Florence Skate Park — Attraction in Florence

Let me start by saying it's harder to rate skateparks, since they vary so much in size. An outstanding small park might not offer as much as a giant park that isn't as well laid out. So, which one deserves the better rating? Hard to say. With that in mind, I like to share some observations about the good and the bad.

This is a very large and diverse park. It's in a decent part of town and the locals are friendly. It's close to the interstate and easy to reach. There's a water fountain and a porta-potty. It's pretty spread out, so the crowd-handling capacity seems pretty good (although I was not there on the weekend). There's also some seating and shade for the parents who haven't taken up skating yet. A clever strategy, IMO, since the kids get to stay longer and the parents can think more clearly about the benefits of skating if they're not in the midst of a heat stroke.

There are plenty of small and/or simple features for beginners which seemed to be useful for the advanced street skaters. There are also some interesting intersecting ramps, jump-ups, spines, etc. I think it would take a long time for an advanced skater to discover and exploit all the available features.

One stand-out feature is a giant bowl with mirror symmetry in the features. This lets the regular and goofy riders have an equal opportunity. Once you have a line worked out frontside, you can then learn the same line backside, etc. It also has a shallow end with mellow radius that's an easy drop-in for beginners. But, the deep end is 8 feet or more.

The only downside is that many of the transitions have tight radii, or are irregular in some way. For example, some transitions are a blend of bank ramp and radius. The pocket in the deep end tightens up into a corner with a small radius that is also variable. All of this made it hard for me to build or maintain speed. The locals seemed to have the same challenge. I did see one guy absolutely rip it, but even he said this particular bowl "takes it out of you". If you spend some time here, you will learn a lot. But, you'll have to...

Florence Skate Park is a great place to ride and skate! It provides a well thought out lay out and nicely executed construction. There is a restroom (of sorts) Albeit the porta-potty type. All in all it is a great venue and it promotes positive activity and a nice feeling of camaraderie that connects a diverse group of people through a common activity. The people who frequent here are almost always friendly and have been understanding and respectful to my little one who is just getting his feet wet and learning etiquette of riding around others. The only problem I have which is trivial and of no fault of its own, is that it wasn't here when...

Pretty good spot, the bowl is oddly shaped and a little hard to get used too, but everything else is good for all levels. In my opinion it’s more of a beginner park with lots of different varieties or ramps and rails, good for starting out and learning how to get better. It’s usually pretty busy, but most everyone is good about being polite. All in all it’s not bad and i frequent this spot a lot. Mini ramp is my...