A review from amom2kidsandapark.com Snow Park -- Oakland Located on the west end of Lake Merritt just across the water from @fairylandca. This park has two play areas, lots of grass, a four person teeter totter AND a putting green . The smaller of the two play areas is geared towards younger children, is gated in, has one short sidewinder slide, steps, educational and musical activities, a short bridge and a tunnel. The second play area has a slide accessible only by ladder, suspended rope with overhead holder for aided balancing, two styles of monkey bars, suspended lily pads, a rope tower, spring bottom platforms for more balance practice, and a rope arch. The two play areas are close to each other which is nice if you have multiple kids of varying abilities. There is a public bathroom (we didn't try it) and lots of shade from the big trees around the park. Street Parking (metered Monday-Saturday) There were no campers when we visited although I hear there can be from time to time. read more

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Street public parking only Small, but view of the lake is very clear and can easily walk over in a minute Slightly stained but spacious and clean Wide flat areas to walk, have picnic and play in kids' section The issue of course and sadly is the homeless crisis in Oakland/Bay Area There were multiple tents spread out and seems to be there for a while read more

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It's 2026, and Snow Park's homeless tents have only grown BIGGER. We're talking semi-permanent structures at one of the main entrances of the park, and smack in the middle of it under the tree. Complete disregard for park goers safety, and especially children and their caregivers who utilize the playground. I hope the newly passed Encampment Abatement Policy (April 2026) will solve this issue once and for all. read more

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Went for a stroll in the morning through the park during an overnight stay for work. It was a beautiful day, walked the pedestrian path near Lake Merritt, it was quiet, grounds lined trees and several public restrooms. read more

Snow Park - View - Parks Near Me - Oakland, California

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The remodel on this Park is amazing!! Before the remodel, this Park housed a lot of the homeless, it was very muddy in a lot of areas, and geese poop was everywhere. The only time I really came here was for the Oakland Running Festival, cause this was where the start/finish line and the festivities were. But the remodel on this place is stellar. I got to give them credit. They have a kids playground area, restrooms, plenty of benches, and some of the greenest grass around. Perfect place to chill out at or even have a picnic. The City of Oakland did a great job on this Park!! read more

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Yoga class starts at 10am on Sunday's. I never actually been here before, but always walked by it. At first I was worry there will be lots of bird poops, but it was actually really clean grass. There was a restroom near by, and a security guard walking around our class. I found meter parking 2 blocks away, but it's free on Sunday's. I was a little worry, since my car got broken into twice. But my car was safe during the 2 hours I was there. I love to support women black own establishments whenever I can. read more

Snow Park - Beautiful Sunday Yoga by lake Merritt - Parks Near Me - Oakland, California

I've always appreciated Snow Park and this park has a place in my heart. My feelings are very layered: the high cost of living, gentrification and waves of techies have resulted in high rates of unhouse populations. This park was true to this... You would often see tents and people resulting to living in the elements to survive. The city did a great job with putting a Band-Aid on this and creating a park for all of the new tech workers in the high rises in "Uptown" (Wtf is this) and purchasing up all of the homes from the locals. I'm glad that they have a space they can enjoy for their kids, their high-priced puppies and company midday picnics. read more

Snow Park is in a great location directly across the street from Lake Merritt. It has a nice play area for children and large grassy areas for play. The issues are maintenance of the park. Cleanup seems to happen once or twice a week and is totally inadequate. Bathrooms are more often than not gross and/or locked. Countless trips have ended in coming home early due to no restroom access. Trash is not confined to around cans, but is scattered on grassy areas too. When maintained its a great place. Too bad that's an occasional thing. read more

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I remember Snow Park way back in the early 60's. This was one of the parks that my class would go to on some of the school excursions (about a 7 to 8 block walk each way to and from Lincoln Elementary School). At that time, the park housed a museum - the Snow Museum. The other museum (Oakland) was located on 14th & Lakeside Drive, which is called the Camron Stanford House. Both museums closed down, merged and has been the Oakland Museum of California for quite some time. Fast forward to 50+ years later, the park is still here. The park is slightly better than Madison Park near Oakland Chinatown. Sure there a few homeless people around; however, I am glad that the area does not smell like piss. There a few benches around for sitting and eating lunch during a warm day. Another feature I like about this park are the huge trees and the grassy area...a nice place close to Uptown Oakland to relax. Bring a book for reading enjoyment or some soothing music to listen to while sitting in the park. Currently, part of the park which covers the whole block is undergoing renovation and is fenced off. read more

