Junipero Serra Park

All I can say is wow what an amazing park. I took my two almost grown sons for a hike and the view words can’t describe the beauty, also the big slides. I didn’t go down them way too scary
But definitely worth the walk

This was a great find for us in San Bruno. Several short trails (some paths are fairly narrow but none are too challenging), you can probably cover the whole park in a couple of hours. It’s right off the main road but once you’re inside it’s really tranquil. Amazing views of the bay from the top, there’s also a picnic area there too. A great way to spend a sunny afternoon.

This is a great place to run. The hills will certainly challenge you and at the top you’ll have a great view of San Bruno and SFO.

Great park with beautiful views of the peninsula and SFO. Had a wonderful experience helping the rangers install wooden steps to make our parks more enjoyable in our community. Will be back.

My daughter and I still walk to the Junipero Serra Park at least 3 times week and it’s still wonderful.
PLEASE DON’T LITTER WHILE ENJOYING THE PARK!
It’s so terrible when people trash our public places.

Great place to train, run, exercise, or jet to enjoy a nice stroll and enjoy the views.

You have to pay $ 6.00 just to park your car there! I will not be back! :(
What happened to our tax dollars, parks need to be free.

Thanks for all the Unilocalers’ review. We just went there today and we were not disappointed. The long slide is really awesome and fun! The playground overlook the SFO airport and the bay… just beautiful! We were heartbroken to see that the nearby picnic area (with a nice volleyball court) had a lot of graffiti though, I really wish that the park management can take care of this ASAP. Other than that, this is a awesome park, so close to San Francisco and yet you feel like you are in Muir Wood national park or something… Just awesome!

This is a nice small quiet park. Trails are peaceful. Some are in the forest, Meadow Vista Trail has open vista, and I enjoyed activity at SFO. I like to watch landing and taking off.
Not for hardcores but nice to check out. I am a rather hardcore, but I enjoyed hiking after another hike :)
There are a lot of BBQ places and playing area for kids.

Felt like I am in thick woods coz the trail is not paved. Great experience for a quick nature walk with kids as well.

I’d prefer not sharing an awesome hidden find but this one gets 5-​stars and worth sharing. This park is never packed, nor easy to chance upon.
See if you can find the one-​winning point here to satisfy the inner kid in all of us.

Cute park hidden just off Crystal Springs Rd. There is a $ 5 fee per car but after a certain time when the park is nearing closing time you’re free to enter without paying. I’ve only been here two times and both of those times I went straight for the slides area. From there, you can see a great view of the Bay Area and enjoy the slides and play structures, even if you’re an adult. Really though, the slides are enormous… and surprisingly fast. I definitely will be coming back in the future to hike on the many trails this park has to offer and to hop on the slides again, of course.

This park is great! The slides are super fun and the play structures are fairly new.
The hikes are super easy for a little kid.

We used to come here as kids, yep, my Mom was super cool.
So close, yet you feel as though you are far outside the City.
Great place for a BBQ…
Really great hiking but watch for the poison oak. Follow the loop, you can’t get lost here.
Equally just a great place to go on fun day date to swing, climb the rope cage or check out the super steep double slides all whilst overlooking the breathtaking view.
We had an awesome play date here and it wasn’t too packed on a Sunday, perhaps because there are multiple grounds within the park.

This really is a lovely park. Tucked out of the way up Crystal Springs Road with a gorgeous view from the top.
It has a large car park on the lower level along with a play park, benches and BBQ pits scattered about, large amounts of covered seating too along with restrooms. Parking here is $ 5 per car which is a small price to pay for the use and upkeep of such a lovely park.
There are a hiking trails throughout along with a road which you can drive up to the top where again they have a play park with more seating and BBQ area.
This is a great place to go if you just have one of those day’s where you’re stressed or just need some fresh air.
I love taking the hiking trail up to the top and on the far side where the water tower is the view is lovely. I could sit on one of the log’s that surround the parking spaces and just sit looking out to the view for ages without interruption — bliss.

