This children's park is a lot bigger than other parks with more area to run around so you need to glue your eyes to your kids in case they run off. I brought my 2 year old and I had to be with her at all times. She kept running around the sprinklers and the mini bridges in the sprinkler section were drenched with 2 to 3 feet water! It is like a mini water park! Just the bad thing about it is the crowd. Too many kids running around all over the place. I don't really like the brick steps they make for the bridges. They are very tiny and made out of bricks. Not good for 2 year olds or little toddlers. It is not that safe! This park is very big and has different children parks. Besides the brick tower and sprinklers, they got the sand area with slides that no one goes on because the slides are scorching hot! The slides in the sand area go very fast! I went on with my daughter and we both went zooming down like a rocket. We always ended up going so fast that is somewhat dangerous because we always ended up on the sand instead of the end of the slide! So scary and fun! The sand is very annoying too but then they have a lot of sprinklers with half a feet of water for us to wash the sand off! This is such a fun, big park for toddlers and children. They got many swings too! But my daughter did not like the swings though, probably because she is too young! Restrooms are very crowded especially when it comes to the women's restroom! There is always a line and it sucks so bad when you need to go really badly! read more

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This is a spacious playground mainly for children, so expect loud noises and running kids come out from everywhere. But I think it's still convenient, since close to south entrance, and there are restrooms right next to the entrance of the playground area. read more

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Lovely playground- my grands love to come and play and enjoy the climbing and slide Very nice read more

We took my kid here today to play and burn some energy. She had a great time there! They have what looks like little castles you can climb up into and there's bridges connecting them. There's other things at the playground too like swings. There's also one area where kids can climb a rope pyramid which looked fun; the whole area around it was a giant sandbox. Much of the rest of the playground had a rubberized surface was very comfortable to walk on and extra safe for kids. But my favorite part of the playground was this giant rock behind it. There's a bridge that connects to it and you can climb all over it and that was lots of fun. All this and you get a nice view of the buildings around the south end of Central Park. It's a great playground and I recommend going there if you have kids. read more

What a great playground! On the lower end of Central Park, it's huge with lots of swings, slides, and more with a fence protecting the kids inside. There are restrooms, ice cream stands, and giant rocks to climb with views of the city. Our seven-year-old had a blast here after an afternoon biking through Central Park. There's also a water area perfect to cool down during the sum read more

One of the biggest playgrounds in central park. Has many options all around and also water feature in the summer. Highly recommend bringing change of clothes for the kiddos. read more

I would not recommend this park AT ALL. There is a giant rock hill where there were kids climbing. So naturally, I decided to climb it myself. It was fun but I noticed that there was some sort of poop there that smelled awful. Not only did it smell awful, but it made me smell awful!!! Now, on the playground area, (specifically the one where there are water fountains), the slides are made out of metalxwhich is dangerous and hasn't been remodeled. It's connected to a bridge area where kids can walk and to get down, there are small bricks you put your feet on which is hard for kids. Most of the kids in the park are under 7 which isn't good. Overall, this park is dangerous for kids to go to so I wouldn't recommend it. read more

Heckscher Playground is another big playground near an active area in Central Park. I've stopped here many times over the years to watch the children play. These are some of my photos from over the years posted with my review. I'm pretty sure the children are adults now! I have stopped including children in my photos since I took these. This was a busy beautiful weather day in June right after the children were out of school for the summer. This playground has a lot of free space for running off all the energy after being cooped up all Winter. I bet this Summer after the Covid Boredom Winter you'll see a lot of fun going on in this playground! read more

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Huge playground area that is part of Central Park and right off one of the entrances, so its easy to find. Grass fields, ballparks, large rocks, fountains to play in on a hot day, swings, sand areas, this park has it all. Nice spot to being the kids. read more

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Finally had a chance to try this playground! We all had an awesome time. The little guy really loved to climb on everything on the west side of the park. It features a sand area with some structures, some flat spaces with some soft material and artificial grass for playing games/sports, slides, swings, and some concrete structures with pyramids and parapets to climb on. I love to see the juxtaposition of the playground against the skyscrapers at the edge of the park/midtown. read more

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Super fun area of the park. Very social atmosphere lots of people, families, kids, everyone just enjoying a day out. read more

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Very large playground park located in central park soon as you come in from the Manhattan side. We walked all around it and saw the cool things that it had to be definitely great to take my kids there read more

Heckscher Playground - Parks Near Me - New York, New York

A huge playground with repetitive and uninspiring things to do for children. Of course it's an ok place to bring your kid (the surrounding space is gorgeous) but I wouldn't go further than that. It doesn't offer anything original or particularly interesting your kid would remember after leaving. There are a bunch of pyramids (that even look dangerous to me) with no other ways to climb from outside other than mini steps on the diagonal walls. Children can climb down (or up) some ladders to tunnels that are dark and stinky. Not much fan after the first 3 minutes of exposure. There are a couple of tall slides and some swings, but the place is underwhelming. I always have a hard time getting my toddler out of a playground, but after 20 minutes she was the one asking me to leave. This says it all. read more

Huge playground near the manhattan entrance of Central Park. Didn't have any kids with me but it looked like it would be a tremendous amount of fun for the young ones. Lots of tall hills to climb that they integrated into playground. So that was cool to see read more

Heckscher Playground - Parks Near Me - New York, New York

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Nice playground. Be warned, tons of sand and water. Would recommend coming prepared for that.

