Dolores Park251

This green oasis off palm tree-lined Dolores Street has a sandy playground with climbing structures and an old wooden "ship", tennis courts, and a playing field - though the field is fenced in and open only by appointment. It also has an unofficial "beach" - a grassy hillside - that fills with local sunbathers on even slightly balmy days.

You can bring a soccer ball but only if you want to spend lots of time retrieving it; the park is hilly and better suited to a game of frisbee or catch. While there look for the gold fire hydrant at the park's southwest corner (20th and Church streets.) When all the other hydrants went dry during the firestorm that followed the 1906 earthquake, this is the one that kept pumping.

There are lots of dogs in the park, so keep an eye on tots who might crawl or stumble into smelly droppings.

Note: The playground is being renovated beginning in May, 2011.