Koret Children's Quarter and Carousel
✓ Last confirmed for the 2024 season
Where: 320 Bowling Green Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California
When: typically open in warm months (check before visiting)
Hours: Park hours 5 a.m. to midnight; carousel hours vary by season
Cost: free
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Opened in 1888 as the Sharon Quarters for Children, this Golden Gate Park landmark is considered the nation's first public playground and still keeps its historic concrete slides alongside a wave-shaped climbing wall and rope structures added in the 2007 Koret renovation. A 1914 Herschell-Spillman carousel with 62 painted menagerie animals spins next door for a small per-ride fee.