Upper Noe Recreation Center

A hidden gem for locals to know about, Upper Noe Rec has yoga in its spacious wood floored well lit room that would be the envy of many studios, with class schedule:
Saturdays 9:15am-10:30am Vinyasa Flow (Drop ins welcome)
Tuesdays 6:30pm-7:30pm Vinyasa
Thursdays 6:30pm — 7:30pm Gentle Hatha.
More information at
Sign up at:

I’d avoid the official programs for kids– they’re poorly run and the staff goes out of their way to not be helpful.

This location has an awesome free Zumba program taught by certified instructors and is sponsored by the city.
Thursdays at 5:30PM is taught by a lady named Sharon. She does Latin music (obviously) and pop. There is also a Saturday class at 10:30AM in the auditorium. You can also find more information here:

Nice Rec Center
I’ve been to here for
–playground play dates in the playground
–soccer practice & baseball games in the fields
–basketball games in the gym
Parking can be a tad hard, but it’s SF. The facilities, playground, gym & field have all been great to use and the bathrooms are clean!

Wonderful recreation facilities and super friendly staff.
There are also have awesome FREE Zumba dance Thursdays at 5:30pm and Saturday at 10:30am at this location. It’s a completely free program run through the SF Rec and Park with certified Zumba instructors.
There are 30 class locations around the city, you can find the full schedule here:

A cute, little park. I felt my daughters were safe and it was clean. They certainly had fun and I was able to kick back and knit. We’ll have to come here again.

Basketball court is miles ahead of what it was in the 80s and 90s!

The rec center has a nice little playground nestled in the middle. There are two different sizes of jungle gym, a very tall merry-​go-​round plus climbing rope, some swings, and a small sand pit.
The equipment is in fairly good shape, and the playground is fairly clean, except for a few spots where the rubberized floor has huge potholes in it. About the size of a child’s foot, actually. Not awesome.
One unique feature of this playground is that it is fairly well protected from the elements, and on a sunny day, there’s actually some shade in certain parts. If I lived nearby, I’d definitely come more often, but would also be lobbying the maintenance crew to fix the potholes.

The huge totally double gated, fenced in dog play area is a life saver for me. 20 mintues off leash playing with other dogs and my kids are worn out the entire day while I goto work. Friendly neighbors take good care of the park, and most dogs and their owners are well mannered. I have two smaller dogs so I tend to go later in the evening after all the big dogs have gone home.

The Upper Noe Recreation Center has a little something for everyone. The playground is well-​kept, clean and safe. There’s an adjoining indoor space that regularly hosts sing-​alongs and other events for kids. Check the calendar by the door for dates.
The amenities for adults aren’t shabby, either. Indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a beautiful baseball field with a huge outfield that doubles for soccer practice and weekend games, and a tennis court that stays lit after dark. Also a sweet dog park.
Tops!

INdoor hoops. I’m there.

Great kids playground and center. With both indoor and outdoor playgrounds — it has everything a parent needs. All the new equipment is in really good condition. The center also attracts relaxed and friendly people.

This place is nice… all newish and bright and clean. I’ve primarily used the playground and indoor tot gym so that Cutie Q can get her active on. All the structures seem really safe. She can easily kill an hour here.
I’ve peeped the indoor b-​ball courts and hope to use them someday soon. There’s outdoor b-​ball as well, along with a baseball field and tennis court. I hope visitors appreciate this rec cen and help keep it well maintained.

We love this park for our nearly-​1-​year-​old. Great sandbox and swings and variety of playground equipment. I just wish the indoor tot room was open more! Right now, the schedule is 2 – 4 M, Tu, Th, Fri, and 3 – 5 Sat & Sun

We adore this park. It has been beautifully refinished. It is perfect for babies & toddlers. The Sandbox is one of the nicest we have visited. The grains are large and not dusty like at other parks. All of the climby areas are challenging enough and safe. We love the bouncy recycled rubber floor surface too. In the event that it is raining (or you want to stay out of the sun), there is a nice play area inside with slides, push faux tricycles/​cars, and various toys.

Right now my son, Noah, and I just go and watch the big kids play, but in just a few months we will be all over the baby swings. The playground looks safe and everything is still clean and well taken care of. The indoor basketball courts are way nice – need to get a basketball! All in all I am extremely please to have this recreation center only a few blocks from my house. We will get more use of it in the future for sure.

I remember this park since I was a little kid playing in the playground. I also took the bus trips they had out of here on thursdays during the summer to great america, waterworld and marine world. Recently they renovated this park for the better. The gym has a better lighting in it, doesn’t feel like a dungeon anymore. Also the interior of the rec center looks a lot better. Instead of playing in the playground these days, I play pickup games in the gym, which are always competitive. There is a lot of parking, though it can still be tough to find some on weekends. Also walking up day st next to the baseball field entrance you get a nice whiff of dog urine… mmmmm

Great place and had a nice inside w/​a Tot Time daily!

Ahhhh… the ripe smell of… well, never mind… it is a dog park after all…
For years this was a small dusty muddy but well used area to run your city pooch. Actually (I hate dating myself) before that the whole play field was open to dogs… but that was in another time completely… Then came the sad closure for remodeling, which (of course) went over budget and over time) All those years the Noe neighbours suffered with no place for Fido to frisk.
But now… now we have the new ‘Noe Dog Park’, officially christened ‘Joby’s Run’ after one of the neighbours who was active in strong arming the city into retaining the dog run feature of the rec center. Sadly Joby died before he was able to see the completion of a surprisingly functional urban recreation area for pups and their people.
The field of decomposed granite makes a wonderful well drained non muddy non dusty surface for all the privileged pooches of Noe Vally to come and romp.
Two comfortable benches make it pleasant for the people as well.
A long side run makes a good place for the ball addict to go play out of the social scrum, or for small dogs to gather and do, well, whatever it is that small dogs do… I am never quite sure myself…
Neighbours use the brooms to keep the walks swept and there is usually a good supply of bags in case you forgot your own. Occasionally someone neglects to clean up after their darling, but not too often.
Most days there is a fair supply of disgusting tennis balls in common play. I dislike it when people bring their own ‘special’ ball and then fuss about some other dog grabbing it. Better to just play with what’s there and let it go at that.
This is the best place to come on a rainy day. The dogs get wet have a stretch and when they dry off it all fall out of their coats. not even muddy paws really.
For once the City did something nice for the Pet People of the San Francisco.

Glad it’s open, because there was going to be a straight up riot. Do not piss off the Volvo moms in Noe Valley, or they will get GANGSTER.
To wit: Apparently, this rec center was under construction for a while. The city was slow to reopen it. Maybe busy with all the unsolved murders going down like 6 blocks away? Yeah. Anyway, one day we were walking by and saw this indignantly-​scrawled graffiti on the wall: «OPEN THIS PARK NOW!»
Best soccer mom tag I ever saw.