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I love the updated version. NO DOGS ALLOWED!!! There are signs posted saying no dogs allowed, yet people don't read and continue to let their dogs pee and poop on the new grass. GROSS! Take your dog to a dog park! I've always enjoyed this park. My friends and I would lay out with a blanket and enjoy lunch while people watching. I bring my nieces and nephew here to play on the clean grass. It has lots of walkways, easily accessible to Lake Merritt and conveniently next to Lake Chalet for good eats and drinks. Parking is street but on a good day, you'll find a park in no time. read more

Snow Park must get it's name from all the speckled bird shit everywhere because there is definitely no snow within about 3 hours of Oakland. Regardless of the name, there are some pretty sweet shaded spots and park benches to chill at in the Summer time. Also it's not a bad place to take in a view of Lake Merritt. The Park is on a slope which may make playing sports less than fair, but you'll find a fair amount of people playing soccer, volleyball, or doing some sort of fitness work most of the time. I can't say for certain if dogs are allowed or not but it would be a great idea if so. If someone tries to mess with you, you always have the lake to walk around near by. read more

Snow Park - Lunchbreak - Parks Near Me - Oakland, California

A great place to walking and jogging. Have a look if you are interested to see from birds eye view. https://youtu.be/MwW7xanBMfg read more

Sure, there are always homeless people here and yes, the grounds aren't the best manicured that you'll find in a park and certainly even if they were well maintained it would be hard to find a spot on the grass to sit that wasn't booby-trapped with goose poop. But still I have an inexplicable fondness for Snow Park. I can see it from my apartment and I pass through it as often as I can. It always brings a smile to my face to spend a little time in Snow Park. Today, on this cool Sunday afternoon, I grabbed a falafel from Brown Couch Café and then walked up Alice Street through the Lakeside Apartments District to sit on one of the benches at the upper end of Snow Park and read a book while enjoying my falafel. Exactly a Snow Park sort of afternoon. According to various websites, it was at one time the city's cemetery before the opening of Mountain View Cemetery in the 1860s. Later in the early 20th century it was the original site of the Oakland Zoo. And it's from Henry Snow, the man whose collection of animals became that zoo that the park gets its name. read more

Snow Park is a place i passed literary thousands of times. no doubt i lingered here many times after school was over at westlake jr. high. Snow Park is about a city block in size, almost all open space with a few large trees. like most city parks, dogs aren't welcome. nice to watch geese flocking around instead of pigeons. may have taken a few snoozes here in my youth. At snow you can see the kaiser building, lake merritt, and the charles schwab office where you can go over to check your stocks should one feel antsy after reading the stock market report over one's iphone.. read more

NO DOGS ALLOWED! (See pics) How lame. The closest park to my house and the first thing you see on approach is a sign that says "No dogs allowed." And why not? It's just a city block size patch of grass with a half dozen trees, a bathroom I've yet to see open, 6 dozen geese and 1 duck. Yes one duck. He hangs with the geese for some odd reason. Most people complain about the geese. Not me. The geese are the one star I gave this park. read more

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hmmmmm after the reading the poopy views.... I must say- there was no geese, goose or fertilizer smell or remnants today. I had a lovely time indulging in my feast from Aroma sitting on the bench beneath the beautiful oak tree.... This is a small park- with lots of blue collar workers... nothing amazing about it. Just an average, well manicured small park in the city that allows you to sit and dream on your lunch break. read more

Cute park 2 blocks from my apt. There are always tons of those mean Canadian Geese and they crap everywhere!! So watch your step. The signs' say no dogs, but I figure if all the geese are crapping everywhere I can take my dog (and I actually pic my Dog's crap up!). You can tell that this park used to be an old putting green, historically that's kinda cool. There are also a few old trees that are great for climbing if you have kids' or just like to hang like a monkey. On random Friday's there is a Gourmet lunch truck there and the park is a great place to eat lunch or just chill. read more

There's "snow" here all right... the beautiful, white speckled scene of goose crap blanketing the illustrious park scene. It's highly distracting and awkward if you're trying to eat lunch sitting down, if you know what I mean. It's nice Downtown Oakland has a park at all, but I'd suggest walking a little further to Lake Merritt to enjoy your meal. read more

I'm just happy to see patches of green in the city, even if some of those patches are actually goose poop. The trees are beautiful and provide nice shade. There are benches which are nice for reading, eating your lunch, or just people watching. It's a short walk to Lake Merritt, too. My only complaint is that the local charter schools use it for their PE classes. There will be tons of unruly teens that take it over making it impossible to use at times. Not that it's their fault or I'm mad at them, but they do kind of take over what is meant to be a public park for all. But sometimes you gotta make sacrifices for the kids, so I guess it's okay. read more

