It's a great restaurant patio minus the restaurant…read more More a pocket than a park, this cozy space is a great place to chill out if you don't need shade, grass, or wifi. Basically, a place to eat ice cream with benches and six picnic tables. What stands out though is a very small stage where musicians play in summer and a historic arch from an 1859 building that burned down in 1921. The moss-covered brick wall from an old building adds a touch of history to the park dedicated to a former chief of police. The scene in which John Travolta sees a bright light in the sky (Phenomenon, 1996) was filmed right across from the park. I mention it here because Spot Right Across From Herschel Young Park doesn't have its own Yelp page. Local ghost tours stop here because the area is reportedly haunted by "Rattlesnake Dick", a Gold Rush stagecoach robber who was killed in the city in 1859. So if you see Dick at the park late at night, call Ghostbusters or the police.

This cute tiny park is what I am now calling instagram park. Tons of dressed up ladies on the town…read moretaking photos of various poses for their online presence. It's a perfect backdrop for this kinda of thing. Seating to enjoy a coffee or lunch as needed.

It was hot and we were visiting the area. My husband used his mapping skills and found this area by…read morethe water. When we arrived I was stunned it was so empty! Not a huge fan of trying to relax amidst a ton of people. There is a 6 dollar per car entrance fee. There were butterflies everywhere. It is a put it here for the rafters. It is located at the south fork of the American river which I have rafted many times but never from here. If you haven't rafted the American river I absolutely recommend! Back to the park, there is a grassy area to lay down a towel and have a picnic. I didn't see Bbqs or bathrooms but I didn't look all that hard. The beach area is rocky. Beautiful rocks, most smooth. Perfect for skipping! The water is Cold but that didn't stop us. My daughter in law is very pregnant and her poor feet appreciated the frigid water. The guys, they just jumped in. I edited real quick to add, if you get in know that the water is moving fast. Be aware. Next time we come I will bring some chairs. You can also pan for gold here if you desire. Pet friendly! Wonderful spot to cool off and listen to the water I tell ya!

Sos, needed a park for the kiddos and found this little park…read more Not a lot of parking spots but enough and there is places to park outside the park. Bathrooms are pretty clean. Kiddos can run jump in play in a field or on a play structure. Yes homeless people might sleep in their cars in the park but they don't disturb you!

The best park a small town can offer. Conveniently located off Mother Lode Dr directly across from…read morethe Train Station Coffee Shop. Its easy to drive past this park without even noticing it. However when you actually pull i to the parking lot you realize what a gem this place is. Its small enough so that you don't have to walk a mile to reach the playground yet large enough to host a football/soccer field and a huge playground even by adult standards. Grab yourself an ice cold drink and decompress under the shade as you let your kids tire themselves out. Or throw grab some buds and relax with a good old bbq.

I love the quote "time is like a river, you never touch the same water twice"…read more This is yet another spot on the American river I visited for the first time on land. We were in the area and wanted to picnic on the water. The parking lot is large and there are baseball fields and other park stuff but if you venture down the rocky somewhat steep hill there are little areas on the shoreline. We spent the entire day listening to the water and swimming and stacking rocks. We watched all the rafters go by but they couldn't see us. I saw 3 people go down the rapids on paddle boards standing!! That was impressive! I was absolutely content watching them from the shore in the shade eating my lunch with my legs in the water.. great day!

The main park sits along the South Fork of the American River in Lotus, CA (FYI - The Gold Rush…read morestarted a few miles down the road). On the main park side, there are two parking lots. Between the lots are natural grass soccer fields. There are several mobile soccer goals free to use. Around the lawn and park perimeters is a paved walking trail, the full loop is .4 miles. Easy, flat ADA path. I enjoy walking it. Near the boat launch are public toilets. The boat launch area is for rafts and kayaks. Don't expect to launch anything bigger than that. Right now, in December, the river is swift and fast with rapids. The current conditions are only for highly skilled pro kayakers. In the summer, the water's edge is calm enough for folks to dip their toes in but it's wall to wall folks here especially on the weekends. There are more park facilities across the street. There are lighted baseball fields (Field A for little league and kiddo play and Field B for adults), children's playground, parking lot ($10 parking fee), and trail access to the Gam Saan (Chinese translation Gold Mountain) trail that connects to the Monroe Ridge Trail in Marshall Gold Discovery State Park. The trail just opened last February. If you paid for parking across the street, you don't need to pay again. There is a pedestrian crosswalk. But please do be careful, majority of cars don't stop and rumble on through regardless if folks are in the crosswalk. The speed limit is 25 mph in front of the park but not a lot of drivers adhere to that. The parking fee increased to $10 from $5 since this past summer. 100% increase... ouch. Parking is self pay and cash only. You have to take an envelope from the pay station box and fill it out with your vehicle info. (I know... I can hear ya' all saying who carries exact cash or even a pen... where the app). Anyhoo, the slip goes on your car dashboard and the envelop with the $10 into the locked bin. The penalty for non payment is a $25 fine. Also the light for the ball fields are not free and only takes tokens. Tokens are sold from the El Dorado County Parks & Rec Department. You have to call the Department to set up an appointment at the offices to purchase the tokens. The times I've been here, I notice a lot of folks aren't paying the parking fee and I don't see enforcement of it. Hmm so does increasing the parking fee increase compliance?

