The hidden concrete slides of the Castro
Just south of Market, climb up the hill on Douglass St. until you get to Seward. Make that right and soon you’ll see a park on the left-hand side. This is where you’ll find the concrete slides going down the hillside at least a couple storeys. Since sliding down concrete on your ass isn’t such a hot idea, people have left slats of cardboard for anyone to use. It’s a fast ride, so if you go check it out, make sure not to get a concrete friction burn.
Shhhh! Don’t give it away! I heart the slide. But, just for future reference, don’t go down head-first on a sheet of cardboard, either. Yipes.
One of my closest friends lives right across the street from this, so I walk by it weekly. (They recently did it all over this past year.) I’ve yet to ever actually set foot in it, but honestly, it’s never looked all that ‘playful’ to me as a playground. Maybe in a Communist Block old skool Eastern European way, I guess…
You know, not to pick nits, but that would be either “the Castro”, or “Eureka Valley”, not “Castro Valley”, which is an entirely different place altogether…
No, please nitpick! I’ve only lived in the Bay Area for a year and a half or so. I’m still learning the neighborhoods and technical names of geography (which people can’t seem to agree on when you ask them).
True, when I saw “Castro Valley” in the title, I was thinking the town in the East Bay.
Yeah, technically/officially, “The Castro” is still Eureka Valley. It wasn’t until it started becoming the new ‘gay ghetto’ in the 70’s, centered around Castro St. that it started to be referred to as “The Castro”. At least the area’s commercial and social heart.
http://www.kqed.org/w/hood/castro/resourceguide/programhighlights.html
Definitely fun as an urban hideaway, so-so as a slide. Be aware of rainy days! Water lingers at the bottom…
You know- there are similar slides in the playground close to hippie hill at the top of Haight street.
When I lived in SF (1981-1990) we referred to the slides as the “Secret Thing” and it was on the list of things a visitor could chose to do (along with Camera Obscura,the Sutro Baths,Fisherman’s Wharf,etc.)Someone would go ahead and slide down a few times on wax paper to make it real slippery. We would blindfold the visitor(s) and lead them through some garages near by to disorient them. At the top of the slides we would allow them to try to guess what was about to happen and then give them a good push.
there is nothing more romantic than to stroll with your lover, or a stranger, to the summit of these particular slides during a warm autumn night and, beneath the tall trees, apply the wax paper!–the slides are absolutely wonderous!–besides, what would a city become without its little vortices of disorientation?–
another secret: there more slides of this kind throughout the city–does anyone know where they are located?