Wow. This is literally the largest playground in the East Bay I have seen and been to. If you know…read moreof any others this size or with this much equipment, would love to hear about it! While this park is a bit off the beaten path, I will say there is so much to do here for your kiddo (or let's be honest, you too haha). I feel this park has a lot of space and seems to be pretty safe, with Astro turf that I tend to not see at most smaller parks. There is plenty of parking across the street and nearby ~ with walking paths, a community center across the way, and picnic tables that we've seen many birthday parties/gatherings at. There are swings for all ages which for us right now is very nice, and it seems the area is split between age range which is also cool to see. There are fun 'hills' to climb with cardboard to slide down (this is where the Astro turf comes into play), and plenty of slides/equipment of all kinds for interactive and solo play. There are pretty nice 'larger' entertaining pieces of equipment (like a pirate ship that moves/shakes) for the older kiddos, and it's just overall a pretty epic playground to see/be apart of. Well done, can't wait to be back!

The playground at Heather Farms is a dream come true for the children who have discovered the…read morethrill of sliding down the mini hill on a piece of cardboard or climbing up and running through the maze of structures and going down the slides. Afterwards, you can walk around the manmade lake and watch as ducks swim by and look at the fish people caught. You can bring a lunch, spread your blanket and enjoy the day at one of the best parks in all of East County!

This is a nice park, very shaded and away from busy streets. I came with my 2-year-old, and there…read moreis one area of the park that's perfect for him. Most of the park, however, is more like a "ropes course" for bigger kids. The play structures look very new (a 2016 review of this park has red-colored play structures, but the park has been redone since then, and now the main color is green). I think this park would be perfect for a kid in the 5-7 age range, maybe slightly older.

The secret park! This place is very well hidden as you'll need to navigate quite a bit off the…read morestreet to find this place. Once you get there, you'll find a decent sized playground under lots of shade. The first thing I look for in a playground is accessibility, meaning entrances/exits are clearly defined. You know who's going in and out. This place does have that which is good for safety. The layout of this is such that if you're observing your kid from the V-valley of portion (you'll know what I mean when you get there), you'll have a good vantage point to watch your kids and can mostly see them as they're playing around anywhere at this play structure. That's very good news. My number of playground reviews is nearing a dozen and I've noticed that some play structures are designed more for aesthetic as a nice looking sculpture when not in use which is pleasing to the eye, but it doesn't necessarily always translate to a structure that kids would actually play on/with. This might be one of those. Your kid might get bored fairly quickly here but it may still be worth checking out in case your little one likes it more than I'm guessing s/he would. Why is a grown man reviewing playgrounds? Yeah, that does sound spooky when you think about it. I'm actually taking advantage of this Covid time where playgrounds are pretty much closed and using them as FPV (first person view) quadcopter flying sites. Making use of it now before the kids come back and this becomes off limits for me. Before that happens, I'm on a trek to find the best FPV flying site for tinywhoop quadcopters. These weigh less than a Halloween sized pack of M&M's. They weigh less than 250g which makes them internationally recognized as toys and therefore not governed by the FAA requiring registration. Super quiet, most include propeller guards so annoyance and safety isn't really an issue. So the review of this playground as an FPV flying site? Definitely deserted (for now) so lots of room to play. However, due to the number of trees and its density, there are tons of shadows which makes it difficult to view through analog goggles. The structures do make for a challenging obstacle to navigate through which is nice. One thing I look for in an FPV flight site is lack of sand and this one fits the bill in that regard. No worry of crashed quads with sand getting all caught up in the motors.

Our family loves to visit Matteo's Dream Playground on the weekends. When we moved to the area a…read morecouple of years ago, we explored parks in the general area. This park is located right of the 242, its easy to access with lots of parking. The kids get to play in a small scale castle, stores, and boat spaces to keep them entertained. Every time we come here, our older son just runs around until we say it's time to go home. We go for walks in the neighboring park and fields to get some exercise in as well. Check out this park if you're in the Concord/Martinez area to discover something new. They recently updated the fields nearby and parking lot. They have food trucks on the weekends. You will have fun!

It's a nice park, lots of things for the kids to do. There are 2 mist stations for when it gets…read morewarm (you gotta push the button to activate the mist). Generally it's a nice little playground. A couple of things though, I think I went when it was a little warm, it had this strange smell of either melted crayons or microwaved plastic. Something didn't sit right. The other thing was that I noticed that there were a lot of different trucks driving by (garbage, moving, transport, vans, regular trucks). Maybe people just drive a lot of trucks in the area, I'm not too sure. There's a lot of shade outside of the park but inside could get pretty warm. I'm not sure if I'd come back, but at least I know it's there!

