Val Vista Community Park

It’s a little smelly. It’s behind a waste processing station. It has really beautiful green fields, I wonder if they’re being watered by the reclaimed water from the processing station. We went for the playground which is really quite limited. There’s a little water feature. There’s one play structure that is for kids age 5 and older, although my three-​year-​old did just fine on it. She just didn’t go down the big curvy slide. There’s no sandbox. There is a covered picnic area with picnic tables. By that is a very small lawn with trees, and on either side are fence playing fields. It’s OK. It does have a lot of parking.

I really love this place. My kids enjoy their time here too. There is a water play area that I wish were turned on for the hot summer months, but I know we’re in a drought. For now the water rock formations are used as a play ground until the water flow starts again!
The playground is still a great big place of exploration and laughter. There are multiple slides, all with unique attributes. I won’t spoil anything so you all can visit it. The tables for barbecues and family picnics are ample and clean. The field is large enough for soccer practice or to divide for multiple uses.
The park has a really nice community garden too. It’s lush and green and I wish I could go into it and see what’s growing. The walking trail is small but neat and the kids love running back and forth as my wife and I walk it. This park is cool and I recommend it to everyone.
It is near the water treatment plant but if you disregard that it’s not so bad. Also, there is
Another park on the other side of the field. It’s huge! Val vista is a-​okay!

Soccer fields are real grass not fake and one of the best around!
Bad news is that it’s next to a water treatment plant and it smells like sh! t. We couldn’t wait to get out of here.
Next time I’m bringing Vicks to put under my nose if we have to play here again. Otherwise avoid.

This park is really nice and big. Clean too.
I took my son here to play and glad to see some places are maintained!

Huge park, well maintained. A few playgrounds and a water park. Dog run garden area and lots of open space.

The skate park is good, even though it is shallow. You’ll see the typical disclaimers that the city takes no responsibility for your pleasure or pain. Quite right. Pads and helmets are always a good idea.
I’ve been to 25 or so skate parks in NorCal from the SF Bay Area to Sacramento. They’re usually good enough to keep little kids busy, but it takes more for those older.
This one is not really deep enough for vert and there aren’t any steep inclines really but isn’t really oriented toward pure street, either. There are surfaces to grind, and places to jump with some steps. I was surprised to see a set of whoop-​de-​dos, like MX or BMX but they’re so small and tall, I’m not sure who will use them.
There are also some benches, and some cover, which is unlike most skate parks where a summer day will easily fry you while you’re looking for shade. Parking was amazingly close.

This is a tough review to write because the rating of this park depends on which way the wind is blowing. The park itself is large, well-​maintained and contains something for everyone… BUT it is located adjacent to a sewer treatment plant and stinks when the breeze is blowing the wrong direction!
A particularly interesting feature I discovered last weekend was the skate park. My wife and I took our 9 year-​old to scooter there and found it fascinating to watch the groups of kids interact and do their thing. There were skateboarders, BMX’ers, and scooterers — some really kids talented and fun to watch. Most of the kids seemed pretty clean-​cut, but of course there were the older dirt-​baggy smoking and cussing punks that added a bit of a grimy element to the scene. By the time we left in the late afternoon on Saturday, the place was packed and getting very entertaining to watch.
Regardless of the smell, it’s a nice park and I’ll give it more stars than less. Just be warned that it can stink at times.

The park is nice, but it smells like a dirty diaper. After an hour at the field watching my child play soccer I needed to go home to change my clothes, due to the smell.

Val Vista park has an outdoor roller hockey rink!!! 5 stars just for that :) I don’t know of any other public park that has this kind of facility– and so I drive from Hayward for this luxury.
My fiancé and I play inline hockey at Dry Ice in Oakland– which is AWESOME!- but since they only have certain days and hours for «open skate” — you can’t just go there and practice whenever you want. ** I’m not sure if Val Vista has time restrictions, but I do know the rink isn’t lighted. I’ll find out and update my review later.
The cement is nice and smooth, there are face-​off dots and zone lines, the goal posts and nets are in good shape, there are bleachers overlooking the rink for audiences, and high fencing for flying pucks.
We LOVE playing hockey, so this place was a great find :) My only gripe is that it isn’t down the street from us!

Val Vista Community Park is quite nice. It is seriously green with ²⁄₃ of it dedicated to soccer. The lawn is carefully manicured but fenced off on any normal day. On the north side, you will find a concrete hockey field and skate park with ramps. The children’s play area is at the other end. There are slides, a rock climbing wall, jungle gyms and such to entertain the little ones. It’s sad to see that the pond has dried up perhaps as a result of the drought. There are also bbq pits and picnic tables. A couple of restrooms are conveniently located. I really like that this park is clean, well-​maintained and safe.

Nice big playground! Clean and spacious. I would give it 5 stars if they made it friendly for 3 year olds. My son is 2 ½ and the playground slides are way too tall and big for him. Lots I parental supervision required.
But there are smaller slides for him as well. Overall and nice park.

If nobody is barbecuing, tolerating or blocking out the sewage smell from nextdoor requires a strong meditative practice. Hypnosis would probably be equally effective.

