New York Vacation > New York City Vacation > Central Park > Central Park Playgrounds

Central Park Playgrounds

Written by VacationIdea.com Travel Editors.

New York Vacation Packages
New York City Guide
Central Park
New York City Hotels

New York City's Central Park features 21 playgrounds for kids, scattered throughout the park. Some are large, featuring state-of-the-art play equipment, while others are small and less visited. Most playgrounds open every day at 7:30 am and close at dusk.

The Heckscher Playground is the largest playground in the Park, spanning over three acres. Situated between 61st and 63rd streets, at Seventh Avenue and Central Park South, the playground is for kids ages 6 to 12. It features 14 swings, seesaws, a water feature, a wooden suspension bridge, and its own restroom facilities.

The Billy Johnson Playground, just north of the Central Park Zoo at East 67th Street, is known for its beautiful landscaping, rustic features, a stone bridge, a spiral granite slide, an amphitheater-like seating area, gazebo, toddler swings, a water feature, and two picnic tables. All equipment in this playground is constructed of white cedar. The Billy Johnson Playground can be used by children of all ages.

Near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ancient Playground derives its name from the Egyptian Wing of the Metropolitan Museum. The playground features wooden play equipment for older children, as well as bucket swings and a separate sandbox area for smaller children.

Pat Hoffman Friedman Playground, also near the Metropolitan Museum, is a small playground for children two to five years old. It features the cute Group of Bears sculptures, a small fountain, bucket swings, a sandbox, an adventure slide, and monkey bars.

The Safari Playground at West 91st Street, for kids ages two to five, features a jungle theme with 13 hippopotamuses, a canoe float in a pool, treehouses, picnic tables, and a tot-sized jogging path mirroring the nearby Reservoir running track.

Robert Bendheim Playground at East 100th Street for ages 2 to 5 is the only playground in Central Park that accommodates disabled children. It features a colored pipe rail play area, a corkscrew water sculpture, bucket swings, and a sandbox with two sand tables.

The West 100th Street Playground for children of all ages is one of the oldest in Central Park. It features painted wood equipment stands in sand-covered area, monkey bars, tire swings, two tree houses, a roller slide, pyramid slide, a wooden bridge, a star-shaped fountain, and a sprinkler.

Read more about New York City's Central Park and browse pictures.