Manhattan · New York County
Riverside Park Dinosaur Playground
NYC Parks
- Location
- Riverside Drive at West 97th Street, Upper West Side
- Size
- Part of Riverside Park acres
- Hours
- Dawn to dusk
- Type
- NYC Parks
Riverside Park Dinosaur Playground is one of the most beloved themed playgrounds in New York City, featuring large concrete dinosaur sculptures that children climb, slide on, and play around in a shaded setting overlooking the Hudson River.
The dinosaur sculptures were installed in the 1970s and have become generational landmarks for Upper West Side families. Parents who climbed the dinosaurs as children now bring their own children to the same prehistoric playground.
The playground's location within Riverside Park provides a setting where the dinosaurs stand among mature trees with the Hudson River visible beyond, creating a juxtaposition of prehistoric fantasy and urban waterfront reality.
Themed playgrounds with sculptural elements, once common in New York City parks, have become rarer as safety regulations and standardized equipment have replaced the distinctive, artist-designed play structures of earlier decades.
Riverside Park Dinosaur Playground preserves a style of imaginative playground design that has largely disappeared from American parks, providing children with the chance to climb concrete dinosaurs as their parents and grandparents did before them.