Beautiful location, great for parties and hikes. My only complaint is they lost my reservation.
I had one of my baby showers here last weekend and although it was windy and we were surrounded by bees, everyone had a great time. At the very least it taught us to come prepared with food covers and bee repellant!
We had the Deanza location which is right next to a play structure for kids and a long grassy area. It says on the website it can accommodate 75 people but if there are other parties there, I would be wary of that. This is a great area for kids birthdays or family reunions with many places to play and lots of hiking trails.
My only caution is I would not reserve this site over the internet but rather, go to the ranger’s office. I did an internet reservation and although they sent me a confirmation, I was not in their system and they gave our spot away to another person. We worked it out the day of but you can imagine the drama that caused both parties. Just to be safe… double check everything with them.

A great place for a picnic, a hike and trying out the slide of doom. The slide took out half my family and I’m not kidding. My 10 year old son spun out of control about half way down banging the sides with his head, knees and everything else, finally landing twisted and stunned on his back. Thinking he could do better, my husband (with my daughter) were going so fast that when they hit the transition, it threw them at least 10 feet into the air away from the slide and they too landed on their backs. It was kind of scary to watch and at this point my other daughter decided she would rather go on the smaller slide. The slide of doom is very fast and unfortunately fully exposed to the early afternoon sun which prompted the use of towels. I’m pretty sure the towels sped up the ride tremendously.
The facilities were great with bathrooms nearby. We were able to watch the planes taking off while eating our lunch.
The big playground has no shade in the early afternoon so all of the really awesome equipment was burning hot. It was really too bad. The large trees situated behind the playground do provide great shade during the later part of the day. Other than that it is a beautiful and quite place to get away.

5 stars folks
if you driving by on crystal spring going maybe more the 35mph you are sure to pass this park, covered by the trees place is like a get away from the normal, it is like your all inclusive very own park, for a $ 5 dollar fee you get access to majority of the park the lower levels are first come first serve there are many pits and enclosures for the most part during summer spaces are limited, if you want you can reserve one of the higher sections of the park, the top section has an adult size slide literally adult size, dont wear a sikirt to thsi park or you will not be able to partake in the fun haha
definitely hit this spot up again and again for bdays, graduations, anniversarys, etc.
food — bring your own folks
service ***** they are helpful
price $ 5bucks
ambiance ***** on a nice sunny day you cant go wrong here

Just about every single family picnic is thrown in this park and always in the same area as well. It is very easy to pass up if you’re not paying attention since it’s not at a intersection, but just pay attention to the signs.
When you first turn in you’ll find the little booth where there is a ranger to collect your fee for parking. It is usually $ 5, but a small price to pay … esp since I know the money is going towards the park anyways. Then the ranger will ask you where you’re headed so that they can help direct you towards your path.
My family has always taken the grounds near the mini-​playground area. There are bathrooms nearby, a big grassy field (great for lawn games or a bouncy house), and a couple hiking trails. I’ve gone on the trails and all the way around the park … which is very clean and beautiful. It isn’t like your modern park like San Bruno Park that you could find a couple miles away. But it has more of a camping feel to it when you’re walking around in the woods.
The place is always sunny, but when it starts to reach 3pm or so it can get very windy in the picnic areas that we’ve always been in. But it still doesn’t take away from the scenery. =)
This is a great place to have a picnic in or even just to go for a hike at. And though the $ 5 may turn you away, just know that it’s going to a good cause anyways. Hope you enjoy it!

With houses on all sides, the 280 running within earshot, and picnickers outnumbering walkers 10 to 1, Junipero Serra is best approached as an impressively large city park rather than a piece of wilderness to hike in. Indeed, it has been called «the Golden Gate Park of the San Bruno area», although that strikes me as a bit apples & oranges.
There are a ton of picnic tables here, plus a playground and several reservation-​only group picnic sites, some of which have impressive views of the peninsula & bay stretching from San Bruno Mountain to the San Mateo Bridge. You also have a front-​and-​center view of SFO. The greenery here is impressively diverse, ranging from your bread-​and-​butter oak forest (complete with plenty of poison oak) to an interesting mix of pines and eucalyptus near the top of the hill. There are also a couple of grassy meadows that would be perfect for frisbee and the like.
So all in all, Junipero Serra is a wonderful treasure of a park, but I wouldn’t bother coming here just to hike (the $ 5 parking fee is a bit steep for less than an hour’s worth of walking). Instead, keep it in mind the next time you or your friends are in the mood for a picnic BBQ.