At Adventure Playground kids can imagine, build, and decorate their own play structures with saws, hammers, nails, and paint. They earn the right to use these tools by collecting hazards (like loose nails in the sand) with a magnet and turning them in at the loan desk.
For older children, there are more permanent features like the climbing web and zip line (for folks over six).
Adventure Playground is open from 11 to 5 on weekends throughout the school year.
Summer hours in 2026 run from June 8 to August 14 and include weekdays from 10 to 5.
Adventure Playground is tucked away at the Marina end of University (veer left once you pass the freeway) with views of the water, near a public restroom and picnic tables. It is adjacent to a more typical playground with swings if your kids don’t have the lust for danger that you had hoped.
Young children are welcome as long as they are within arm’s reach of a parent. Older preschoolers and young grade-schoolers love it. It’s a popular destination for elementary school field trips and a unique option for birthday parties. 
What’s the big deal about Adventure Playgrounds?
Using a saw to cut through a board is empowering. Many of our urban kids have not experienced access to transform their surroundings and build things in the physical world. At Adventure Playground, children can experiment with risk and challenge in a way that a molded plastic slide on top of a rubber mat does not allow.
As Lenore Skenazy wrote in her Salon piece The War on Children’s Playgrounds, they don’t make ’em like they used to. Adventure Playground is a truly special (and fun!) place in Berkeley. In our effort to make playgrounds as safe as humanly possible, Skenazy argues that we’re also eliminating the fun.
She writes:
For the past 40 years or so, we have certainly been working to make our playgrounds safer than safe — maybe even safer than fun.
Didn’t think so. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued reams of playground regulations and actually gone so far as to recommend against “tripping hazards, like tree stumps and rocks.” Maybe we should just bulldoze the local parks and put in a couple of blobs — this time, made of plastic.
Plan your visit to Berkeley’s Adventure Playground
Adventure Playground is free to individuals and families.
Groups of 5 or more should make a reservation online, which are available in two-hour timeslots, and are priced in tiers, such as $75 for 5-10 children; $105 for 11-20 children. Still a great price for a party!
Beginning mid-June, Adventure Playground hours are:
- Monday through Friday, 10 am – 5 pm
- Saturday and Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm
The playground will be closed when there is consistent rain throughout the day.
Visit the Adventure Playground website >
[Photo credits: Photo credit: Patrick Buechner, Wendy Copley, Norma Evans]
