks away. The field is not crappy like most that are in the inner city. With most budget cuts focused on the recreation part of the budgets, the city keeps this one good. The only problem with an early game during summer is the abundance of noisy kids in the playground(but what do you expect, its a park). And no ALCOHOL, this is the law. So those people drinking from brown paper bags are just drinking gatorade (they put them in brown paper bags because they are not really gatorade, its the imitation one ( allirade-the cheap knockoff). So if you are looking for a relatively clean park with a playground, this is your bet. It's also close to bars that you can visit after the game. read more

Great place to take the kids or to have a picnic... There's a playground and sand box to keep your little ones busy. There are also a bathroom and grassy areas to have a picnic under a shady tree. It is located next to the North Park water tower. There are lots of street parking. read more

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I mainly use the 3 tennis courts here. Its usually not too busy except on weekends. There are benches so its not too bad to chill while you wait for a court to open up. Players here are around 2.5-3.5 level. I've seen a few serious players but not often. This means that youll be getting several stray balls on your courts if all three courts are in use. Courts are in solid condition. They aren't really swept so random debris builds up from time to time. read more

North Park Community Park - 3 courts - Playgrounds Near Me - San Diego, California

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Was in the area and brought my niece to this park . Parking was easy to find. A lot of homeless hang out here and odd people stay parked in their car. As we were finishing up I was putting her back inside the car I looked over to the car next to me and noticed a guy watching porn. First and last time I visit this park. read more

When I first moved to San Diego, my realtor told me not to live next to this park because of the quantity of transient individuals that spend time here. This is definitely not a good selling strategy, and while there are multiple indidviduals that may not have anywhere else to stay, they have never bothered me. There are soccer fields and a baseball field that is usually taken over by drunk Vavi kickballers. The playground portion actually seems pretty nice with a spongy ground and a cute frog motif. The fields are pretty bad, but I can always blame my poor passing on the terrain. This is a convenient neighborhood park where you may see familiar faces, but really nothing special. Mostly seems like a place where the youngins go to do bad stuff. Parking here has always been tough for me, so I'd recommend walking before your park activities. read more

I'm always looking for a new park for my daughter to play and meet other mommies, of course. I don't think this was the park to do that. I like how the playground looked overall. When we walked up the first sign (should of took a Pic) playground is designed for ages 5-12yrs. I know a lot of parks say that but ,this is a true statement for this park. It was a bummer because my daughter is 2yrs. She attempted at some of the playground but she is too small. So if you have small children beware theirs not much they can do. I did like find all 100 Frogs in the park. My daughter enjoyed looking for them. I like how they put little facts on the playground. I did feel a little uncomfortable. There were a lot of solicitors and homeless roaming and hanging out around the park. There was also a lot of trash laying around the playground defiantly not good for they younger kids that would prob pick it up and play with it . read more

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I happened to stop by this park cause I was driving around and my kid was begging for a slide. I knew this was within the vicinity and stopped. What a DUMP. The playground looked promising from afar but once I got out of the car and saw it up close, there was no going back cause my kid was far too excited. I can't blame her, she doesn't know any better. Putting her back in the car was asking for a full blown meltdown. The playground equipment itself is really nice, nicer than some other local parks, the problem is that it's in a craptacular area and a lot of it has tagging and crappy graffiti on it. You are such a rockstar for putting your name on a swing set you see! The sand pits looked more like trash receptacles because the sand was FILTHY with trash, bottle caps and god knows what else. The sand was everywhere, even in the walkways. It just looked like no one cares about what their kids play on. When the slides look like they're gonna give you an STD I couldn't help but be disgusted and angry that a playground for children would get so little maintenance from the city. It was seriously revolting. On top of the aforementioned there are a lot of seedy looking homies and homeless vagrants hanging around. It just isn't a conducive environment to have a playground for children, let alone toddlers. If you want a good park to go to in the North Park vicinity, you're better off hitting Bird or Trolley Parks. I won't be going back here ever, I felt dirty for going here and not in that good dirty kinda way either. I feel like scrubbing my kid in bleach after being there. read more

I like this park. Theres something about it that reminds me of a neighborhood park, kinda like sesame street... but with the drugs and crackheads they didnt show on TV. Ha, just kidding. So this place used to be ghetto. Like REAL ghetto, with hookers and the drugs and crackheads I mentioned earlier. They put in a police substation, so its gone for the most part, but you will see homeless people kickin it or sleeping in the shade. Theres a recreation center with basketball, tennis courts, handball, etc. The only reason its not getting a 5 star is because theres a lot of trash here. Theres wrappers and food particles on the ground occasionally, not overbearingly disgusting but enough to notice them. Its more like people dont care and just dont properly clean up after themselves. This park seems to get a lot of use which is awesome. I like to walk my doggy here. Yay for public open spaces in the city! Other reviews were right regarding the somewhat sketchy characters (dont worry, theyre harmless!), hoochie mamas chillin (the half a can of aquanet and penciled on eyebrows type-of-hoochie) and ghetto peeps. Theres this cool looking turtle thing on the playground that I find interesting. I wanna take pictures by it but im afraid to in case people think im some kind of creeper. read more

