Holly Creek Park

Holly Creek Park in Oakley, CA is one of the cleanest and peaceful park I've seen in the East Bay. It's has a nice size playground and a huge grass area, at times used for kids soccer practice. There's also a walking/running path for you, your family and pets that's about a 1/4 of a mile round. There's also room for family BBQs and small parties. Update 04/10/2023: still beautiful as it was and there has been a few changes. The ground floor for the playground has been changed to a flat, soft, bouncy floor which makes it less hazardous. And I'm happy to announce that there is now a public restroom which is lovely. Now we can enjoy the beautiful park fully. I just hope they continue to maintain a clean park. Thank you to the community park management whomever you are.

For safety reasons, I like to avoid what I call convenience playgrounds. Those are parks that people only go to out of convenience rather than as a destination. They'll cut through the park to get to their destination or hang out only b/c it's there close to where they're going. If it was any further away or more difficult to access, they wouldn't be there. Those types of parks invite people who have no real business being at the park which can lead to safety issues.Holly Creek is not one of those parks. It's definitely a destination playground. You won't find yourself up on that hill to the base of the playground just for kicks and you certainly won't make your way up the incline or stairs to get to the actual spots like the tennis courts if you're not intending to play tennis. You're also not taking effort to go up there unless you're really intending to play with the play structures or to find the sweat spot for a picnic. I didn't confirm, but I'm pretty sure the small building I saw on the other side of the tennis courts is a bathroom. Hopefully it's only during Covid, but dog walkers seem to ignore the signs about no dogs being allowed on the baseball field. Saw at least 4. If you're intending to play ball, bring a gang or wear your uniforms so it looks obvious and maybe they'll move away. Do I deserve to be there to fly my FPV quadcopter more than the dog owners just chilling? Debatable. I didn't feel like confronting anyone and certainly didn't want my quad chewed up by a dog. Nor would I want dog owners giving me attitude b/c somehow I create an attractive nuisance for a dog that shouldn't even be there in the first place. The playground structures are on the older side, but the structures seem fun. A single designated entrance/exit which is excellent for safety. You know who's going in/out and there won't be people using it as a short cut to get through the park. Those that don't belong there most likely won't be wondering through there and it'll be obvious to everyone. Single paths aren't the safest of ways to design a park. It forces people who don't want to cross paths to have to cross paths. There should always be an alternative route. The variety of types of spaces makes this place possibly worth a second trip. Remember that hard to get to is actually a good thing as long as enough people make that trek. Population needs to be large enough where anyone willing to make the trek out to a spot isn't vulnerable by being the only ones out there. Worth checking out, but don't get too excited.

I give this park a one star because they took the only porta potty away.Now they have soccer kids peeing behind the bushes...The city of oakley must know that this park is being used by impact soccer and they don't replace the porta potty...great job park and rec...

We love this park! Nice playground for kids and close to home.