If you are a resident of Silicon Valley (specifically around the Santa Clara/Cupertino/Sunnyvale/San Jose area), or if you are just a visitor to the South Bay, I highly recommend that you check out Central Park. Santa Clara's Central Park, not to be confused by the big one in New York, is a giant community park filled with adventures for all ages. I've lived in the South Bay for a bit over a year, and until recently, did I actually take the chance to go explore around the park. And what a mistake on my end, because this local park is gorgeous. In it, you will find ponds for ducks, a community swimming pool, a train for kids even, and also basketball courts. It definitely reminds me of the OC's Mile Square Park back at home. Getting to this park is actually really easy. It's located on Kiely Blvd nearby Homestead. It's close by to major expressways (e.g. Lawrence and San Tomas) and so it should be pretty smooth getting to Central Park. The only crazy times when there's traffic is probably around 5pm when people get home from work (ugh Apple people) and also during 4th of July celebrations. Speaking of which...I actually walked to this park during 4th of July with my girlfriend, and this is when you can get the full, raw experience of Central Park. Every year during Independence day, the park throws a HUGE party for families all around the Santa Clara area. The park gets PACKED with people who bring kids, BBQ, tents, etc. This is a really great experience, and one that opened my eyes to how wonderful the park is. It's a huge gathering place for everyone in Silicon Valley and I'm glad to be a part of it. I have to give Central Park an "omg, I'd travel 2 hours for this." It's a wonderful park, and you can definitely spend an entire day here! Have fun and prosper, read more

See all

What a nice find! I've never known about this park even though I've been in San Jose forever (ok not really *forever*. I was born in 1292 and I drink the blood of the innocent to stay young) There is a super cute duck pond with a lovely fountain in it. There is a walking path around it. There's a couple of small bridges with a stream that runs under them. Negative point: the walking loop is actually kind of small. Positives: this place has a crazy awesome combination of amenities, including: Swimming pool Tennis courts Basketball court Playground Exercise circuit (outdoor equipment) Baseball field Library Duck pond Walking loop It is regularly used for special events, and is supposed to have an awesome fireworks show for the 4th, and a number of other things that happen. Here's a direct link to the parks and recreation "special events" page if you're curious (it will take you out of Yelp): http://santaclaraca.gov/government/departments/parks-recreation/parks-recreation-special-events There were a lot of complaints about the bird poo when I was checking out others' reviews. I didn't really have a big issue with it. Maybe they are cleaning more regularly now, but I didn't even notice when I was there. No more so than any other park with birds, anyway. I mean seriously, how did I not know about the existence of this place?? The parking does get rather full, but I you drive to the very back there's usually spots. Almost no shade to be found anywhere though. read more

See all

This park is Beautiful! My first time driving here the map took me to the apartment a cross the street. The park water is so dirty with some trash and algae. I can't even walk without looking on the ground to see if I step in poop. The park have a picnic area with tables and bbq pits. Big grass on the other side of the park. Don't forget they even have a playground for the kids. read more

Happy Independence Day! Awesome fireworks show here tonight, in 20 minutes of our taxpayer money going up in brilliant flames. The end was wild. There were so many fireworks going off at once that the whole park was lit up like it was daytime! There must have been 10,000 people crammed into the park and on the street (Kiely Blvd, which was closed off to vehicles). What fun! The ensuing traffic jams when the event was over, not so fun. Good thing we live nearby and could walk over, muahaha. During the rest of the year, this is a great park with a ton of space, basketball courts, short trails, a duck pond, an amphitheater, and is situated close to the Community Center, the Swim Center and the Library. And in Silicon Valley where space comes at a premium, this is one huge park indeed. The softball field is also home to events during the year, like last week's Silicon Valley BBQ Cookoff. With so much going on at Central Park, there's never a dull moment! read more

I have been to Central Park a couple of times for 4th of July for the fireworks. My husband's cousin lives down the street from the park. The fireworks were always great. A couple of weeks ago I got to experience the other side of Central Park for my little kids soccer game. The park is bigger on the side. There's a baseball diamond, restrooms and a nice fountain. Another big plus? It's clean! read more

