Sand Dune Park — Attraction in Manhattan Beach

A brief and personal history of Sand Dune Park. San Dune park is a park that was created for the immediately surrounding community. It is not very big and does not even really have a parking lot. I grew up here and this was the only place around to run around and play. When I was a kid in the late 70's and early 80's this park was just that - a park. Since that time the area has seen a dramatic change in demographics. All of the beach cottages that once lined the tree section are now replaced by mini mansions. Those mini mansion brought people with money - many of whom are professional athletes. Those athletes in turn discovered the hill and began using it as part of their training routine. There are few things more challenging than running up a near vertical sand hill! Once the general public found out about the professional athletes using the hill people from outside the area began showing up on the off chance that they might see someone famous. These people had no respect for the park or the neighborhood. The community complained and the city reacted. Now the hill is strictly monitored - which is a good thing. So for those of you submitting complaints, my guess is you don't live in the area and cannot appreciate the concerns of the neighborhood. If that is the case, it is probably best that you find another park to visit. Polliwog Park is a great alternative for families as it has many...

Sand Dune Park is one of my favorite natural areas in the LA Metropolitan area! Great park for workouts on the hill and for kids to play at the playground! It’s basically a multilevel park starting with the lower flat area with a parking lot, playground, picnic tables and restrooms. There’s also a long open lawn, good for playing football or any field sports among friends or family. Not so much a place for organized team sports with spectators, as the field is narrow with homes and yards alongside it. Above the lawn is a large hill with traversing pathways and lots of steps. It’s a nicely maintained natural shaded area, where some users enjoy a leisure walk and others prefer the workout. The north end of the hill is void of vegetation, as this is the sand dune, the namesake of the park! Do the dune! My friends would say, as we used jog up and down the large sand dune! It was a great warmup before going down to the beach to surf! Just blocks from the oceanfront, the park remains as one of the most natural and beautiful parks to go to...

This park is great. I brought my kid here. FYI You can slide down the dune on cardboard ONLY. If you've ever tried to do that, you'll know it's impossible to get a good slide down a hill.

However, after trying a few options, I have decided a piece of cardboard that's large with maybe hand holes cut in it might be better than small pieces that are sized for your kids. Something about distributing weight across a larger surface area seems to be a better option. I brought a few pieces of cardboard and a box cutter to shape them. I stopped by a grocery store on route to get the board. Now I'm rambling. Anyways, good luck!

Also, they have a sign up process to use the space and rotate every hour. There's an attendant on site. Basically it was getting used by athletic boot camps and it got out of hand, so now they do it this way, taking turns and clearing out every hour or so. Annoying, but whatever.

They also have a small playground that's fenced in for...