Montclair Recreation Center

This park has so much potential but is in SUCH disrepair! The city should be ashamed!
This park could be such a jewel of the community if the city put some effort into reviving it. There is broken glass and duck feces everywhere, broken play structures, overgrown landscaping, disgusting bathroom facilities, broken handrails. This is a nightmare of a park for young children! I have never seen a cleaning crew on site, and the amount of duck feces build-​up is proof. Disgusting.

Though I moved into the Montclair/​Piedmont Pines neighborhood 2 years ago, the first time I came to this park was back in August. Upon finding (metered) street parking, from a distance I saw the geese-​filled pond, fountain, two playgrounds, and the real life version of the stagecoach straight out of a Wells Fargo logo next to some «wild, wild, west”-themed play structures.
It all looked so promising.
Until I finally stepped onto the paved path just past the entrance of the park. I just could not believe the sheer volume of faeces EVERYWHERE. It looked like months of build-​up and I couldn’t believe just how rarely the park must have been cleaned. While there was no sign of poopery on and immediately around the playground structures, I couldn’t imagine just how much bacteria must have been present on the playground structures as well if the rest of the park was SO neglected.
As my daughter took her wobbly steps towards the pond, excited to see the geese, she stepped on piles and piles of white gunk mixed with feathers. I was so glad I caught her just in time before she faceplanted right into a pile of crap minutes later and finally decided I just couldn’t let my then-​early walker continue exploring in the area.
We hadn’t been back since then — until yesterday. Apparently, there’s not too much geese poop this time of year. (Yay!)
Now that the geese poop wasn’t the star of the park, I was able to appreciate some of its features, including:
* The separate playground for younger tots and older children, though the former is a bit on the small side and 2 of the slides are blocked by a janky looking board with spraypaint on it.
* Instead of wood chips (which have penetrated the soles of my shoes 2x at the Roberts playground), they use outdoor safety flooring in the form of rubber (?). You still don’t want your kids falling off the playground and onto the ground and spraining their ankle or dislocating their arm, but it could reduce the risk of serious injury.
* They have a cute Wells Fargo stagecoach next to an open-​air wild, wild, west themed play structure that resembles a very small building which allows kids to walk/​run through openings.
* The pond is home to turtles.
* There are plenty of (filthy) benches to eat at.
While other playgrounds often have direct sunlight providing natural sanitization on the germ-​prone railings, wheels, slides, and other parts commonly touched by kids, these playgrounds do have some trees around them casting a shade. If you’re a germaphobe, this park isn’t for you. (In fact, most aren’t.) Otherwise, this could be a great place for the kids. We plan to continue bringing hand sanitizers and wet wipes whenever we go.

Montclair park is wonderful, despite a few maintenance issues.
Background: I grew up in this park. Baseball, running around the pond, climbing the willow trees around the pond, climbing the jungle gym (removed several remodels ago), and playing tag around the fire tower on Indian Hill.
There was a separator between Montclair School and the park. Live trains ran on the embankment during classes. Students were not allowed to cross through the tunnel to the park during school hours.
For so many kids this was the first base ball game, the first day excursion in Indian Day Camp, birthday picnics, and teenage gatherings. How many kids growing up in Montclair shared their first kiss in the fire lookout tower on Indian Hill?
The drawback is that children need to be watched, and there are bird droppings all around the park. This is a park. That can be expected.
Next time I am in Montclair I will visit Indian Hill. Too bad the fire tower was torn down long ago.
If the park staff had a Montclair Park cleanup day, I would be there. The park belongs to the community, and lets clean it up and make something great out of it.

Disappointing. The pond is disgusting. wish they would fill it up with nice green lawn. Geese droppings on pathways and grass. the stagecoach horses have gaping holes and i’ve witnessed children tripping because of the uneven boards in that area. Picnic tables are trashed and what green grass exists is either covered with geese crap or is too patchy or uneven to play on without tripping. Roberts Park or nearby Piedmont Park is soooo much nicer.

This park is great for kids, not so great for adults. I used to love coming here as a kid to play on the play structures and in the Western play town. Of course, this was before they remodeled the whole thing… But, I don’t doubt that their improvements have been for the better.
I decided to come here recently to enjoy a nice sandwich. I hadn’t been here in forever, despite passing it constantly, and it was a nice day. I was underwhelmed. The park was filthy, thanks to the geese poo everywhere. The graffiti didn’t help either.
But’ it’s still a nice place to enjoy a take out lunch on a sunny day in Montclair since the actual village has very little places to sit and eat.