Fantastic park to stop for when you need a place to eat a lunch. We were on our way to check out…read morethe fall leaves and stopped at Safeway for sandwiches with a group of 10 of us. Nice views, and LARGE sturdy picnic tables. There is even a toilet and also an ADA compliant area next to handicap parking. The only thing is the address for the yelp listing is wrong. The address to the park is 5581 Gail Dr Pollock Pines, CA 95726

This park was so pleasant! Our goal was to have somewhere off the road to take a quick picnic in,…read moreboy did we find a gem! The picnic tables were clean and in good condition, the parking lot was clean and there were restrooms! One thing that I thought was really thoughtful too, there was a handicap accessible picnic table that had a small gate around it (the accessible table was on a concrete pad that was level with the parking lot so it was slightly above the reservoir). Super thoughtful! Five stars for this picnic location!

This park is in downtown Placerville, CA. It's one of the prettiest neighborhood parks that I've…read moreever seen. Gorgeous aspen (or pine, one of those) trees surround the park. In its four acres is a lighted little league baseball field (home to the Hangtown League) complete with an electronic scoreboard and snack shack, play ground, picnic tables with bbq pits, and restrooms. The park is on Clark Street which is a narrow neighborhood gravel road. Drive cautiously because the street turns into hybrid part parking lot and street. On game days, the parking lot fills up quickly. When that happens, parking on Clark Street is scarce and the best bet is to park on Pacific Street and hike in. There are some handicapped parking spots located at the far end of the parking lot behind the little snack shack. From that end, there is a walking ramp that leads to all areas of the park including the walking path around the back field. So if you have folks in your group that would benefit from using the ADA ramps, it's best to unload from back there. Besides that access point, there are stairs, with hand rails, in the front parking lot. The parking lot has only one entrance and exit point. A big shout out to the Placerville Rotary Club for creating this park and helping to maintain it. Great community partnership.

Lions Park in Placerville, CA, is quite a gem. She's a beaut! The park was dedicated in 1968 by the…read morePlacerville Lion's Club. 24 acre park with two tennis courts, four pickle ball courts, two softball fields, frisbee disc golf course, children's play area, restroom, walking trail, and picnic tables and bbqs. The courts are locked though. City residents can purchase a key from the City's Parks and Recreation Office to access the courts. The park was extremely clean and well maintained. On my weekend visit, I was surprised to see a groundskeeper working on a weekend afternoon. He was no slacker. No wonder this place was so neat and tidy.

Great park. We came…read morefor a really good friend's baby shower. It's $50 to rent to the gazebo great price. Tennis court Park Baseball field Frisbee golf Two bathrooms Charcoal bbq ((should be scraped down once a month or something)) Lots of shaded area to sit. Pretty far out but great park Lots of parking available for your group

This is a beautiful trail through the forest that is rapidly recovering from the Caldor Fire! Nice…read moreeasily accessible trail (all paved) skirts the edge of a large canyon, with views to the East and Southeast. Parking area is small.

Giant trees, wild mushroom, snow cover paths, and wild stuff animals - it was an adventure…read more -been wanted to check out the "GIANTS" and they didn't disappoint. I guess January is the most awesome time to visit. Whether was nice and warm, with snow play still available in the parking lot and on the trails. Perfect day to be outdoor. -Park is very well kept and accessible for all. The North Cove Trail was a walk in the pak with stunning display of different trees. Look carefully, wild mushroom has been inoculated and is ready for their debuted. -Visitor center and ranger were very informative. -Pro tip: if your family is the outdoorsy type, buy a California State Park Pass - include entrance to this place and you can skip the line when visiting on a busy weekend....

Beautiful state park with giant sequoias, easy trail which is beginner friendly. Points of interest…read moreinclude a large tree stump which is large enough to be a little stage, fallen ancient giants, humongous exposed roots, hollowed out tree stumps which kids can walk through etc. Apparently the people who took care of the park previously cut out a hollow in one of the trees as a point of attraction for cars and people to walk through to compete with other such parks. The tree finally gave away and fell during a heavy rain a few years ago. We took the north grove trail, with kids and toddlers it took us about an hour with several photo stops. There is no elevation so it was an easy stroll. There is no signal in the park. But since it's a single loop, there is no possibility of getting lost.