Lake Chabot Regional Park is an absolutely beautiful place and easily one of the most peaceful…read moreoutdoor spaces in the area. From the moment you arrive, it feels like a true escape from the city--quiet, expansive, and surrounded by nature. The scenery alone is worth the visit. The lake is stunning, especially when the light hits the water, and the surrounding hills and greenery make it feel immersive and calming. It's the kind of place that instantly slows you down and helps you breathe a little deeper. One of the biggest highlights is the sheer number of trails available. There are so many options, whether you're looking for a casual walk, a longer hike, or something more challenging. The trails are well maintained and offer a great mix of lake views, wooded areas, and open stretches. It's also a great park because it works for so many different types of outings. You'll see hikers, runners, cyclists, families, and people just enjoying time outdoors. There's plenty of space, so it never feels overcrowded, even when it's busy. Lake Chabot Regional Park is a true gem. The natural beauty, variety of trails, and peaceful atmosphere make it a place you'll want to return to again and again. Whether you're local or just visiting, it's absolutely worth spending time here.

I am writing to formally express my disappointment regarding my recent experience at the park and…read moremarina area. During my visit, my children and I waited nearly two hours to get on a pontoon boat while I observed management allowing other individuals to board boats based on personal relationships or favoritism. This felt unfair and unprofessional In addition the staff behavior inside the café was extremely disappointing and lacked professionalism. The only positive part of the experience was the young men working on the dock, who remained respectful and uplifting once they noticed I was upset. They handled themselves professionally despite the stressful environment around them I also noticed several safety and cleanliness concerns throughout the area. Many of the boats appeared old poorly maintained and dirty From what I observed employees were mainly instructed to spray the boats down quickly with hoses, with little to no proper cleaning supplies being used This does not appear to be an effective or safe maintenance process for equipment being used by families and visitors Another concern was the way some employees were treated by management I witnessed behavior that appeared disrespectful and unprofessional toward staff members. I strongly believe all visitors and employees should be treated with courtesy, fairness, and professionalism at all times, regardless of background or position Overall the lack of organization, customer service, assistance, and maintenance created a very frustrating experience for my family and negatively impacted our visit to the park I respectfully ask that management seriously review these concerns and take appropriate action to improve customer service, employee treatment, safety standards, cleanliness, and overall operations moving forward

Why did I just hear about this zoo?! We loved our visit so much. It reminds me of the safari park…read morein San Diego. Great place to stroll around with the kids and not be too overwhelmed with crowds. Be sure to purchase tickets + parking ahead of time as spots fill up!

Coming from the Central Valley The Fresno Chaffee Zoo is far superior in all aspects. I was shocked…read moreto be disappointed by a "big city" zoo. Pros: The Grizzly bears were cool to see and the gondola ride people were nice. Cons: overall the zoo seems unkept with VERY LIMITED animals/resources for such a large city. Pathways are confusing with dangerous transitions of gravel and dirt with height changes. Overall sad, dirty and bay area look of dirtiness and neglect of the upkeep everywhere. -food area at landing station looked like a cafeteria from the 80s with a gross woman's bathroom on the outside. -reptile house only had only spiders and random frogs. -The information booth in the front had workers watching a movie pretending to not hear any questions. The guy at the exit gate on 3/10 around 2:30pm (the man with the long nails) was very little help with questions as well. Overall seems as though staff needs an inservice on manners and professionalism.

GloFari at the Oakland Zoo has truly become a Bay Area staple for our family. We've been going…read moresince the Zoo Lights days, and it's been amazing to see how it's evolved into what GloFari is now. It honestly gets better every year. My kid is a teenager now and still looks forward to it, which says a lot. It's officially a family tradition at this point. This year felt extra special with all the Oakland touches woven throughout the displays. Seeing local icons like the Fox Theater, BART and other staples represented in lights was such a cool and thoughtful addition. It really felt like a celebration of the city. We loved it and will definitely keep the tradition going.

I came many years ago, around 2018-2019. I was underwhelmed back then. My friend then invited me…read morefor this year's event 2025-2026, and OMG it has improved a lot! The lights were so beautiful. Back then the lights honestly felt like lazy front yard effort--skinny fairy lights, minimal planning, but now they've got lantern lights and the art truly glows! It truly feels like you've been transported somewhere magical. There was a lot to see, and we left happy with everything we've seen. My friend said we had an Iconic Oakland night, coming here and having dinner at Fentons. It really was Oakland iconic: lights depicting the Fox Theater, Bart train (yes you can go inside), Children's Fairyland shoe house, and even raccoons in the dumpster on display lol. Some displays moved, too! I loved the florals. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that despite not raining for the past few days the ground was still pretty muddy in some areas. I'm glad I wasn't wearing new shoes. Lots of families, which is great but my friend's kid got run into/had near misses because some families weren't supervising their kids. It looks like there's a new theme each year. My friend says last year there was a pyramid theme. My first impression of Glowfari wasn't good, but now that I've seen it's improved so much I'm all aboard and looking forward to what's to come next winter season.

