Tri-Valley Mortgage News

Summer is in full swing and that means it's time to hit the parks. The San Ramon/Danville area has absolutely fantastic parks to take advantage of. With average summer temperatures around here in the high 80s, most of the parks also have water features to cool the kiddos down. A few parks even have newly updated play structures.

I have two children: ages 6 and 2 so I have lots of experience with Danville parks and San Ramon parks. In the coming weeks I will lay out the low-down on the best this great area has to offer.

San Ramon Central Park

We waited months for this landmark park to finish its much-needed playground renovation. It was worth the wait. The new equipment is 21^st century cool - a behemoth structure with much of it about 10 feet off the ground (don't worry, it's all fenced in!). Even my 2 year old can wander back and forth along the cat walk. Bigger kids will enjoy the climbing rope cluster. There are also a few man-hewn rocks to climb on.

The water feature at Central Park has always been a big draw but as you can see by the chain link in the photo, the city is still doing some work and it seems to be centered around the creek area. The water was not on when my daughter and I were last there but there were a few remnant puddles in the fountain area (see lower right corner of the picture) and she had a great time puddle-jumping.

The nice thing about this park is that there are amenities for both younger and older kids. While younger kids will enjoy the new playground, older kids flock to the basketball courts and skate board park. Just driving by on Bollinger Canyon Road it's not uncommon to see a few kids toting their boards across the street. The sports facilities are also separated from the playground by grass and foliage so they feel like two different parks.

The sheer size of this park makes it the epicenter of many San Ramon festivities. Our favorites are the San Ramon Art and Wind festival over Memorial Day weekend with great food, shopping and a fun kiddie carnival. We also love to attend the annual 4^th of July fireworks in the park. The vast lawn at the park and adjacent middle school provide plenty of space to stretch out and enjoy a great fireworks show.

The San Ramon public library is just across the street which makes for a nice place to cool down after some serious play. If you live nearby, check it out. If you're thinking of moving to the area, it's definitely one reason to consider this area home.

For more information on San Ramon parks click here.