We had some time to kill on a beautiful Saturday morning and decided to come to Val Vista. The kids loved running around on playground and exploring the park. They happen to come across the small water play area behind the snack shack. A older boy around 7 or 8 put his hands on the sensor and the water started shooting out (we had no idea that it was a water play area). The kids saw it and immediately ran over.
We didnt have a change of clothes with us and the kids were fully dressed and there was no stopping them from getting wet so my wife and I looked at each other and said… GO FOR IT! They had so much fun! After they spent about 20 minutes in the water we stripped them down in the minivan and went home and changed.
Great space for kids and adults… parking can be an issue if there is a soccer game.

Highlights of my observations.
1. Water play area for kids is starts from May through summer season.
2. several soccer fields
3. Very nice seating area closer to play areas.
4. Plenty of parking space.

Vast amount of space. Includes a skate park, several soccer fields, two separate playgrounds, running/​walking trail, a hockey rink, a pond, and picnic areas. The soccer fields are always locked; you need to make reservations in order to use them. One of the playgrounds has a small rockclimbing wall for little kids. Both playgrounds includes swings, one has swings for smaller kids. There is also an area that seems to allow running water to flow all around, but it’s never been on whenever I visited.
I usually visit the park during my lunch breaks and run along the trail. If you don’t mind the smell of the sewage that runs parallel, it’s a decent trail. Each gate along the trail indicates how far you’ve run from one gate to another. It is near the freeway, so bring some music to run along to. Trail is well-​kept, as well as the rest of the park.
Not too many people whenever I visit, just a few parents/​kids every now and then, plus there are always a handful of skaters. Only exception so far was on MLK Day, where many parents brought their kids.

Aww, this is my little childhood park. I used to come here back in the day when it was just a playground and grassy field, starring at the sunset from the jungle gym. Whenever there was a Backstreet Boys concert, I’d be so depressed after it was over, that this was my little escape! Good memories.
Since all the construction back in the day was completed, it’s turned into a picturesque park! I still come here whenever I can, since I don’t live in the area anymore. It gets pretty packed on the weekends as there are a few soccer fields here and you can bet there are games on the weekends. Gets so packed that people start parking in the neighborhood, pretty far out actually.
They have a nice little pathway to the side that resembles a high school track, but with picnic tables, streams and hills in the middle. I use this area to run laps and walk, as it’s the quiter section of the park. There’s also an enterance to the back
There are two playgrounds, a little kid one and a bigger kid one (haha.) They’re both pretty decent for playgrounds. I admit, my fiancé and I will come be little kids on these every so often when no one is around. There is also a small rock climbing wall at the big kid playground. Picnic tables and BBQ’s line up the front on the grass, as well as a path that goes around the whole park. In the back, there is a path leading to the little kid playground and the parking lot (which has an entryway off of Stoneridge and where most of the cars park). There are a couple of bathrooms at both the little kid and big kid playground, as well as soccer fields between the two. At the very back end of the park (I say backend, because I always approach this place from the neighborhood side) there is a skateboarding park, which is usually pretty busy.
I’d say this place has become a great competitor with the sports park. Although it’s way smaller, it’s well landscaped (when the grass is actually cut!) and has that small feel that the sports park doesn’t.

It was our first visit to this park. It was hot! We got there by 10 30 and it was already scorching. After applying generous amount of sunscreen and putting on our hats, we could enjoy it.
The water features for toddlers and smaller kids are really great! The play structure was in the shade at that time. There are baby swings and a toddler play structure right by the water area, and a couple of steps further — a play structure for older kids.
No sandbox.
Cement for the water area and wood chops for the playground (so best to wear some water friendly shoes.)
I LOVED the little kid sized picnic tables! They were so useful, although they are all in the sun and do get hot. Nice if you have a towel to put over it. There is a whole in the middle of each table, so i will try to bring one of the table umbrellas and see if it works.
The water area is great — lots of different sprinklers that you can activate with a button.
The middle has little hills with water flowing between them — it’s fun, BUT the water then goes down to a stream and there is no gate or anything to prevent the little ones from falling off into the stream. Also some of our toys got swept into it. Would be great if they add a grate of some kind or a barrier to prevent the kids from falling and losing the toys.
Overall — it’s a great place for water play!

Nice play structure, wholesome atmosphere and YOU KNOW IT, this park is within walking distance of Sweet Tomatoes.

I have 2 uses for this park: My derby team practices here, and my kids love the playground (s).
The skating arena is relatively well-​kept, and our team appreciates being able to practice here. There’s plenty of parking and spots for visitors to sit, although the closest restroom is a bit of a hike on wheels. Minus one star for the hockey guys that insist on using the space during the time we’ve paid the city to reserve it.
My kids love playing on the 3 wood-​chip playgrounds and love love love the water play area. Bring sunblock, a picnic and some dry clothes and you can easily spend half a day here. Restrooms are across from the water play area and by the snack bar/​soccer area. If you come on a weekend, you’ll have to park by the skating area, or try to park on Denker/​Payne to be closer to the kid area.

This community park has a good sized skate park and roller-​blade rink, two huge soccer fields (call to reserve), about three huge places for kids to swing and slide. Plenty of trees and tables. Two big area with about 20 tables all together for large groups. But if you just wanna walk your dog, it’s great and something different. There is access to the creek if you want to go for a longer walk too. My dog loves playing fetch here!
The only disappointment is the past the pond area: the long grass just got way too long and over took a couple of tables. But oh well, no big deal.