Nice little park for the neighborhood. Road noise is bothersome on the Southern end. Saw they had a stage the offers dance, Tai Chi lesson etc. Nice trees. Park would be nicer if the river bed wasn't completely dry. There is a bridge over it and there is not even a trickle of water. read more

Oak Park is a childhood favorite it's spring and summer cultural festivals, summer swimming pool, and kids play area make for adventure days. There is free parking with Natalie at grooms aardvark picnic areas great for small or big events. The mission creek runs on the side and is fun to frog hunt in during springtime. One item to watch is homeless occasionally so avoid going by yourself in earLy morning or late nights, General safety stuff. read more

Very nice park. Lots of beautiful trees and a creek that was unfortunately dry when I went, but stunning regardless. Well kept and clean. I have yet to find a four leaf clover... read more

Came here with Good Times Travel along with Pasadena and Glendale City College for the French Festival (Bastille Day) - majorly disappointed!!! :( Free Admission, plentiful street parking. Lots of restrooms both at the front of the park and end of the park. Santa Barbara is known as the American French Rivera - yes, beautiful along the coast line, but at this French Festival (Bastille Day), hardly! What a major disappointment!!! Food and Drinks: Really nothing French - I hardly saw any French restaurants selling their food out here. Not even French influenced Vietnamese vendors (nope, Banh Mi Che Cali, Lees, Mr. Baguette, Banh Mi My Tho, etc). I envisioned French Onion Soup bowls; assorted French wine vendors or assorted French pastries or chocolates vendors - there were hardly any. At most, maybe 2-3 bakeries (sadly, the pastries sold here can't compete with the ones at The Grove on 3rd and Fairfax, and the baguettes - Banh Mi Che Cali or Lees makes it so much better). Only two vendors I saw were selling crepes, and the lines for both of them were hella long, and overpriced. I got my Nutella Banana Crepe ($8) from Pacific Crepes - nothing special - plain and generic. Took 30mins to get my crepe along with others standing there waiting for theirs. They were totally disorganized in their makeshift kitchen. They also sold Le Hot Dogs and bbq items, but again, nothing special and overpriced foods. Vendors: Merchandises sold there were hella expensive and nothing worth buying. They were nice to look at until you flipped over the price tags. Entertainment: They had three stages surrounding the park. The best one I liked was the one that housed the French Polynesian Dancers/Flamenco Dancers, etc. Overall, these stages, I liked when I wanted to sit down and relax. I did like the Knights fighting area. All I needed was a turkey leg, and a table = bam, Medieval Times, lol! They did have some people dress up as French Royals, but none of them was Marie Antoinette, go fig! I also thought they would have mimes walking around or a guy with a lil monkey by his side while he cranks out music - nope. This festival also allows dogs because they had a Poodle Parade later on. So at least it was cute seeing a lot of furballs walking around. The Park itself: huge and spacious. Some areas of the park have uneven dirt spaces, and they even got a lil kiddie pool for kids to play in. Since my group was there for fours hours, I've spent the last two hours catching Pokemon and that was awesome, lol! Would I come back? Nah, I would pass. Instead, I would for sure come back for the Paseo Nuevo shopping center (think Glendale Galleria/Americana style). read more

See all

We went to this park in July for the annual weekend of Bastille Day. What a disappointment! This park is pretty bad, nothing to rave about it. It could use some sidewalks, you have to walk through dirt, I was wearing sandals, got dirt all over my feet and even got hurt. Pretty bad, never happened to me before in other parks even when we hiked. We came from LA for the French Festival. The actual Bastille Day-I've heard and read for years about it, expected something great. It was quite the opposite. The vendors were barely selling anything French (more like stalls for local business owners- they were selling even window shutters!), just one stand for pastries- overpriced and didn't look fresh. We were hungry and we wanted to get a savory crepe- once again, it was overpriced ($8), the worst crepe I've ever had (small, made fast- factory level, they barely put any Dijon mustard in it and packaged ham and cheese). Compare this to what you can get at the Crepe Company at the Farmer's Market in LA! It was from Lemoine Creperie, so avoid it! It's a rip off. The food selection -bad- Greek food, Cajun, German, everything else but French! They had 2 stages, the whole time we were there, they didn't have any acts playing anything. The program had pretty bad numbers coming up, once again, not a lot to do with France. Crowded, hot, the merchandise was poor and expensive. What a let down! It's free and it should be. Just one stall selling French desserts, Napoleons and macarons, but the lady who was selling didn't put any prices up and she was pretty much yelling at customers! Drinks- overpriced- around $7 for a Kronenbourg. We left after less than an hour. Don't recommend. I was lucky to spend July 14th in Paris, didn't expect that here, but at least the spirit of it. The Bastille Day in LA that we went to (for several years in a row) weren't great organized, but better- they had authentic food and real French entertainment. Too bad they now charge admission! For the Santa Barbara one, skip it! read more

One star off because the parking is tough during the week days. Playground is appropriate for toddlers to elementary age kids. Friendly neighborhood atmosphere. Restrooms are clean and close to the playground. Lost of tables are available. Although you can rent them, most of them are free and easy to use. read more

