Kid Report: Best Skate Parks in the East Bay

Thanks to rising 8th grader Juliette B. for contributing this post about East Bay skateparks as part of our Kid Reporter program. Juliette will receive a $20 gift card to Mr. Mopps toy and bookstore. Learn more about our Kid Reporter program here.

With my experience with trick scootering, I found out that there are many great skateparks in the Bay Area. Now, you may not have heard of trick scootering, but it is a very similar to BMXing. Typically you have a more expensive scooter than a Razor-brand scooter. It is better quality and you are able to do many cool tricks; some that are even the same tricks that you would do on a BMX bike. When I did scootering, we would go to many skateparks in the Bay Area. The top five that I liked the best were the Berkeley skatepark, the Oakland skatepark, the Moraga skatepark, the Alameda skatepark, and lastly, one in San Rafael.

The Berkeley Skate Park

Berkeley Skate Park is great, if you like to skateboard. I rate this skatepark the worst of the five because they don’t allow scooters or bikes. This skate park has many good jumps, rails, bowls…etc. Except, I wouldn’t recommend going there if you like to scooter, like me. The people there aren’t very nice and would sometimes call you mean things, because they saw that you rode a scooter. There usually wouldn’t be many kids there and the skatepark isn’t in a very safe area. I’ve also seen a couple people who would smoke drugs. Overall, I would recommend this to a skateboarder or rollerblader, who is typically older.

Berkeley Skatepark
Harrison St + 6th Street
Berkeley, CA

Town Park in Oakland

Next is a skatepark in Oakland, called Town Park. It is an okay skatepark, but also, like the Berkeley skatepark, it is not in a very safe neighborhood and it is very likely that someone is smoking drugs. It is located in West Oakland. Recently the skatepark was re-done. It used to be wooden, but now it is cement. It is very nice now. They have a nice half-pipe and good fly-outs. Some people there though have been rude to me or my friend, and usually seem suspicious or scary. Town Park tends to get very busy at around 5 PM, so I would recommend coming earlier. Also, they allow everything from skateboards to bikes.

Town Park, aka Defremery Skate Park in Oakland
18th Street + Adeline
Oakland, CA

Lamorinda Skate Park

Another skatepark that I would recommend in the Bay Area is the Moraga skate park. I would rate this third best because it is a small fun park that is great for skateboarders and scooter riders. It has a nice bowl, and is really good for beginners. Typically, there are a lot of younger kids and the people are very nice there. It is very small though, and not many good fly-outs. But if you are a beginner, I would definitely recommend this skatepark.

Lamorinda Skate Park at Moraga Commons Park
Moraga + St. Mary’s Road
Moraga, CA

Alameda Skatepark

One of my favorite skateparks is the Alameda skate park. I live in the Oakland Hills, and it was the easiest and best skate park to go to. They have great jumps, fly-outs, and rails. It is very fun and you will usually see other kids there. Although I have seen some people be rude to my friend and I because we were riding scooters, it is a very good skate park to go to. Typically, later in the day, more adults will come and it will get “rowdy”. So, I would recommend coming earlier in the day. Also, because the skate park is located right near the Alameda ports, it is cool to see the big container ships. There is also a big runway, where they will race cars occasionally. My friend and I even saw a TV show being filmed called ‘MythBusters’. An ice cream truck will usually come too, which is great, because it is usually very hot outside. Near the skate park, there are also many stores within a mile away, like In n’ Out Burger, Chipotle, frozen yogurt, Safeway, and much more. This is my favorite skate park.

City View Skatepark, aka “Alameda Skate Park”
1177 W Redline Ave
Alameda, CA 

San Rafael Skate Park {road trip}

The last skate park that I would recommend is the San Rafael skatepark, or McInnis skatepark. It is a very big skate park and very fun. I would say it is the best for scooter riders because there are a lot of them there. Some that I have met are very good too, and can do really cool tricks. This skate park is also the most kid-friendly. Mostly kids go there and it provides bathrooms, vending machines, and benches with shade. Everyone is also very nice and there are many places to do fun tricks. It can get very crowded around lunch time and I believe only skateboarders and scooter riders are allowed. In the end, I would definitely recommend this skatepark, especially if you live closer to it than I do.

San Rafael Skate Park, aka McInnis Skatepark
310 Smith Ranch Road
San Rafael, CA
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Thanks for your reviews Juliette! Does your child have opinions to share? We are looking for more Kid Reporters for our summer 2016 program. f your child would like to send a guest post of 10 sentences or more with two or more photos to [email protected], we would love to publish it.