SO HAPPY IT FINALLY REOPENED! My toddler had an absolute blast here! They added a new water play…read morestructure with a giant tipping bucket. As the bucket slowly fills, the anticipation builds... then the bell sounds right before it dumps, sending all the kids running over to get splashed. It was so fun watching the excitement and laughter every time it tipped. A great spot for little ones to cool off and burn energy!

This place and the staff are absolutely a joke. There was a line before 12pm yesterday. The hottest…read moreday of the week. Three camp buses dropped off 150 kids. A staff member yelled out that they won't be allowing anyone in once they hit max capacity. Understood. We get inside. The staff members (more like immature teens) screamed at adults and kids when someone ran. While I understand the importance of safety, the way they were yelling at kids/adults to walk felt harsh and unprofessional. It created a tense and uncomfortable environment, especially when it could have been handled more calmly and respectfully. All the teenage lifeguards screamed in sync, literally all at once screaming at them to walk!!!!!!! It was like we were in bootcamp. Then, as the day went on, we still had an hour and a half left, someone had an accident in the pool (a child pooped), the lifeguards screamed at everyone to get out. While quick evacuation is understandable in that situation, the reaction was over-the-top. We all definitely came out right away. What made it worse was that the lifeguards were celebrating afterward saying "F*CK YES!!" And laughing and excited because they got to leave early since they had to close the pool. It felt beyond unprofessional and insensitive to the families who paid to be there. If these kids hate their job, please do us all a favor and quit your job. To top it off, we were all told to leave the premises entirely, even though many of us, including my family, still had children eating. It was abrupt and handled poorly, with no consideration for those trying to wrap up their visit responsibly, we even still had an hour and a half left. I hope management can provide better training on how to communicate with children in a way that is firm but respectful. It's important to keep everyone safe, but how it's done matters just as much. On top of that, if there's a scheduled large group, they should have a better approach rather than having families with small children wait outside in the heat outside.

The golf courses are beautifully maintained, and have the perfect amount of challenge for the…read moreaverage mini-golfer. My family and I visited on Sunday morning, and the cashiers were pleasant and seemed to actually enjoy their job. Arcade was clean, and games were all operational. I highly recommend bringing your family or friends here. We will be back soon!

Roll up your sleeves, loosen your hips, steady your stance and get ready for some putt-putt at…read moreGolden Tee Golfland! Castro Valley hosts this mini golf spot that's an affiliate of the Golfland family and features its two 18-hole ranges perfect for beginners and experts alike. After a few rounds on the green, consider venturing into their arcades to play some good old fashioned video games (Time Crisis and other dual player shooters, Mario Kart and other racing games, and fighting games) and skill games (like skee ball, table air hockey, and claw machines). Be wary, however, for those who have game cards from other Golflands, they're location specific so they won't work here unless you have one from this spot. Starting from the giant parking lot which is just off of a busy street, you'll make your way through the gates and stroll up the long walkway to the front desk where you'll register to get your clubs and balls (you'll get your choice from among a few colors). From there, you'll have your pick of the two courses, one for novices and one for the more adventurous. Make your way through the obstacles and mark your scorecard to determine the winner of bragging rights! We came for a birthday party and logistically, they have the main room amongst the beginner course which is well lit from all the open windows but I believe they have another space near the arcade for those looking for a more enclosed, private gathering. Once the guests arrived, they hosted an orientation and got the members all equipped and ready to go. The youngsters had a lot of fun and can't wait to return! The staff were all very friendly and helpful. You'll interact with them more at the arcades especially if you'll be redeeming prizes with your hard-earned digital tickets. The ticket values on the top tier prizes were pretty large but for frequent visitors or lucky winners, you can get some pretty neat stuff here. The mini prizes definitely reminded me of my times at the arcades when I was a kid, very nostalgic! Overall, Golden Tee Golfland is a well-maintained, family friendly environment conducive to an awesome time outdoors as well as an exhilarating experience soaking up the old school arcade vibe. We accumulated a ton of steps during our visit here and the kids could not stop hitting the greens to get their fluorescently colored balls into the holes. The obstacles are fun - there are water effects and moving doors and bridges. While most of them functioned as expected, there were a few hiccups with some like balls getting stuck or certain doors just not functioning as expected. For wetter seasons, the holes for the balls do end up pooling which makes picking the balls out a bit of an unpleasant endeavor. For being exposed to the outdoors, the place was in pretty good shape, however. It's a bummer that the Golflands don't have a unified system for the game cards as it just incentivizes families to just pick one and stick with it instead of venturing out and exploring the other amazing locations like this one. If you're a local, this is a great place to take a date or the family - it'll tee you up for a good time!