*Disclaimer: This isn't a good time to bring kids to playgrounds, obviously. This is a review of a memory of Central Park from months ago, which seems almost like a surreal dream in this time of COVID-19. That said, the day will come when the sprinklers will pop to life again, the air will be filled with squeals of joy, and the poseurs will happily hawk your ignorance.* I can't recall the exact age, but at some point over the past few years, our daughter grew too old for parks. Ah, what a loss of innocence, we're preparing for rough seas ahead. But there are a few outliers, some playgrounds that manage to accommodate the young and young-but-too-grown-up alike, and Heckscher Playground is one. We had two good visits to this monster outdoor jungle gym, the kid played on swings and slides, ran around sprinklers, and while this isn't unusual in Central Park, the facilities here are generally clean and safe (well, I can't comment about after dark). One note, in case you're as clueless as we were: those Monks you'll see, asking for donations? They're poseurs. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/nyregion/fake-monks-begging-buddhist.html read more

In 2005, the Heckscher Playground in Central Park got new equipment, new landscaping, and new toilet facilities. Before the restoration in 2005, the equipment had wooden slides, seesaws, and swing sets. read more

Words can't express how much I love Heckscher Playground you have the parkour community often training their this is the go to spot for me right before work random fact while your over their you also have the movement creative they often host classes so if you are interested in learning parkour or becoming Spider-Man that's the spot to go and yours Truly is always Their. read more

If I could pick up this park and plop it down in Boston Commons, I would. It's simply perfect, both for kids and adults. Kids have some unique concrete climbing 'hills' with ladders going down into tunnels (which we pretended were sewers because THAT IS HOW WE ROLL), bridges to run across, and a great water component which is perfect for a hot day. There are typically so many kids there, a great cross section of diversity from the city. Adults will have fun sitting out, people watching. The giant rocks that surround the playground are fun for relaxing on. My niece had as much fun scaling those as she did playing on the actual playground. There is also an area for smaller kids, so they don't get trampled by the older ones. read more

Heckscher Playground - Parks Near Me - New York, New York

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Newly renovated park is the largest in central park and great fun for the kids. It has a stream that crosses over a number of "hills" with tunnels and ladders and terminates in a set of sprinklers. The park also has a sand area, two of the biggest slides in the city and numerous swings. There's a lot of open space with soft surfaces for playing as well. The playground is located at Seventh Avenue & Central Park South from 61st to 63rd Streets. read more

Heckscher Playground - Parks Near Me - New York, New York

Great playground for kids. This place has everything on a hot day - water, sand, jungle gym, slides, grass, you name it, Heckscher Playground has it. There are even rocks for the children to climb next to the playground. Overall a fun place to be a kid! read more

Heckscher Playground - Parks Near Me - New York, New York

I realized that I hadn't updated my review since 2009(!) I still play softball (17 seasons!) and we have several games scheduled here at 63rd St. each season. I most recently played here this past week. Good stuff: - I like the addition of the grandstands (I don't recall what year they put those in) for each team's side of the field. There aren't dugouts--(which the fields at 81st & 98th Street DO have)--I kind of miss-- b/c you have to keep an eye on your stuff (I did see police on scooters a couple times during the game though). - You will usually get a crowd from passersby, which is cool. Sometimes they'll even offer unsolicited advice on how you should bat (haha). - I think the infields are SO much better than they've been in years' past. I think they rake them. (maybe not) But still, the groundskeepers get a high five from me. - The Ball Park Cafe is right by field 1. It's a decent place to grab a pitcher and some snacks post game. Oh, and if you're an outfielder, pay attention behind you b/c you will overlap with other fielders from games going on at the same time and could potentially get hit or run over by flying softballs. But, hey, also, most importantly, remember to have fun, because you are lucky to be able to play in beautiful Central Park. read more

it is a good park for kids and I love it my kids love it and they love the park so much I am going to go with them.

