Central Park — Attraction in San Ramon

a review from @amom2kidsandapark

This is a must see park in the east bay! The play structure is huge and offers so much fun for all ages. The design of the structure has it all in a straight line so parent/caregiver can stand in one place and see multiple kids. There are three slides (two only accessible by a ladder) and plenty of climbing opportunities including an entire section of the playground dedicated to climbing (geometric net, balance beam, rock wall, etc etc etc. there’s so much!!). There is a really fun scavenger hunt built in where kids and adults alike can hunt for different images hidden around the playground! The play area also includes a water play spot, a teeter totter, and some fake logs for balancing. A ways from the play ground is a small swing set (a bit far for comfort to have kids separated) with a swinging chair and three regular swings (no bucket swing at this park).

Adventuring around this park you'll find a water fountain, a sculpture of silhouettes holding hands, the “lake” (more like a small pond but keep an eye out for ducks) and the story walk (a bunch of posts along a path that has a page of a story on each one).

The park also has tennis courts, a basket ball hoop (with net), soccer field, baseball field, wide open grassy areas, paved side walks around good for strollers, running, or dog walking. There are picnic benches and  what looks like an outdoor amphitheater.

Parking is easy in the lot and there are...

Firstly, note that this review is purely about the softball fields.

Excellent scoreboards and Field #3 is very nice after its recent overhaul. The outfield grass on each field seems to be mowed often enough, though there have been times it's gotten way too high (like Snoop Diggity Dogg!). The main issue, though, is that the city doesn't drag the fields nearly often enough -- I believe it's done once a week and really should be done at least once a day -- and as a result the dirt gets hard and clumpy. But this isn't about being an aesthetic issue. This kind of surface results in a much lower percentage of "true" hops on groundballs hit to infielders, meaning on hard hit grounders there's a much greater chance of the fielder being hit in the head. I suppose if the city wants to take the risk that the waiver form they make players sign will stand up in court, they can keep on risking softball players getting seriously hurt with the negligent infield upkeep on all the fields.

07/14/25 update (was 3 stars): The fields are kept in better shape than before. Or maybe they just got some of that prime dirt shipped in from the...

My grandkids and I love Central Park, especially the water feature. There are a few things that need addressing before I would rate this park 5 out 5. First, there is no playground equipment for young children. As stated on the sign, the playground was designed for ages 5 to 12. This makes it difficult, and sometimes, dangerous for different ages siblings to play at the same park together. The younger ones cannot follow their brother/ sisters onto the play structures because they are too high, or too dangerous for them, and so are forced to watch or take risks to participate. There are no toddler swings, and the one handicapped swing, which could be used for toddlers has been removed. The other disappointment is that the see saw has been broken for months. It also was difficult to use for the youngest children, but with adult help, it was a favorite of my 3-year-old grand-daughter. As I said before, we love the park, but my third grandchild has just been born, and it will be difficult to use the Central Park playground when he is 2 with siblings that...