Hampstead Heath has multiple playgrounds, an adventure playground, and a lido paddling pool — making it one of London's most complete family destinations.
Hampstead Heath is many things to many people — a wild swimming venue for cold water enthusiasts, a running route for the athletically inclined, a picnic spot for summer afternoons — but for families with young children it is, above all else, a playground of almost incomprehensible scale. At 790 acres, the Heath offers more space for children to run, explore, climb, and discover than any indoor soft play centre or manicured park in London. And within that space, several formal play areas provide structured play equipment and supervised adventure play.
This guide covers all the main children\'s play facilities on and immediately adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with practical information on age suitability, facilities, and how to combine them into a full family day out.
Parliament Hill Playground — The Main Play Area
The Parliament Hill playground, located at the southern end of the Heath near the Athletics Track, is the largest and most-used formal playground on the Heath. It includes a substantial variety of play equipment: climbing frames, slides of varying heights and challenges, rope nets, a sandpit, swings for different age groups, and sprung equipment for younger children.
The playground is fully accessible, with smooth paths between equipment suitable for pushchairs and mobility aids, and accessible equipment included in the main play area. Toilets are available at the nearby Parliament Hill Lido building (a short walk). The Parliament Hill Café adjacent to the track sells hot drinks, sandwiches, and snacks — a useful base for tired parents and hungry children.
Best age range: 2–12 years, with separate areas for under-5s and older children.
Facilities: Toilets (at nearby Lido), café, athletics track for older children to run around.
The Adventure Playground — One Tree Hill
The Hampstead Heath Adventure Playground, also known as the One Tree Hill playground, is a more ambitious and exciting play environment than the standard Parliament Hill facilities. Located on the northern edge of the Heath near Golders Hill, this free adventure playground is aimed at children aged 5–16 and provides:
- A large wooden fort structure with bridges, climbing walls, and rope swings
- Mud play and den-building areas (particularly popular after rain)
- Designated fire-play sessions under adult supervision (scheduled events during school holidays)
- A sandpit and water play section open in summer
- Qualified play workers who facilitate, support, and ensure safety during opening hours
The adventure playground is free to use during staffed hours and is accessible from Golders Hill Park (West Heath entrance). Staffed sessions run Tuesday to Sunday during term time and daily during school holidays. Check the Heath Hands website for current opening hours and special events.
Golders Hill Park Playground
Golders Hill Park — technically a separate park but continuous with Hampstead Heath at its western end — has its own well-maintained playground adjacent to the free zoo (see our dedicated Golders Hill Park guide). The playground caters primarily to under-10s with climbing frames, slides, and a large sandpit. The setting, surrounded by mature trees and within 100 metres of the zoo\'s animal enclosures, is particularly pleasant for younger children who can move between animals and play equipment easily.
Golders Hill Park has the best café facilities in the immediate area — the café near the bandstand serves hot meals, cakes, and drinks at reasonable prices. The park\'s formal gardens and herb garden are beautiful in spring and summer and provide a tranquil adult space while children play.
Parliament Hill Lido: Family Swimming
The Parliament Hill Lido — an outdoor 60-metre heated swimming pool — is one of London\'s finest outdoor pools and a superb family swimming destination in summer. The pool is heated and maintained at a comfortable temperature (typically 24–26°C in summer); there is a separate toddler/learner pool adjacent to the main pool. Changing rooms are substantial and include family changing cubicles.
Lido sessions for families need to be booked in advance during peak summer months. The poolside café serves food and drinks; sunloungers are available on a first-come basis. Under-16s are free with a paying adult during supervised family sessions; check the City of London\'s website for current pricing and session timetables.
The Mixed Bathing Pond (Summer Only)
For children aged 8 and over, the Mixed Bathing Pond at the southern end of the Heath offers outdoor pond swimming in a genuinely wild setting. The pond is surrounded by trees, frequented by ducks and coots, and maintained to high water quality standards. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult; children under 8 are not permitted. The seasonal open water experience is quite different from pool swimming — murky, natural, and entirely memorable.
Heath Exploration and Nature Activities for Children
Beyond formal play facilities, Hampstead Heath itself provides extraordinary opportunities for child-directed exploration — the kind of free, unstructured outdoor play that urban children rarely experience. Key areas for child-friendly exploration include:
- The Viaduct Pond on the eastern Heath: excellent for pond dipping with a net (bring your own) and spotting moorhens, coots, and in summer dragonflies and damselflies
- The wooded section around Kenwood: ancient oak woodland with fallen logs, fungi in autumn, and natural dens that children instinctively find and improve
- Parliament Hill itself: for kite flying, rolling down hills, and the best free view of London a child will ever experience
The Heath Hands organisation produces free spotter sheets for children covering birds, wildflowers, trees, and insects — downloadable from their website or available at the Heath\'s information points.
Practical Information for Families
Pushchair accessibility: The Heath\'s main gravel paths are suitable for standard pushchairs. Woodland trails and grass areas are not pushchair-friendly after rain. A baby carrier is useful for off-path exploration.
Nearest toilets: Parliament Hill Fields café, Kenwood House, Golders Hill Park café, and the Lido changing rooms.
Food: Bring picnic food for the Heath itself; buy hot food at Parliament Hill Café, Kenwood Brew House, or Golders Hill Park café.
Parking: Limited and expensive at peak times. The East Heath Road car park and Golders Hill Park car park are the most convenient options for families. Public transport (Hampstead Heath or Gospel Oak Overground) is strongly recommended at weekends.
More family days out: Golders Hill Park free zoo · School trips to Hampstead Heath · Hampstead Heath Kite Festival