Two Words: Picnic Time! It is perfect for kids who just like to run around or play on the playground. You can definitely catch me on one of the swings! Hey, I may be 21, but I have the spirit of a curious child. I love to roam around in this park and just explore the area. This is perfect if you like to go on walks by yourself or meditate. If you are thinking about taking a girl(or guy) out on a date, do it here! It is inexpensive, plenty of space to talk and get to know your date. Imagine holding hands with a significant other and then you stop on the park's bridge. Gaze into each other's eyes, and create the memory of a First Kiss. This park is well maintained. One of the ways you can judge is by the cleanliness of the restrooms. The toilet paper is well stocked and they throw away their trash. There are so many shaded and open areas at this park which is why this is my favorite park. Oak Park calls for an adventure! read more

I went with a friend to this beautiful park Sunday for The FRENCH FESTIVAL. It was one of the best outdoor festivals I've been to. The setting was great. This is a beautiful park with a lot of big trees for shade and a bridge that connects the park in the middle making it a great place for a festival. I Loved this Festival. The Venders were very friendly. The food was Yummy....we ate at the French Grill. I had one of the Best Hamburgers ever.. It was served on a Brioche Roll with Garlic Butter, Carmelized Onions, Brie, tomato and lettuce. It was $10 and very well worth it...We strolled and enjoyed all the Booths, from French Music to Parasals, Ladies Hair Adornments, Pastries, Jewelry and more. The Music was very good, they had three stages set up in different parts of the park so that you only heard the one you were at, that was nice. We saw a French Singer..she had a beautiful voice and before she sang her husband told a wonderful story about the song. They had an Accordian Stage and a Performance Stage with Can Can Dancers and a beautiful couple doing a French Dance..looked like the Tango..they were very good. We were there for five hours and still didn't see everything. We left just before The Poodle and French Bulldog Parade but we were tired by then and driving back to Long Beach. It rained the whole way home but we were still in such a Good Mood from the fun experience of the day that we didn't care. I can't wait to go back again next year..and I'll take more money next time...lots of Nice Quality ..Pretty and French things to purchase. I Highly Recommend going to the French Festival next year...if you love festivals that are outdoors and emmersed in nature with friendly people and good food and entertainment you will love it. Also parking was easy and very clean bathrooms were a Plus. And the Festival is Free. review helps others learn about great local businesses. Please don't review this business if you received a freebie for writing this review, or if you're connected in any way to the owner or employees. read more

See all

Mission Creek runs to the west of the park. To the east there is a well-travelled street, but you hardly notice the traffic at all. There is lots of bird life and lots of wonderful old Oak and Sycamore trees. A very spacious park with lovely mountain views looking north. There are picnic tables and the bathrooms are always clean and nice. If you choose to walk from one end of the park to the other in a long, narrow loop, you will be covering a total "mileage" of about 3/4 of a mile. There's a stage at the southern end, where Folk dancers and other users can sometimes be found. The horseshoe players are at the southern end, too, and there's nearly always someone there playing that skillful game. I highly recommend a leisurely stroll. Just be aware that there are homeless who hang out at the southeastern part of the park. read more

Update: Now there are two baby swings, but no big-kid swings. The "Mobius strip" style play structure remains awesomely unique.

As far as parks go, this is a good one. It's large, has large open areas, shaded areas, smaller areas with play equipment, sandlots; and during the summer a small pool for younger children. From my perspective this park has 2 issues; one is street sweeping, when it happens, it happens on both sides of 2 streets and with the parking lot closed because of the recent renovation the city is doing, parking can be a real PITA. Secondly, the park is a perfect example of parents showing up, ignoring their kids and staring at their phones for 2 hours. Some of the moms are an exception here but it happens way too much with kids who are running around at full speed throwing sand at other small children or tackling other kids at the top of the slides. Frequently, parents will bring their freshly sick kids here as well and let them slobber and sneeze all over the playground. Some babysitters even show up here with groups of 5 or 6 kids and let them go, and sadly this keeps me from coming more often as my daughter does enjoy it quite a bit. read more

Not so much about the park but the French Festival that took place once a year here is the best. French food, music, culture, and more. See you on 2014 French Festival! read more

I really liked this park for how big it is. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the park was a little difficult to find (google maps sent me somewhere totally different). The park has a pool for kids, benches and picnic tables. Additionally the park hosts a lot of festival events like the French festival and most recently the Greek festival. This park is worth checking out if only for the festivals it holds. read more

Nice park w camping vibes. Lots of exploring for kids and great playground. Also, dogs are welcome. The only thing I don't like are the restrooms but over all they were pretty clean . I will definitely be back read more

I don't otherwise know this park. The French Festival on Saturday, even with a couple short rain spells, and odd-timed heat on Sunday, kept folks with great sense of humor meandering delicious food, hand crafters, and a hilarious dog/poodle Parade Led by the funniest French Bulldog, who my husband and I watched giggle with children before the parade. Vendors were trading, They were friendly, and took what they were doing very seriously, but many of them were, themselves, entertaining. We come from Orange County every year, and I must say that we almost didn't return one year. The MC of the poodle parade was belligerent and offensive, to people on& off stage, until he was distracted to unfold off color jokes. Better this year finally! The gal in pink (Honey, NOT a French color!) was delightfully authentic and a bit funny. I'll bring my standard poodle next year and give that Cute French Bulldog a Tall taste of French. I hope she accepts the challenge! I'd like to see a wider range of French Performers, louder sound at the East stage , and could do with out the repertiore of the act involving yelling "I Hate you, Stay!" Which made everyone not near the stage wonder who was in trouble. OH, Molan Rogue performances were wonderful, and became expertly hilarious in the rain! Nothing could get my husband and I down on this day! read more