Lovely place for kids especially on a hot day, but why aren't there any baby swings? The swings are made of plastic and as an adult, I almost slid off the seat! read more

My "other" playground growing up as it wasn't the very closest but it definitely was bigger and lots more fun in the summer. Located inside Central Park near the 7th Avenue and Central Park South entrance this huge playground has it all ... swings, slides, rocks to climb on and even, in the warmer months, spray fountains for kids of all ages to play in the water and cool off. Newly renovated but with the same fun attractions mostly, with a little more safety mixed in, this is a must-visit for all ... either to let the kids run around or to see what you were missing out on with your own local playground and feel jealous. Lots of benches for moms and dads to sit on while they watch their kids play ... just try to keep one eye on the parents and not have both of them on your iPad, ok? :-p read more

One word: epic. This is easily one of the best playgrounds in NYC. It's a real go-out-of-your-way type place to visit. You make a whole day out of it. Unlike most playgrounds, the natural stone used for the play facilities (not to mention the real bedrock it's built next to) has that genuine outdoor adventure quality. The slides are super fast unlike some dinky ones other playgrounds have. It's spacious, there's good separation from the toddler and big kid areas. Heck, toddlers even get their own water sprinkler set apart from the big kid one. That's unheard of right there. That helps with safety since big kids play rougher around water. Add the Central Park location and historical factor and, yeah, like I said. Epic. read more

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Fabulous playground, especially for older kids (5ish and up) who love to climb. Our little mountain goat never wanted to leave! Pretty clean bathroom (at least when we first arrived around 9). read more

Almost everything is made of concrete, stainless steel and whinestone. Even sandbox. Will last forever but you are going to need protective clothing for the little ones. read more

When I went there last summer with my cousin, her grandson and my daughter we didn't realize it was there. We went to the lake and rented remotes for the Sailboats (SO MUCH FUN)!! And, then, heading out of the park (towards The Plaza to see Eloise) we passed this park. Needless to say, we did not make it to the Plaza!! And, the two 11 year old cousins were wet wet wet!! So, make sure you have a change of clothes (when the fountains are up and running in the summer)!! haha LOVE IT THERE! read more

This place is insane... It's super easy to lose your child here so no looking at your phone! My 3 year old had a blast - and somehow ended up on top of a very tall rock when my husband & I lost sight of her for a second! This playground is huge and so clean, although that can't be said about the nearby bathrooms). This might be my favorite playground in the city and I have been to a lot! read more

Beautiful day at Central Park. Can't go wrong walking around here. All kinds of activity with wide walkways and special lanes for bikes and for running in addition to the walker's paths throughout the park. We saw a great puppeteer with many kids enjoying his show. He really interacted well with them. You will be surprised at every turn as you make your way around Central Park and this playground is a good example. read more

Such a great place in the park! I love that the bathrooms are right there and there is really only one in and one out. I loved sitting up in the rocks while my son played. My favorite playgroud in the park. read more

Amazing park for all ages! We had a picnic lunch on the grass and the kids played for 3 hours! A great way to spend a day in NYC with kids age 5-13. read more

This play park is HUGE. So much to do, see and play. Park accommodates young and older kids. It's so big that you'll need to stay with your young ones for sure. In the summer, nice small splash area with jets coming out (bring spare clothes or bathing suit). Def a must for playground seekers during all seasons and times of day. Plus, bathrooms - for the most part clean but can get dirty very fast. read more

This is a gorgeous, huge playground, near the Columbus Circle subway stop at the southwest corner of central park. My four year old spent most of his time on the water playground. Most of this playground only has water running through the tunnels, and some spray fountains, which he easily avoided, given my direction to "not get wet." But he did have to take his shoes and socks off to get around (but on the way out of the park, we saw signs saying keep shoes on). Given the big spray jets they have, how is that possible? Just water shoes, I guess. There were a lot of kids in swimsuits, barefoot, and some older kids carrying super soaker water guns, those noodles that shoot water and some with just buckets and bottles to fill and throw water. Happily, they were pretty respectful of kids who didn't really want to get wet (or so it seemed). We were there mid-week before school let out so it was not very crowded at all. This water playground led to giant climbing rocks. From the top of the rock I could see him very clearly and he spent time running all over the play structure and back up the rock. This is a large playground and I can imagine it being very chaotic for a younger child. There are lots of swings and a sand playground as well. There are bathrooms (some for just people in the playground-three stalls, relatively clean). read more

We go here almost every weekend and some weekdays with my 2.5 year old active toddlers. They LOVE the park, and we live so close. It is a great place and we always run into someone or the other that we know lives in the area. The area is huge. It has two sections for swings, two big slides, a small climbing area leading to a sandbox, a bigger climbing area with running water and slides, and lots of small and big sprinklers. My kids like climbing and running around and most weekends we do playdates here before lunch at home. It tires the kids out. There is NO shade, so it does get very sunny. It gets very crowded on weekend evenings, some crazy people and their kids bring water guns and don't care who gets wet in the process, very annoying. We go mornings and evenings sometimes, morning sun is hot, evening feels better and it is more crowded in evenings. If you have more than one toddler, best to keep an eye out for both because there are blind spots and you don't want to lose your child! I wouldn't say this is the best playground, sometimes my kids prefer smaller play areas like Madison Square park or Union Square park. I like those parks better because they are smaller and more enclosed and we don't have to watch and follow our kids everywhere. Union Square park also has a tunnel slide that my kids LOVE. But this playground is huge and can't be beat. read more