This place is so nice! I recently went and I had so much fun walking around, exploring, and taking cute pictures with my friend! It's nice to go with family or friends, to go on a run or to have a picnic! read more

See all

Just moved to Santa Clara and this is one of my favorite parks that has a lot of different types of venues and a big swimming pool I'm looking forward to the 4th of July celebration read more

Central Park - A playground that reminds me of my youth - Parks Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Nice park! Unfortunately, there's soooo much poop on the ground from the animals but it's definitely a busy and feels pretty safe! There's a swim school right there, a lawn bowling area, a playground for kids, basketball courts, tennis courts, a recreational area I saw classes being held, plenty of grass, a baseball field, and a public library nearby. read more

Great place for my dog to prey on ducks/geese (please see picture). He's a chihuahua mix so naturally his fiesty side needs to be released and this is a great place to do it. I swear, if I actually did let him off his leash, he'd probably kill a duck or 2. Is that illegal by the way?... I usually come here to walk the terrorizer that is my dog every so often. It's a big park, we usually finish walking around in about 30 minutes. The big bad side is that because of the ducks/geese/other birds, there is a lot of poop all near the pond and on the sidewalks. Really gross, especially when you don't want your dog treading on it!!!! Seriously, if we need to control the bird population, I'm your girl. I'll just let my dog off his leash, see what he can do. Anyways, I've never really been to the pool or the community center, but I hear it's pretty sweet. They have a lot of things to do here like a soccer field, basketball courts and playgrounds. But I just come here to watch my dog chase the birds. read more

Central Park - Hunting for ducks - Parks Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Central park is great for BBQ's, walking your dog or even let your dog run freely, and if you have kids, there's two playgrounds here. This park includes a basketball court and a tennis court. Be on a look out for awesome events online! They host a lot of events such as BBQ cook out, art and wine festival, 4th of July, and this Holidays they had/have a mini Christmas in the park-like. I guess the only downfall is that there's a lot of duck poo poo lol read more

This is a great park in the center of a metro area. They have a very nice pavilion, pond, play grounds, exercise trail, sports facilities, a center, and many great places to sit back or lay down and enjoy the day. read more

Solid park but there's an insane amount of goose poo and last time we visited there's a man in the pavilion who will scream and chase you so as long as you stay not in the pavilion area it's fine :) read more

Can't believe I've lived in the Santa Clara county for so long that not till this summer I found out about this place through a friend's recommendation. Beautiful park where you can wander around and look. Perfect place to have parties or take your children to the playground. Lots of bird poop though... read more

See all

Every yr I come here for my volunteer appreciation bbq with OneBrick. This place is amazing. This place is soo big that while we are having our very spacious bbq going on with our plenty of people there's still tons of other people having parties there also. They have a special area set up for pinata's , The parking is great here. I love how there's ducks, geese, and pigeons all over the place. They're really cool, I always have a great time taking pics with them. The restrooms are very clean here and soo is the entire park. I love how shiny , clean , and cut too perfection the grass is. They have a great playground area for kids also. I love smell of the trees here and how great they look. I also love the waterfall and the beautiful lake they have here. This is a great place for parties and large groups. This park just gets better and better looking everytime I come here. Hey I've got no complaints, keep up the good work Santa Clara. read more

Great park to entertain the kids. Plenty of parking is available, and the restrooms actually have soap! That's pretty rare for public park restrooms and the lack of soap always grosses me out. The play structures are old but in good shape. We weren't able to visit the entire park, but there is plenty of seating and picnic tables. There were 4 separate picnics/bbqs/parties happening on the Saturday afternoon we visited. read more

There's no best way to chill out and spend an all day's work reading a good book or staring at the sky in a grassy field. Grab a pastry, snack or a beverage at Cafe Sarah and it's sure to satisfy your day. read more

We came here for the Pokemon event that is bagon and there was quite a lot of people there during the event that parking was hard to find. I was really surprised with the amount of people that came. The park itself is big, has a huge dining area to hold parties and there can be quite a lot of them. A pond, but beware of the bird poop as there is a lot. Tons of pokestops and gyms. The library is nice too, but I am sure that can get crowded as well. I would come back here for pokemon. read more

