Glen Haven Skatepark

My teenage son loves this skate park. There is also a playground across the field so it’s nice for younger and older kids.

Oregon is awesome for skateboarding.
Unlike the suckers in California, the parks here are free and unmonitored, meaning that you don’t have some power-​jock cop standing around issuing tickets to teenagers for not wearing helmets or pads. This alone is reason enough to move here and waste your life away on a skateboard.
Sure, it rains 80% of the time and it gets a little chilly in the winter, but as far as I can tell, Oregon is far ahead of the curve in spoiling it’s residents with free, fun, creatively-​designed outdoor skateparks for (almost) every skill level. This is largely due to the efforts of ‘Skaters for Portland Skateparks’ (
) whose mission & vision is to ‘create a comprehensive system of world-​class public skateparks in Portland, Oregon’ and ‘to make skateboarding safe and freely accessible to every skateboarder, every day, for everybody’s benefit.‘
If these guys had been around when I was thrashing in my basement at age 12, I’d probably have a much larger skill set to work with at these places. But that’s okay.
Glen Haven park is located directly next to Madison High School on NE 82^nd (which means that it’s literally crawling with children if you happen to be there after school hours or anytime during summer vacation). The park is very fun, but only when you are able to go during ‘off’ hours, when the child-​collision factor is low. I recommend very early mornings or between 9am-​2pm during school days. And for the record, it boasts the following:
A 5,500-sq-ft street course and 5,500 sq ft of «tranny» (transition) area. The tranny area includes a 9′-deep «peanut bowl» with a 4′-deep shallow end with stairs and a separate rectangular bowl. The street area includes hubba ledges, stamped brick bank, banks, ledges and manual pads, handrails, stairs, two pyramid hips, and extremely steep quarter pipes.
While it’s wonderful that Portlanders are so supportive of skateboarding, there are a few things I’d like to get off my chest, which will hopefully make things a little easier for all of us:
1) Parents. Please use some goddamn common sense. It’s a skatepark. For skateboarders. DO NOT let your 4 year old son or daughter ride their tricyle/​razor scooter/​rollerblades through the park while people are skating. EVER. There is nothing they are doing in the park that they can’t do a thousand times more safely in your driveway or an empty parking lot. And if you don’t agree with me now, you will when your kid inevitably gets plowed into by a huge burly dude covered in tattoos.
2) Mom & Dad. Before you decide to throw your kid into the shark tank, make sure he can at least tread water. Skateparks really AREN’T the place to learn basic things like pushing, turning, or general balance. There is absolutely NO POINT in dumping your kid into a bunch of huge obstacles (and in the way of older, impatient skaters) when he doesn’t even feel comfortable rolling yet. Give them some time to develop basic skills in the driveway or empty parking lot, like the rest of us did. Or better yet, take them over to the tennis courts and have them bug those guys for a while.
3) Skate Coaches. Look, Dad, I know you are bummed that your kid has no interest in baseball and just wants to shred all day, and it’s cool that you go with him to the park and support him while he skates. But DO NOT scream at your kid from the sidelines, demanding that he try a particular trick. This isn’t a competition. Your kid isn’t on a football field. And when you get all aggro about it, it isn’t fun for your kid or anyone else that has to listen to you act like a dick in public.
I hope this helps.