I work right by this park and walk it frequently. The park itself stretches from the Tower bridge to the I Street bridge. Over by the I Street bridge, there is a memorial bicycle structure that is pretty cool. This is not really a "lets go and play" park, or a "let's go hang out park"... its more of a "i've got to walk through to get somewhere park." Well, OK, I guess they do have special events here sometimes, so I guess its occasionally a "theres some sort of event there park" as well.
The park is great in the day time, but in the night it gets a little rough. I mean, its already a little rough at times during the day, but at least you can see. I've walked back from the Golden 1 Center back to my building after dark and it is honestly a little scary. Its not well let by any stretch and there always seems to be one or two people walking in the area at all hours.
The space itself is nice and well maintained. At the top of the park, there's a nice walkway of concrete and brick pavers. Its wide enough to accommodate pedestrians and bicycles without any issue. I'd say the walkway at the top is the most used part of the park, since there are two office buildings that probably house close to 2,000 people between the two of them. You'll see a lot of office workers on break during the work week. There are almost always a few homeless people out at the park. For the most part, they are nice, but every now and then you will encounter someone who is not completely stable, and those interactions can be a little dicey. For the most part though, they will either leave you alone or are friendly.
Other than the pathway up top, there is a nice sloped lawn that is well maintained that makes up the rest of the park before it meets the river. There are a few picnic tables, some garbage cans, and a lot of geese that are down in the lawn area. The geese can sometimes be a little aggressive, so watch out for those guys.
There are also stairs that lead down the sloped lawn, so you don't have to roll down the grass if you don't want to. There are often people using the steps to work out.
The coolest part about the park is that during heavy rains, you can watch the river rise and at times, it will overtake the park. One year, I recall people were able to fish from the elevated walkway. Unfortunately, once it floods, it gets pretty nasty down on the lawn once the water recedes.
I would never make a special trip to come to this park, but since I work nearby, I am glad it is here and appreciate the work the city does to maintain it. read more