Roberts Regional Recreation Area

Nice place to hike. there is also a pool I use to go when I was a kid, I have not swam there since then.

Lovely park in the skyline hills. We did not visit the pool, so I cannot comment — aside from saying that the swimming prices are fair, just a few bucks. The playground however is geared for smaller children, my 10 year old was not very enthused with the structure and got bored quickly. The smaller kids, ages 2 and 5, had an excellent time. They have a beautiful grassy area, close to play area, perfect for parties with BBQ grills and picnic benches. Also, I didn’t realize that it cost money to enter, so be aware that you will have to pay $ 5.00 for parking in order to access the playground.

Took my my godchild here last year. She was 5 and loved it! It’s very quiet and peaceful, tucked away in the hills. Wonderful playground equipment and picnic space to lay out while the kids play

I would definitely give 5 stars for the playground, which is by far the best in the area. And I *want* to give 5 stars to the pool but the lifeguards are so strict/​rigid/​overkill with rules, pool-​nazi style.
I have a 3 year old and am totally for pool safety. After my 3^rd visit this season to Robert’s, I was curious, so I found & read the EBAY lifeguard handbook with rules & regulations. I learned that there are real rules & discretionary rules. An example of a discretionary rule is hanging on the rope. The lifeguards at Robert’s were yelling at anyone who even touched the rope to get off of it. They came up with all kinds of reasons why you couldn’t touch it: the rope might break, there are splinters on the rope, it’s dangerous.
They yelled at some poor boy for hanging onto the ladder for too long because he was «blocking» the exit. He was there maybe a few minutes and there was no one trying to get out.
They yelled at some other parents for letting their kids ride on their backs.
They just yell yell yell and spend the entire time. It’s a real buzzkill.
They also make everyone who goes in the pool (adults & kids) pass a swim test. We came 2 days in a row & still had our bracelets on from having passed the day before. They made us retake our tests. I’d love to know how this works for lap swims, do adults have to pass a test there too?
I just wish that they could find a better balance between being attentive & cautious lifeguards without being quite so anal & bossy. Even though we live nearby and it’s such a lovely environment, I probably won’t go back.

Awesome play structure for the kids, well maintained, & free of ugly graffiti! Plenty of grassy areas to run, kick a ball, or play catch! This park is truly a gem. My kids love it and so do I. The people who frequent this park seem to be the type who take pride in this beautiful place. Wonderful family environment, a place where I would feel comfortable enough to bring a book while my kids play! There is also hiking here which I heard is amazing. I can’t wait to explore it more!

Nice and clean playground (great slides and climbing structure) and outdoor pool. The bathrooms are super-​clean. Great place for a family or company picnic. Amazing view of the Redwoods.

Lovely place to check out some redwood forests (particularly for those who don’t wish to hike long distances at places like Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park or Muir Woods), and Roberts Regional Recreation Area also has some nice picnic areas, a softball field, and a good playground set for children. There are some really nice short trails to explore more of the trees that surround the Oakland Hills. FYI: Parking is $ 5 daily (regardless if the ticket booth is staffed or not), so please make sure you pay in order to avoid a citation.

Of COURSE I like Roberts Regional — without it, it would be impossible to continue on to the trails in Redwood! Basically — this park is a little sliver that encompasses the archery range and picnic/​event areas. I suspect that they made this administrative split to make it easier for sponsorship/​management of services there. Lots of amazing redwoods — and plenty of trails leading off into the canyon.

Someone recently asked me what I like most about East Bay and it took me a while to figure out because I’m not a super fan of EB, but I’m coping. The answer finally came to me and it was the readily accessible hiking trails of the Oakland Hills. I am a resident of the lower portion of these hills also know as Oakland Lower Hills.
Roberts Regional Recreation Area is the formal name of a pretty big swath of undeveloped land that has tons of hiking trails. These are my go to trails. I’m a Dunn Trail fan, and the Dunn trail links to all other trails, each one uniquely beautiful and of varying grades of incline and decline. I often park at the Trudeau Training Center on Skyline and jump on the Dunn trail. I’ll either do a loop around via the Graham and West Ridge trail, maybe do an out and back to the Orchard trail, or make my way to my favorite, the French trail. Every hike I do here is always a pleasure and I see knew and different things every time I come here. One of the pluses of these trails are that they are «Off Leash» dog friendly. Which means I get to see lots of cool dogs and make friends with some of them too. I am such a dog.
Of the cool naturey things I’ve seen here, I once saw a Golden Eagle trying to catch a snake. The snake won and he escaped but it was I who really won because that was cool as hell to see. Oh and sometimes you’ll see equestrians out here and thankfully there are not too many MTB riders on these trails. I love mountain biking myself, but these trails are not really suitable for bikes, their just not.
Enjoy a hike today!