This is a great park for kids of all ages! The fenced in toddler area was great when the kids were…read morereally small, and the huge sand pit is always a big hit with the littles. The bigger playground has different size slides and things to do for a variety of ages.

We went to the pups in the park event at Pleasant Hill Park and had such a fun time today they had…read moreall kinds of booths and entertainment and music and food and adoption opportunities. There were food trucks and people and dogs had a great time.

heather farm is really a bunch of parks combined into one: basketball courts, soccer fields, event…read moregatherings, playgrounds and a large section of outside fun and activities i came brought to paint with my sister, and had some korean corn dogs for lunch too. it was a beautiful day, and an even better ambiance everyone should try this once, to not get depression

I like that there is free parking. I came here on a Sunday, a little before 12 PM, and it was easy…read moreto find parking. This is one of the biggest outdoor public play structures in the Bay Area that I've been to so far. There are picnic tables available for rental, and it's a great place to host a kids' birthday party. There is some shade in the play structure area, but I wish there were more. There are public restrooms, but they need more frequent cleaning during the weekend. I came here on a hot Sunday, and there were a smoothie/shave ice truck and a soft serve truck parked nearby in the swim center parking lot for purchase.

Out for our weekend walk the honey and I ambled into Hidden Valley Park after walking through…read moreHidden Lakes Park. Personally, we enjoyed this park more as it was paved and had more amenities, such as exercise equipment and children's play spaces. It could definitely use more culture and zhuzh as there were many spots where a bit of design (such as a mural) would have improved the vibe. But that being said, it wasn't too bad for a mid-sized neighborhood park. Our favorite areas were the small overlook with stone bench and the bridge that connected back to the trail towards Lakes. Sadly, like Lakes, some of the trails that lead down from the bridge were a bit washed out so we didn't get explore as much as we would have liked but all in all we much enjoyed getting some steps in and would definitely come back - but perhaps on a day where it's not raining.

A really nice and super clean park. I stumbled across this park while doing some light hiking at…read morethe adjacent Hidden Lakes Park. These two parks are often confused as one park, but they actually intercept each other. This is an excellent place to bring the kiddies as there is a pretty large play structure in tow. There's also a huge grassy field that's perfect for picnicking and other recreational activities. The walking paths are all paved and lead to other trails within nearby Hidden Lakes Park. There's tons of picnic space and each picnic area can be reserved for special events. You'll find a good amount of exercise equipment near a few of the walking paths. Parking is easy and there are clean restrooms on site. This is the perfect spot for a leisurely stroll or a light run. The large grassy field space is also very desirable for dog owners. I immediately noticed how clean this park was as soon as I arrived. They definitely do an excellent job of cleaning and maintaining this area. I'd say that this is one of the better local parks in the area.

Used to take my kids to this park all the time they loved it and always drained their energy…read morerecommend to all moms

Review #184 - 2019…read more While we were waiting for my nephew to play his basketball game, I decided to take my daughter & niece to the nearest park which was less than five minutes drive from the school. We showed up around 4:15 PM on Saturday, July 20th & there were a lot of people there. It appeared that there were a few different kids's birthdays going on. It's a really nice size park. There was a soccer field, baseball field, two separate playgrounds & plenty of covered picnic tables. The only thing missing was a basketball court; which since my son was watching his cousin play, wasn't a very big deal. They had plenty of benches as well, some under the shades & some in the open. Even though it was 91 degrees out, it was still windy so I didn't mind the partly shaded benches since I needed a little bit of heat to keep warm from the wind. My 14-year old niece enjoyed the swings for a good half an hour. I'd definitely come back & have a family picnic here, even if it's a little out of the way. However, the bathroom could use some cleaning.