We didn't know about this park until we came to visit the library. We were pleasantly surprised with this park - it's of decent size and lots of birds hanging out. This is also a really place to catch Pokemon - lots of poke stops and rare finds. The path is nice for walks it's not very long but good to do laps. Beware though when walking in the park of the duck/geese poop. read more

I lived a block from Santa Clara's Central Park for about 5 years. I loved waking up early in the morning, heading to park and walking in the dew which was still on the freshly cut grass. The parks huge and can host just about every type of event you can imagine. Small concerts. Parties. Weddings & Receptions. You name it, it could be done in the park. It's a nice park. I hope you get a chance to visit it yourself. read more

Needed a park to walk our dogs, but was not familiar with the neighborhood. We randomly chose Central Park and glad we did. We started our walk during sunset then ended on sundown. It seems to be a safe park as far as I can tell. There were many folks walking around. You'll get a walk out of this park. read more

What's not to love about a park with green grass, wildlife to watch, plenty of space to social distance with neighbors and friends at, and paths to walk and explore?! read more

Celebrating the 4th of July here was memorable! The park accommodated a huge crowd of people! It's been several years since Santa Clara hosted a big event, so there were several faux pas. There was definitely not enough parking space for hundreds of people who attended the 4th of July festivities & no traffic control after the event, which made it a challenge to leave. My poor friends who came later in the evening had to leave after failed attempts of finding parking. I'm relieved to learn later that my friends ended up being up close & personal with the fireworks in another city. :)) Me & my other friends enjoyed a nice picnic under the shaded tree. The park was the perfect location to host the fireworks. The live band did a great job in entertaining the crowd. There were at least four food trucks present, but no dessert food truck. Luckily, Safeway was walking distance from the park, so my friends & I bought our dessert & other snacks there. :)) It worked out. Overall, a great experience in the park with my friends. :)). Next year, I look forward to another event here at Central Park. read more

See all

Here is my reminder.The Summer Concerts are on the way!I'm so excited to go for Summer Music with Latin Heat Orquesta on July13 at 6:30 to 8pm. There is plenty of seats, picnic tables in a shade. Have fun and dance. Bring your family, oh kids love it! read more

See all

i can't believe i've lived in silicon valley for almost 6 years and never set foot in this park! i came for a bbq/picnic hosted by one of my run clubs, and was actually quite amazed at how many others had also never been here, despite living relatively close by! this park is so massive that when i first arrived, i ended up on the wrong side of the park and had to drive to the other side, where the reserved picnic area was. fortunately, that side had more parking, and it was free for 4 hours, so i didn't have to worry about moving my car during the festivities. the area that was reserved by the club leader was spacious, with several picnic tables/benches, and a few grills. there was also a grassy area, where we set up some games to play. our group of 35-40, including some children, was very comfortable in this space. aside from reserved picnic areas, this park also offers children's play structures, tennis courts, basketball courts, softball fields, swim center, and a ton of grassy area for picnics and other lawn activities. i also found the park restrooms to be fairly clean and well kept (found toilet paper, running water, and soap!) there are several lots with free parking, and you can also park along the streets, just be sure to check parking rules as they vary depending on the day of the week and hour of the day. great place to gather folks in and around santa clara. accessible via 280 & saratoga or 101 & san tomas expy. read more

I love this park! It's close to the library and they have beautiful water fountains. I docked one star off because there's always a lot of duck/geese poop around it and it's really disgusting. The water is also pretty grimy. It's green and murky and really really really questionable. I try not to walk my dog around the fountain where it's really disgusting. However, the roads are mostly clean and my dog enjoys walking around here. They have a lot of cool events here throughout the year: -The annual Art & Wine Festival is really cool, people get ditzy and drunk to cool music and there are many types of wine and beers to try. -Fourth of July is also really cool. They have a 10 minute firework show and showcase many food trucks and they are all very yummy. -Just recently, they installed a small ice-skating rink and they had a tree lighting ceremony. They sold food and hot chocolate, and offered Christmasy themed performances by the city... perfect for a cold night out. Hmm, that's all that I can think of for now but I really do enjoy this park. There aren't a lot of homeless people and as a woman, I feel safe walking here alone with my dog without being harassed. read more

