Seward Street Slides

The Seward Street Slides are one of San Francisco's best-kept secrets -- two long concrete chutes built directly into a steep residential hillside that have been delighting local families since the 1970s. There are no signs pointing you here, no website, no hours posted, and no admission fee. You simply show up with a piece of cardboard, climb the stairs to the top, sit down, and fly.

The slides were built in 1973 as a community project to transform a neglected hillside into a neighborhood amenity. They have been maintained by local residents ever since. Each slide is roughly 40 feet long, curving down the hillside with enough speed to make kids shriek with laughter.

The right chute is steeper and faster; the left is slightly gentler, making it a better starting point for nervous first-timers. Both dump out into a sandy flat area at the bottom where kids can safely come to a stop.

Cardboard is absolutely essential. The concrete surface creates too much friction without it, and bare skin or clothing alone will result in a slow, uncomfortable ride at best and friction burns at worst. Locals bring flattened moving boxes or large pieces of corrugated cardboard.

You can often find discarded boxes in recycling bins near shops on 24th Street, a five-minute walk away. Long pants are also strongly recommended.

The setting adds to the charm. The slides are tucked into a small, tree-shaded park on a quiet residential street with views of downtown San Francisco and Sutro Tower peeking through the eucalyptus. There are benches for parents to sit and watch. The only sounds are kids laughing and birds in the trees. It feels completely removed from the tourist circuit, which is exactly the point.

Parking is street-only on Douglass Street. Look for the concrete stairway leading down the hillside -- that is the entrance. There are no facilities (no restrooms, no water fountain, no trash cans), so bring what you need and pack out what you bring. The slides close informally at dusk and should be avoided when wet -- rain makes the concrete dangerously fast with a slippery runout.