Given a nice spring sunny day, on a whim we decided to visit Larkey Park in North Walnut Creek. It…read morehad been a long time, and we had forgotten how nice this park is! A nice walking path goes through the good-sized park, offering wonderful views of the lush lawn and large mature trees. A host of families with their young children were enjoying the playground areas, and locals with their canine companions were out too. A few picnic tables are available, or - as one young woman did - just spread out your towel and have lunch on the lawn. After walking for a while we found a bench near the edge of the park and just vegged out soaking up the sun. A swim center and nice pool is here, although it looks like it's only used in the summer for recreational and limited lap swimming - an under-used facility in my mind. Why not year-round lap swimming? Next door is the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, and although it was closed (open Weds-Sun), a young docent had a red tailed hawk with her and was giving a nice educational spiel. There is no dedicated parking - the one negative. Street parking nearby or in the neighborhoods is the only alternative.

After picking up some lunch, we needed a picnic table to sit at. The nearest one appeared to be at…read moreLarkey Park. To be honest, we didn't spend much time here. Just enough to eat and run. However, we did notice a couple of things. The park is pretty decent sized for an urban park. Lots of grass, trees, picnic tables on one side of the street. There is also a public pool (closed while we were there) and an unisex restroom that was reasonably clean. There were individuals, couples and groups of people enjoying the park. In one area were some musicians with guitars and possibly other instruments. We don't know they were there for practice or a class but when we arrived, one person was playing a song that sounded quite good on acoustic guitar. We also saw others who were picnicking with a dog in tow. Everyone was pretty mellow. The dogs didn't bark, and no one was playing excessively loud music. What could make the experience better for us? We didn't fully explore the park so we don't know exactly how large it is but we're always fans of parks with dog play areas. They don't have to be large, but they do need to be clean with running water and some shade. Plus, there should be separate areas for large and small dogs. Beyond that, locals should feel lucky to have such a nice park to relax in.

When we moved to Concord a few months ago one of the first things that came to mind was finding…read morelocal parks. My wife and I were not huge park people before our son was born but now we visit parks daily. We have a park closer to home but parking is hard to find, Ygnacio Valley Park has a nice parking lot with about 20 spots. They have a nice large grassy area with a circular trail to get some walking in or walk the dog. In our case, our toddler loves to run into the field and follow us on the trail to run. We both win because he gets to burn off some energy and has fun walking towards any dogs. They have two play areas for toddlers and bigger kids along with swings and a sand area. This has become our go to park and I find myself here very often. We love our Family walks and have made friends here. You have a sense of Community when you visit.

Perfect for an early morning walk. It's really spacious as well. Nice open field and clean picnic…read morearea parking is limited just to let you know. I alsoooo appreciate how they upkeep on bathrooms as well! Haha

My girlfriend and I went on a walk with her frenchie- Tinkerbell yesterday…read more I was so glad she invited me to join them. I hadn't been over to walk in Newhall since Covid. There was a nice wide trail for us to follow and Tinkerbell could sniff around without worrying about foxtails We walked by the dog park where we visited with dogs in the park thru the fence During Covid we would grab takeaway from Popeyes and have a picnic in the park- then walk it off with a stroll/ so it was I nice memory of dating my hubby during Covid/ getting back to nature

Newhall Park is a large, neighborhood park not far from where I live. It has many things to…read morerecommend it, and yet it has been ages since I've been there - maybe I'm guilty of the "grass is always greener" syndrome. But finally, my wife and I returned on the recent Sunday and were reacquainted with all it has to offer. It's a good park for walking: there's a flat, dirt path that circles the park; I didn't measure it, but it's a decent length, especially if you make multiple rounds. Along the way you see the park has a large bocce ball court, a popular dog park, and a good sized hill for cardio purposes with the Concord Vietnam Memorial on the top. A weekend adult soccer game was going on in the middle of the field. On the other side of the park is a pond (we saw an egret, ducks and geese), and a marsh-like area with tons of cattails. Galindo Creek, heavily shaded with trees, borders the edge of the park. A number of benches let you take a break when you need it from your walk. Newhall Park is a little rough around the edges visually. There's none of the graceful elegance of a Walnut Creek Larkey Park, with its paved path, lush green grass and stately trees. Newhall's grassy areas are functional, but look beat up with numerous dead spots (maybe blame the soccer). The walking path is hard dirt, but can be messy after a rain. The parking lot also is unpaved, and is in poor condition with bumps and holes. We noticed a number of cars parked along Turtle Creek Road prior to the park entrance. But these are minor concerns. In the uber-populated East Bay, any park is a welcome break from wall-to-wall homes, stores and concrete. Newhall Park is an easy way to get out and breathe the fresh air, and deserves the popularity it enjoys. That Walnut Creek park may have greener grass, but sometimes that park down the street is all we need.