This park neighbors the beautiful Lake Merritt. It has the same symptoms as Lakeside Park: lotsa goose poop and fertilizer. This is a wide park for a good frisbee game or football game. There is also a putting green as well as some park bench/tables. I wouldn't recommend a picnic if all the fecal matter turns you off. But if you're looking for a park that's close to Lake Merritt and isn't as populated, then this is a decent option. read more

Snow Park - Parks Near Me - Oakland, California

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This park was a great hosting point for the Oakland Running Festival and it was more than enough room for all of the tents, amenities, and entertainment to set up with space left over for picnicking. The location is very centrally located, a short walk from the 19th Street BART. The race event was really well put together and I was very impressed! So many running events happening simultaneously and I didn't see a single problem. Bravo to the Race Directors! read more

Not much to say! Is named for a Henry Snow who once owned a little zoo in this same area! There are benches to sit! Some people do sit, rest, drink their coffees or other drinks, read! Let say from China Town to the Lake Merritt, this Snow Park is between the two! One walks by Snow Park before they get to Lake Merritt, and yes, very close walking of China Town! One person wrote of no doggies allowed! If you want bring your doggy then go to a doggy park! Arf arf, that is how I think! Yes there may be geese so watch out! If there goslings, then really watch out, of course Daddy Goose and Mommy Goose then be very protective of the goslings! read more

I've passed Snow Park tons of time on my way to across the street Lake Merritt. I passed by yesterday to make sure I knew where Snow Park is located since its the Start/Finish Line & Post Race Festivities of the Oakland Running Festival 2012 which I will be participating in tomorrow. Well the geese were not out yesterday. Could it be because it was pouring rain? Usually there are tons of those big huge geese around but not yesterday. Not a single big fat goose ah laying in sight. Hope that means there won't be tons of goose poop all over. If you've been to Lake Merritt you know where forth I speakth of. Small neighborhood park Several large shade trees Park benches Great views of Lake Merritt read more

Snow Park is now done. Took several years to complete. It is gorgeous!!! Bring your little ones to play in the park. Play area for young children and lots of green green grass. Picnic tables and plenty of benches. Thank you Oakland, for getting the job done!!! read more

Snow Park is a small and tranquil 4-acre park, where you can practice your golf putting at the tiny putting green. Besides office workers, locals and the homeless, this park is also home at times to a large gathering of geese. This park is nicely maintained, which is nice to see given cost-cutting in most cities. According to Wiki, this was the site of the first Oakland Zoo. Comfortable spot. read more

Geese and goose droppings everywhere! The trees are beautiful, but there's too much goose refuse everywhere to enjoy it. Nice to have green space in between the buildings... just don't look too close! read more

Spring and summer days are really nice here. Stay close to 19th/Harrison St because the closer you get to Lakeside, the Geesier it gets. They have public bathrooms there, but I've never used them since I work across the street. read more

While its the closest park to my work, the poop on the ground from the geese is VERY VERY annoying. Theres a small little putting green which i've never used nor have seen used. its a fun place to go to throw a frisbee around but yikes, bring your shoes. read more

We thought we could sneak our dog into my husband's office, we had to stop by on the weekend but the front desk guy said, "NO PETS!" She's not a "service dog," so I just listened to the guy and took the dog out, he's doing his job. While my husband did his very important office stuff, I wandered around. The dog didn't see the glass walls encasing the lobby and kept trying to go back inside, bonking her head on the glass. This was amusing once, but then I feared brain damage. We wandered over to Snow Park, which I will rename Crap Park, due to the huge amount of goose poop that is everywhere. You can't walk 2 feet on the grassy areas without stepping in it. There was a gaggle of geese inside the park, but we didn't get very far into the park anyway because of the large number of homeless strewn about, taking naps and smoking what I can only assume is their medicine, because we all know people in Oakland don't smoke weed, it's MEDICINE. Whatever. So it was a good stop for the dog to pish, but only the first foot of grass into the park. The side we entered didn't display "no dog" signs, I read about the no dog policy in the yelp reviews later. Good thing we didn't go for a romp. read more

Did the Heart Walk here. It was very beautiful. The views were great and I liked all the cute geese and ducks. I don't know why one of the reviewers said there was only one duck. I saw more. I love ducks. I wish I could have stayed longer. read more

Ok, so this barely qualifies as a park, but seems to be the best place to sit and lunch in downtown Oakland. It's covered with goose crap, the benches are little islands in an overgrown grassy park, and I think there's a bathroom but it's sketchy as can be. There's also a putting green but its in terrible disrepair, and i'm pretty sure the Canada Geese have claimed it for themselves. But i'll still come here, and somewhat enjoy it. read more

Nice trees, a few benches...Not really a destination, but a great place to sit and eat lunch.