I go here a lot even though I can't stand it. I live down the street; it's convenient to take my dog here and run laps. I'm always grateful when I make it home alive. A lot of the hoodrats celebrate their children's birthdays here. As a result, the ground is littered with junk food wrappers and empty cups all the time. read more

I went to the baseball fields here once, because I wanted to throw a frisbee around and run a bit. Well, this place was ok for just tossing a frisbee...there was enough grass. However, the grass was spotty and/or dry in a lot spots, and this park seemed really dusty as a result. I ran around the perimeter of the park. The distance was ok, but because the ground wasn't even, I nearly turned my ankle once or twice. Visit this park if it's convenient and you want to get outdoors for a bit, but it's not worth going out of your way for... read more

Cool park to take kids or a picnic date. There's a big field for football, soccer, kite flying etc., plus a baseball field(if you don't mind jumping a fence). There's bums @every park and this one's no different. Most are nice enough, but I almost got into it with one once lol. read more

North Park Community Park - Playgrounds Near Me - San Diego, California

It's your average neighborhood park, complete with hobos and children sharing space in perfect harmony. I wouldn't say it's the safest area, but I've walked my dog here two-to-three times everyday, morning, noon, and night-- sometimes midnight. I see a lot of bad reviews, but it isn't that bad. Lots of people walk their dogs here and people take naps under the shade of trees in the hot sun. It does what it aims to do, be a park for the people and not just a park for upper middle class elitists. Of course you'll want to lock your doors and make sure your crap is out of the car before parking at night! read more

I visited this park recently after a very long time. The park has changed a lot, and I like the new playground area. The neighborhood is quiet, and there is plenty of parking. Unfortunately, you can not get away from the transients, and yes you do see them around the park; but as long as they do not get close to my kids, or myself am ok. Coming to this park brought me a lot of childhood memories. read more

I love this park. It is important that people know how important it is to the community. The park and recreation dept of city of san diego do their best to maintain this park in terms of trash pick up and seeding the lawn, but it is soooo used that it is impossible for them to keep it as clean as some parks that are not as well used. I love the old trees and the fact that it draws a lot of families on weekends to have parties. The firemen play sports here as well as local middle schools. Police patrol here often and their presence is very welcome. I hope our neighbors will help keep this park clean and vandalism/crime free. And I hope the North Park Associations will have more concerts and community events here. read more

This park is wide open for outdoor outings with the family. I like to run around this park with my dog. Great lively atmosphere with people always walking around. Right next to a dog park and by the gorgeous balboa park. Plenty of trendy restaurants nearby. read more

I was hoping this park would be a little nicer. There's a ton of space for doing just about everything you might want to do, but unfortunately that includes drinking alcohol and using drugs for some. This is a safe place generally speaking but the sheer number of homeless people gives the place an interesting vibe. It's kinda hard to play soccer or fly a kite with a bunch of people camped out in the middle. read more

This park can be janky at times but my dog and I love that its so damn close to us. There may be bums at times and a crowd of thugs but the bums aren't bothering anybody and I smoke and drink with the thugs. I let my dog run around and meet other local dog owners. There's plenty of milfs here in the morning letting the rugrats run around and always cute chicks playing tennis. NA meetings usually are kicking off in the grass as I'm chiefing but I respect them and just move down wind. I love to stretch out at the water tower and make my laps around the park running.This park is North Park. read more

I enjoy coming here and lying out on the grass while reading a good book. Also a great place for family outings, birthday parties for the kids, you name it. They even have a pretty nice playground! read more

Cool park, lots of structures for your little one to climb and conquer. Area is a little sketchy but no one bothers you while you're at the park. Parking isn't an issue either read more