Poo, poo, and more poo. No good memories every time that i go to this park, always the same. I remember the first time some months ago. I was so excited to see that there was a Central Park in Santa Clara! Like a mini New York, I thought. Yeah, right, minus the views and many other things. There are several cool spots, like the gathering one for theater or performances and the fact that the library is just there and that popular swimming pool...is just this park seems so outdated and dirty. I was checking all the time every step in order not to die engulfed by poo. Also, I saw too many people feeding animals when is strictly prohibited. Not my kind of habitat. read more

This is a HUGE park. I mean, they have a large community center, swimming pool, croquet, library nearby, plenty of parking, a duck pond, lots of room to go jogging or walk your dog, bbq grills, etc. They throw plenty of festivals here which is why this is popular to everyone who has been a Santa Clara residence for years! They host the Art and Wine Festival each year which has become more and more popular. The 4th of July fireworks is spectacular! However, I came to realize that during the times they throw these huge events, the more the park looks like it's getting trashed. I still love this park anyway, I just hope that they keep it well-maintained. read more

I can not say I come here often enough to have much to say, but I do come here for the 4th of July fireworks. It is a great place the area is maintained and we have plenty to do before the fireworks show. Where they launch the fireworks is a great place, as they can be seen for a few miles away. My kids do enjoy the places they can run and hide. The park is a great location for festivals and other event, and I hope the continue to use this park for those events. read more

Love this HUGE park. Just wish the water in the man made lake looked cleaner. The water looks green brown. Love the pavilion it looks cool with the vines and chains that go up into the sky forming a roof type dome. Paths and grass and shade. Playgrounds too. Big clean park with bathrooms in each corner. Library nearby. Parking lots and street parking available. Benches tables and grills throughout the park. There are areas that are reservations through the city. Also exercise stations throughout the park. Baseball field, tennis courts, bowling green, and the Santa Clara swim club where I spent my childhood on the swim team. They offer public swimming too in the summer for a fee. Cheaper if you're a Santa Clara resident. Three pools. One is Olympic sized. One is a diving pool. Fireworks for 4th of July were okay but I've seen better, food tricks here on this day but lines are super long. Dogs not allowed on 4th of July at the park. read more

Part of life, this park is. I am happy to say that it is kept up pretty well. I know that I just happened to be there after we have had some rain to wash everything clean and it had only been nice weather for a two days so there hadn't been time for people to trash it. But still, the place looks like it is still in good shape after all of these years. read more

Went here this morning to walk and bring my daughter to the tiny tot playground. She had a good time although the play structures were all covered in sand. We walked from the tennis center all the way through to Kiely and really wanted to blow bubbles and run on the grass by the fountain. BAD IDEA. Before I could realize how serious it was, the bottom of our shoes were caked with goose poop. Great park. Great facilities. Goose poop ruins it. The whole place needs to be pressure washed periodically. read more

This place has the BEST firework show in the Bay Area for the 4th of July!!! It's a beautiful park and there's live music until the fireworks start, there's also food during the day, but I only went to see the fireworks at night. When there are 10 "grand finales" in one show, you know it's amazing. read more

See all

Central Park is very clean and nicely set up for having parties. It was my first time here for a birthday party and I was quite impressed with the huge BBQ pits they have and right behind those are huge sinks. Lots of counter space in between and plenty of small tables (only seats 4) for people to sit at. These spots are by reservation only and they book up fast as my cousin had to book 8 months in advance. Only downside is they don't let you bring your own tables or chairs. read more

Beware! This park is owned by the geese! Rumor has it the Master Geese(goose?) lives in a secret underground chamber beneath the big fountain in the middle. They've left landmines *everywhere*. Despite that, this is a great public park! I run here from home and do the old "Conner Hospital" workout station trail. It's got to be a relatively safe park as I see plenty of "more mature" adults wandering and young married couples pushing strollers around. Yes, I drink water from the public water fountain. No, I did not die. Spongebob Awesomeness: It's *right* next to the Santa Clara Library so make the trip a 2-for-1! read more

