Take the kids to play at Yanaguana Garden at Hemisfair 434 S. Alamo St., (210) 709-4750 (210) 709-4750, hemisfair.org Hemisfair’s Yanaguana Garden is a park created with kids in mind. Designed to incorporate learning into play, the play area includes circular swings for activating balancing skills, climbing structures that reinforce coordination and a sandpit which builds teamwork needed to accomplish tasks, as well as a recently opened toddler play area where little ones can explore larger-than-life nature-themed play structures. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Hemisfair

Downtown San Antonio’s Yanaguana Park was recognized this week as one of the nation’s 10 best public playgrounds in USA Today’s 2025 Reader’s Choice Awards.

Readers of the national newspaper ranked the Hemisfair attraction seventh on the list, citing its accessibility, splash pads and creative playscapes. The park, which also boasts climbing sculptures, a sand play area, swings and slides, drew praise for bringing “the spirit of Texas alive with its modern take on playground design.”

Yanaguana Park, which opened to the public in 2015, is the only Texas site to make the cut. “This honor reaffirms that we are on track to reaching our aspirational goal of creating one of the world’s great public places,” Hemisfair Interim CEO Melissa Robinson said in a statement.

USA Today’s full list of the top 10 public playgrounds includes:

  1. The Nest at Downtown Cary Park — Cary, North Carolina
  2. Chapman Foundations Adventure Playground at Gathering Place — Tulsa, Oklahoma
  3. Kendall Weisgerber Memorial Playground — Bailey’s Harbor, Wisconsin
  4. Variety Wonderland Playground at Forest Park — St. Louis
  5. Discovery Playground at Lewis & Clark — Omaha, Nebraska
  6. Battery Playscape — New York
  7. Yanaguana Garden Playground at Hemisfair — San Antonio
  8. Shane’s Inspiration at Griffith Park — Los Angeles
  9. Barrier Free Park — Boyton Beach, Florida
  10. Kamalani Playground at Lydgate Park — Lihue, Hawaii

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This article appears in Apr 16-29, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...