Went here last weekend for my husband’s company picnic and I was impressed with this park. The company picnic was in a secluded area with about 8 or 9 tables i think and a BBQ grill… although it was not a shaded area… there were some trails around the picnic area. one going uphill. a short hike. followed the trail up w/​my daughter and came upon the playground. which i thought was great. it was big. had ramps… clean… lots of shaded picnic areas i the area. and the bathrooms were immaculate. not what i’m used too… wish they had soap though! always an issue at parks…
I can’t wait to come back and check out the rest of the park

Very great park! I came here doing research for my job out and did off-​trail stuff, but I would definitely come back here and do recreational things. I saw a nice playground and also a pool. There are also lots of benches to eat at. The view of the Redwoods is amazing as well. There is also a lot of parking here. Parking is $ 5 though, it was only free for us since we have a permit to park anywhere on these parks.

Maybe I’m just cheap but I’m not loving the fact that we have to pay $ 5 for parking each time we go up there. But my toddler LOVES the playground area. It’s huge and I like how it’s all handicap accessible. I also love that it’s very very clean (I guess you get what you pay for!)

5 stars for the park, 1 star for our experience there! I agree — beautiful grounds, great, giant play structure with lots of interesting slides, climbing structures but the one time that we went there, there was a big family party there and the parents were far removed from the kids, who were older and unsupervised and roaming all over the playground. I would say they were around 7 – 13, mostly too old for the structure. They were hanging out waving really large branches/​sticks and while my son (4 yo) was running around happily, one of them actually TRIPS him. Luckily my husband and I saw it and confronted him but he was unapologetic. This has NEVER happened at the dozens of playgrounds that we’ve been to. We were just glad that our son didn’t fall down from the play structure because there are parts of it that have openings that are precariously high to fall off of, for any age. Usually play structure are relatively low to the ground, where you can almost reach your kids if you were standing on the ground but at this structure, it’s enormous and you can’t possible chase your kid around it and keep a close enough eye of them, although we did see a few parents try to do it.
Then, to make it worse, a group of teenagers came over, probably about 8 of them, to goof off in the play area. I am usually VERY wary of teenagers that hang out in playgrounds around toddlers or preschoolers because they are almost never courteous and watchful of the little ones. They were all running around and laughing and going down the slides. Needless to say, I was very annoyed and had to watch my son even closer.
Lovely park — but we’re not going back again.

This is hands down one of the BEST playgrounds in the East Bay. Its actually called the Barrier Free Playground which, I must confess, I had no clue what that meant until I got home and googled it. Its (obviously, duh!) a playground for ALL children (including kids in wheelchairs, etc), so there are ramps through out and ‘lower than average height’ interactive items with in the structure. It was PERECT for my fearless 2 year old. I didn’t have to worry that he was going to fling himself from some high height before I could reach him — I was able to sit back and let him run wild. There was so much for him to do, he never got bored — It was fantastic.
The whole park is clean and well maintained — great restrooms, too.
The only drawback is that parking is $ 5, but if you spend the day — its well worth it.
The heated outdoor pool looks like a great time too. We’re going to plan for that with the next visit.

We attended a baptism picnic for two of my cousins’ babies here last weekend. It’s hidden way up in the Oakland hills, and is a great place to spend the day with the family.
The Madrone picnic area, which is where we were at, is nestled among the famous «landmark trees» that sailors back in the day used as a navigational aid to avoid which is located between Alcatraz and San Francisco. The redwoods kept us shaded from the hot sun, and my daughter enjoyed playing with all the sticks littered around on the ground. The terrain is a bit uneven so if you have toddlers they can’t really run around as much as they’d like. Luckily there’s a playground located nearby on the other side of the parking lot. There is also a pool there if you or the kids want to go swimming. The whole park is very clean and well-​maintained.
The views of SF and the Bay from up here are spectacular. I’m so glad that my cousins chose this spot to have their picnic, otherwise I would never have known about this gem of a park.