I came down here on a whim, thinking I might be able to play on the tennis courts as this park has 3 instead of just one at the usual place I play, which I never have to wait too long for, but with the nicer weather coming out now, there's been more activity. Thus more waiting. I was wrong and now regret my decision haha. The park is very... I don't know how to put it in words haha. Urban? It's in the middle of North Park, surrounded by the city and not much to look at but buildings and apartments. A couple cop cars parked on the side. I was there with someone to play tennis with, around 6:30 and all three courts were full so we decided to circle the park a couple times while we waited. A couple hobos were camped out on the side, spray painting what were most likely stolen bikes. In fact, I'm 100% sure they were stolen because when I looked over, the guy said 'I'm tired of people calling the cops on me!' LMAO!! In the center of a park what a pop up shade thing with a bunch of other guys working on bikes and swapping parts out on some bikes. It just looked out of place and a bit shady. I know bike theft is a huge crime in San Diego so it's just something that came to mind. There was an adult kickball league playing at one of the baseball fields and that all looked fun. The reps were there giving out stuff and brochures on how to sign up and answering questions people had. It looked like a great time! The rec center was also in full use. You could hear the squeks of shoes on the basketball court. A small soccer field was in use as well. My main complaints are that the parking was so crowded, I ran into hobo's and sketchy looking people a couple times, and nobody got off the tennis courts for the almost hour and a half I had been circling. I got absolutely nothing done at this park but get a bad taste for it. With so many beautiful places in San Diego, I don't see me coming back to this one. Sorry guys! read more

If I could give this zero stars I would. The only good thing about this park is that it's big. There are homeless people everywhere, the bathrooms are filthy, and there is trash everywhere. The worst part was that my car was stolen within ten minutes of being there. Not a safe place for your kids. read more

This park is going through a transition but I'm starting to see a transition here. More park benches might be beneficial but plenty of open area to run around in. You may run into homeless people and some thugs but slow but surely hipsters and Portlandia peeps are taking over! Yeah for that! read more

This park is spacious with wonderful trees and a clean well maintained playground. There is ample parking. Beautiful place to bring the family and relax. read more

I use this park for the Tennis courts. There are three courts and I haven't had too much trouble using them depending on the time of day you go. The park nearby is nice and there is a lot of room for activities or a picnic. Seems safe as well which is a plus. read more

Everytime I go there I see a lot of homeless taking over the grassy area. The bathrooms are really dirty and there is a ton of flys. I took my girls to have a picnic there and flys kept attacking our food. I like that the park is close to my house and that the play area for the kids has a lot of activities but I would not dare come here when it gets dark! read more

This park is walking distance from our house and it's great to have it nearby. The play structures are great, with some stuff for the toddler set and some for older kids, too. Yes, homeless people sometimes hang out there, so use your common sense. There are also people of various ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, which is normal for our neighborhood. I have never, ever had a problem at this park - but I don't require complete homogeneity in order to be comfortable. If you do, please stay away - we like it better without you anyway. read more

The kids think this park is the greatest! The playground gets a lot of wear and tear from hundreds of kids playing on it day in and day out, but the kids don't care. There's a bunch of hidden frogs here. Can you find them all? read more

There's nothing wrong with the park. The only issues I have ever seen are with the people on this comment board stereotyping individuals. Yes, there are homeless people. Yes there are teenagers. Yes, there are black, white, brown, yellow, red and all other colors of dogs at the park, along with their diverse human owners. And yes, improvements can be made as they can anywhere. The park has individuals coming to it from all walks of life and personally I prefer it that way. Making ignorant posts that stereotype with little basis of fact is divisive, bigotry and probably racist in some cases. All of which is the opposite to defining "community park." While drug use, prostitution, and litter are still realistic characteristics of El Cajon Blvd area, the park is not a meth house, brothel or city dump. But I would like to reach out to the individuals who think the park is subpar. Please do your civic duty and report any wrong doings, issues, and or positive feedback to the proper organization(s). And that is not Yelp. Be an active member and contribute positive input to help make "our" community a safe and happy place for "everyone." See people for what they are, people who live a life day to day just like you do, and not for what you have made them out to be without ever meeting them. North Park Rec info/Contact: http://www.sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/centers/recctr/northpark.shtml North Park Council Representative http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd3/communities/northpark.shtml Anthony Bernal E-mail: abernal@sandiego.gov City of San Diego http://www.sandiego.gov/directories/contact.shtml 619) 236-5555 City of S.D. Mayor Bob Filner http://www.sandiego.gov/mayor/ Emergency and Non-Emergency Contacts: For 24-hour non-emergencies, dial (619) 531-2000 or (858) 484-3154. If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1. To access 9-1-1 from a cell phone or outside San Diego, dial (619) 531-2065. read more

Ghetto park with ridiculously loud women using a lot of profanity. I'm 40 yards upwind and I hear her yelling "F you" and "I don't wanna get F'd in the A" while there are kids around. Also multiple homeless people and ghetto people who appear to be living here or are regulars here. There is some new kids equipment here though that looks nice. Overall a crap park though. Definitely not recommended. read more

North Park Community Park - Playgrounds Near Me - San Diego, California

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