Has anyone not seen the movie "Birds" from Alfred Hitchcock? Well, come and see what it would be like to be in the set! I was unexpectedly surrounded by and nearly attacked by those birds, and was screaming as I was trying to get out of them. No, I was not feeding them or anything, somebody else was, and this person just stopped. A couple of minutes later, all of a sudden, the birds came flying towards me. They were flying so low and so fast. It is funny now in retrospect, but it really was not THEN! Aside from that the park is large with a couple of playgrounds and some barbeque areas which seem to be closed by the city. There was also a tiny outside theater? area. read more

Great park to take my 8 year old and burn some energy off. LOTS of Pokemon stops. BUT the geese poop is horrible and smells

I can't believe I never knew this park existed, especially since it's the closest, cleanest baby/toddler friendly park near me! Upon turning on to Kiely (cross-street Homestead), look for that "parking" sign which takes you to an easy entrance to the park. This park is "big" in the sense that it's connected to the library, recreation center, tennis courts, swimming pools, basketball courts, etc. The main appeal for me though, is the clean enough little kids play area. All I'm looking for are swings, slides, and soft pavement. It's a good place to play, have a picnic lunch, and play again afterwards. The park is most crowded around 11ish when all the kids are running out and about. It quiets down around 1 when they're all going home for nap time. I took a short stroll around the park. One thing to beware of is the goose poopy around the water foundation area. With a stroller, it's hard to avoid it. I don't wanna know how much goose poopy I accidentally rolled over. This park has bathrooms, so that's always a plus. I guess it's a friendly park since there's a buncha strollers parked all around the little kids area. Will be back with my son for my fun in the future! read more

Been going to this park for years! I even had a few school picnics here. I love the arbor areas and the big layout. We walk our dog here a few times a month. Our dog can not contain himself when he sees the parking lot! They have a large pool, several playgrounds, basketball courts, community center, baseball fields, a pond, and a creek even flows through it! Just a great place to throw a party or walk your dog. I highly recommend coming here. read more

Central Park - Legend thinking about chasing the geese - Parks Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Googled fourth of July events near me for 2015. I'm from salinas so this was close enough to drive up and back that same day. Boy was I blown away!!! Best fireworks show I've seen ever, and it brought grandma to tears. Free entry, good food vendors, great live music. Vendor lines were long, that's expected. Awesome spread out setting with many great places for relaxing, playing lawn games, picnicking, etc. I will be back next year for sure. 5 stars!!!! Props to the city of Santa Clara! I was not disappointed. read more

Central Park - July 4th 2015. Amazing show!! - Parks Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Hosted a team bbq here for some fun and games, and it was perfect! Aside from what everyone else is saying, here's a few new tips about this park: 1) If you want to avoid the geese droppings, go to the other side of the park (Kiely side w/ Arbor rental spot). That field is large and poop-free. 2) Get there EARLY. You want a pinic bench w/ bbq pit just like everyone else - and no one wants to share. Except you're gonna want it more than the guy that waited there till 4am. yes, 4AM. "Of course that's what you get at peak summer time on a weekend", so said the guy that got there at 5am that wanted the 4am-guy took. oy. Otherwise, you can picnic it up under one of the many nicely shaded trees (bring ur own table / chairs). 3) BBQ pits are said not to be allowed, but it's actually ok to bring. I saw plenty w/ charcoal, and one guy w/ a full on 48" double tanked stainless steel tank. 4) Official word on alcohol is that it's not permitted. But as long as you're not being obnoxious about it.... the officials are cool about it. They're not there to destroy anyone's fun - just keep the order / peace. Great parking on Kiely / Homestead. Plenty of jungle gym action for the kids. If you wanna rent one of those awesome covered areas (the Pavilion / the Arbor) they're about $275 and up, which is great for tons of people. They also got plenty of trash bins w/ recyclable brown bags for compost / recycle stuff, and a bin for ashes. read more