We had a team building event this weekend and were looking to have some outdoor fun. Nathan brought…read moreeverything we needed and set up a great spread. We had a great time running around and I got to shoot my manager in the butt. Definitely recommend!

From the owner: We are proud to host Nerf events across the bay area! We use 3D printed blasters made in-house from…read moreour team here in San Jose. We also offer custom printed blasters as well if you want to have a party favor that everyone talks about!

After 6 months training here. My son loves this place just more and more. Highly recommended.read more

This is the place to learn kung fu and get your weekly exercise on. Master Sunny and Master Danny…read moreteach very well, pushing you to work hard while keeping it fun. They know how to support students of all ages and level. Definitely give it a try if you want to learn kung fu, get some exercise, and have some fun.

Located less than 5 minutes from 580 off of the 150th and you're in a world away. Hike, fish, bike,…read morehave a picnic or host a large party/bbq on one of several reservable areas. $5.00 plus 2 for each dog---kind of an honor system but for less than 100 you can get an EBRP year round pass that allows you to visit a lot more parks as many times as you want. Easy decision. M-F seniors get 1/2 off on boat rentals and from there you can finds the fish...if you know what you're doing ;). Anthony Chabot was a man who was instrumental in the California gold rush in the lower Sierras. He helped develop and mastered the hydraulic mining techniques required to reduce mountains to piles of rock to be sifted for gold. After those operations were shut down over environmental concerns, he brought his craft here to help make this reservoir. Amazing really. Nice spot to decompress and get right. Some areas around the lake show clear signs that hydraulic action was used. Birds, frogs, squirrels, butterflies, deer and more.

Chabot Park is not Lake Chabot Regional Park, but it does lead to there with the trails…read more The entrance to this Park is a little dicey to get to, if you're not familiar with this area of the San Leandro/East Oakland border area, it's hard to explain how to get here. And I have a feeling the residents of this area would like to keep it that way, so I'll honor their unwritten code, lol!! The Park itself is very much like your in the woods, lots of trees and fallen trees. They do have restrooms and disc golf here, which seems to be pretty popular, someone always seem to be playing it. Lots of free parking also. But the best thing about this park is the trail that can lead you to Lake Chabot. It starts off all uphill for at least 1/2 mile, then you start downhill and can determine which way around the lake you want to go. If you stay on the paved trail, to the right, you'll cross a bridge which is the Chabot Dam and it's a faster route, although hilly, to Lake Chabot Regional Park. If you choose the dirt trail, to the left, you won't necessarily stay next to the lake the whole way, there's signs to keep you on track. Either way, it's a great walk or run, watch and listen for the bike riders, sometimes they are really speeding coming off those hills. And if you're going to walk all the way around, bring water. Also, there's not a lot of areas where you get phone service. Always enjoy coming here, convenient for me!!

My family and I come here twice a week, and it has truly become one of our favorite places. There's…read moresomething special about stepping onto this field, it's where we laugh, compete, and spend quality time together. The field itself is always in great shape, making every game enjoyable, but it's more than just a place to play. It's where memories are made, and where we all get to share in the love of the game. We're so grateful for this space and couldn't recommend it more!

We've rafted twice more with All-Outdoors since my last review - Goodwin Canyon in October 2022,…read moreand then Middle Fork American River again this past month (both 1-day trips). The last time we rafted Middle Fork American was on a cold, gloomy, drizzling day in October 2019 - so we had to give it another go in warmer weather. This time around was just as memorable. Two of us in the boat ended up falling out in the water at Tunnel Chute, which happened so fast that I barely knew what had happened - thankfully, there was a nice calmer stretch of water right after through the river tunnel, so we were easily able to get back into the raft. (Thank you to our guide, Troy, for hauling me back in, and for being an awesome guide in general!) Plus this was one of the photographer spots, so the action was all captured for us to laugh about later. Later, after our tasty sandwich picnic lunch, we had a few unexpected events happen, starting from the portage down Ruck-a-Chucky Falls. Shout-out to all three guides in our group - Troy, Shea, and AJ - for handling things so calmly and getting us all back where we were supposed to be! We had plenty of calm stretches floating down the river as well. The canyon is beautiful and quite peaceful. We saw a ton of dragonflies flying above our heads, masked ducks chilling on rocks and diving underwater, and wild grapes and blackberries growing alongside the river. We'll be back again for another trip with All-Outdoors! Maybe we'll try a 2-day or 3-day trip next time.

This rafting company is the best! We did the South Fork of the American River and had a blast. I…read morehighly recommend this trip and company. Ask for Markus to be your guide. You won't be disappointed.