With the play structures, the picnic tables and grills, the pond, the skate ramp, and the grass, this is still a very underwhelming park. Even disappointing.
If you’re a young child, this park is gold for you. It has 2 play structures, with one geared towards toddlers and one for older kids. There’s also a Western-​inspired «play town» with store fronts, banks, jails, and a carriage with a couple of horses. The Western town has been in the park for years but has unfortunately been vandalized with graffiti. There’s a small grassy area where kids can run around but it’s full of goose droppings. This is where I’ll start with the negatives about this park.
This park is home to a number of geese, whose droppings make the walkways and the grassy area rather disgusting. There are signs around the park warning against feeding the geese and I suggest you heed this instruction as the geese will turn vicious quickly if they know you have food.
The center piece of the this park is the pond, and doesn’t look to be well-​maintained. A good part of it has been completely overtaken with reeds. There’s a population of turtles that lives in the reeds which is pretty adorable and unexpected.
There’s a recreation center adjacent to the park that offers a variety of classes for kids, and has clean bathrooms that they usually let park-​goers use (which are much cleaner than the actual park bathrooms!). There is also a real school right next to the park which means kids flood the grounds, double the noise volume, then vanish after leaving a trail of litter.
There’s a basketball court right next to the restrooms but they installed a skate ramp on top of it. I mostly see kids sliding down it, or sitting on top of it eating Yogofina.
Parking is free on the Moraga Avenue side but is not free on the other side of the park. Keep in mind that parking is not free once you get closer to Lucky’s, so pay attention to signs.
I’d say this park is ideal if you want to take your kids to play on the structures, or if you want to have a picnic at the tables (which are usually shrouded in shade, by the way). It’s not good if you’re looking to become one with nature.

I like the park so much. It’s fun to go there a lot. The only thing I don’t like though is that there is no sand on the playground like there was when I was young. I don’t like the skate rink either. The skate rink is filled with some annoying teens. I wish there were some guards or cameras so that people can be safe from harm.

Okay, it’s a park. An open space with play equipment in the middle of our urban jungle… so it’s not getting less than 4 stars.
But there is one glaring problem with the recent upgrade to the playgrounds.
Why on earth the removal of the gate at the toddler play area?! I can only hope that this is a temporary oversight, and they’ll be putting it back. I counted not less than 5 (not including myself) mothers and nannies who were continually sprinting after escapees. A latching gate is a necessity for contained play areas geared towards the 2 – 4 age set. Especially with a lake in such close proximity.
Pro:
I am not a fan of sand and its ability to permeate every single crack, crevice, and bodily orifice, so I do like that they replaced it with that weird bouncy rubber turf.
Con:
The new design of the baby swings is a bit of a bummer in that there is only one way to use them — the old-​school ones that allow you to face your child in 2 different directions are great on days when you may want to put your child’s back to the blazing sun.
Pro:
The interactive musical features (drums, bells) on each play area are a nice touch.
Con:
I know it was a huge liability, but I do miss the original old Western town play area — when it had the roof you could scale… and fall off of. All good things must come to an end.
Note:
Also, the ubiquitous Oaklanadian geese have made a home on the lawn and lake, so beware the prolific amounts of goose shit.

Cute little park but don’t plan on soaking up any sun here after 3 in the fall/​winter season due to the low elevation so bring a sweater. The small lake is quaint as is the Western town for smaller kids, but they should really build out the skate park area — the one ramp is simply too small for more than two people at a time and my son had to take turns every time he got on the ramp. Not a bad way to socialize with other kids, but compared to the skate park in Dublin this one appears to be in serious need. As far as aesthetics go, considering the close proximity to the street I think a lot can be done to improve the curb appeal of the park to make it appear a little more inviting and warm. Also, the walkway near the park that goes over Moraga Ave. could use some updating.

Great little park. Lots of things to do for everyone.
The kids had a blast, between the old western town play area, the duck pond which also has these really cool turtles, and a great jungle gym area. There’s also a small skateboard park, tennis courts and nearby restrooms which of course is important. A very large, nicely maintained grass area, too. We had a birthday party there on a Sunday. I thought I was getting there early enough so I could scope out a picnic table and I almost lost out because there were only two left by 11:30…and there are quite a few, too, in the central park area right in front of the duck pond… at least 10 — 15 good sized tables with a few BBQ pits. It’s first come, first serve. If you go on a Sunday, keep in mind there’s a farmer’s market that day so the street parking can be a challenge. But everyone in our party was able to find parking fairly close to the park. My Mom was with us, who is in a wheelchair, and the park accommodated that very nicely in all areas, which was great. We all had a lot of fun. Even a few of the kids were crying because they just didn’t want to leave since they were enjoying themselves so. A great family location.

For 15 years our group had our annual founders day picnic at this great little park. The kids could go to the play area and get lost in playing for hours. The grownups would sit around eat and play card or board games. The teens were off to the basketball court until the sack races! We always enjoyed the entire day there. NO dogs, no hoodrats, just a great time.

growing up in montclair in the early stages of my childhood, i spent nearly every day at montclair park and rec. my mom, being a first time stay-​at-​home mom, found it to be a good place to meet other moms like her and to make friends for the both of us. we spent hours playing in the old west town, skipping across the stepping stones in the pond, feeding the ducks, and taking clay classes in the rec’s adorable lilliputian-​like clay studio. i also participated in their indian summer day camp, which i hope to god still exists. from what i’ve seen in recent years, they did a very nice job of spiffing the place up — while maintaining the unique kid-​friendly charm of the park.
at christmas, the rec will put out a large «mailbox» in the shape of frosty the snowman marked «letters to santa.» too cute, right? mom would have me sit down at the kitchen table, write out my christmas list, and down to the rec we’d go to pop it in the box. looks like santa did in fact get my letters — he always ate all the cookies i left for him and that barbie dreamhouse did appear under the tree on christmas morning.