Patrick TrautfieldFor any skateboarders making a grand entrance into Cal Poly this fall, and for those returning students who picked up the addiction over the summer, you’re going to find out right away that this campus isn’t friendly territory for your passion.
It certainly is appealing to the eye – plenty of rolling hills, stairs, rails, ledges, manual pads, and all kinds of interesting and obscure terrain. This campus is a skateboarder’s dream.
Sadly, it is no more than eye candy for you to ogle. Skateboarding is illegal on campus even as a mode of transportation.
So for you skateboarders drooling over this concrete wonderland while visions of endless carve lines and tricks dance like sugarplums through your heads, may I suggest some reasonable alternatives to satisfy your lust for skateboarding.
Santa Rosa Skate Park
Close to campus, the Santa Rosa Skate Park, located in the Santa Rosa Park near Foothill Boulevard, is the closest facility one can find to skateboard free of hassle.
This park is run and maintained by local high school and Cal Poly skateboarders (under the overseeing eyes of the city), so the atmosphere is very down to earth and friendly.
The park contains a 4-foot mini-ramp that was recently equipped with a spine ramp that transitions into a street course that includes a pyramid ramp and a mish-mash of fun boxes (rectangular boxes with metal edges designed for grinds), rails and quarter-pipes.
The skate park is open Tuesday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. for the “after-school special” sessions, Saturday, 12 to 7 p.m. and Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m. The entrance fee is $2 and only a helmet is required. Lights are also available for the dark nights ahead.
If you’re not feeling the entrance fee or the obstacle set-up, there’s a nice roller hockey rink next door where you can get your flat ground groove going. Plus, the employees at the skate park usually throw a rail out there for you to practice on.
To get here, you can skate off campus through the California Street exit of Cal Poly, turn right onto Foothill Boulevard and cut across Casa Street, which ends at the entrance of the Santa Rosa Park.
Los Osos Skate Park
A true diamond in the rough, the Los Osos Skate Park is potentially the best-kept secret as far as California skate parks go. Located at 2180 Palisades Ave. in the Los Osos Community Park, this skate park is a concrete gem.
Outdoors, with more than 17,000 square feet of concrete, this park is packed full of bowls, half-pipes, bank ramps, ledges, rails and even a pool.
If you feel like getting the inner Dogtown and Z-Boy out of your system, try carving the pool, which is shaped like a left “kidney,” that has a 4-foot shallow and 9-foot deep end complete with real pool coping.
The park also includes a capsule bowl with a 6-foot and 8-foot wall that bends just over vertical. In the middle of the park, you’ll find a depressed “flow” section with quarter-pipes that pour you into a flat section that includes a pyramid at the center. Adjacent to the pyramid is another 8-foot wall with a channel gap in the middle for you to throw some nice front-side airs across.
Admission into the park is $2 per day or for $20, you can purchase a 12-day pass. Only a helmet is required. Oddly enough, you can’t pay at the entrance of the park, but if you head just up the block to the Los Osos Boardshop, you can purchase a pass and get your skate on.
To get to the Los Osos Skate Park, simply drive down Foothill Boulevard until you reach Los Osos Valley Road, take a right at the stoplight and drive all the way into Los Osos and straight to the park. It’ll be on the left hand side, and you definitely won’t miss it.
Atascadero Skate Park
Summer has ended and long fall nights and rainy days are on the horizon. Where is there to go skateboarding when San Luis Obispo becomes dark and soggy?
Pack your buddies into that beat-up sedan and head into Atascadero for some indoor skate park action.
Located at 5493 Traffic Way just off the Traffic Way exit from U.S. Highway 101, the George C. Beatie Skate Park in Atascadero has all the ramps, pyramids, rails and quarter-pipes under one roof.
Enclosed within a spacious warehouse, the Atascadero Skate Park has plenty of smooth concrete, indoor lights and ventilation. On each side of the park, you’ll find quarter-pipes that dump you into a “street section.” It includes an assortment of pre-fabricated pyramids, with stairs and hand rails, fun-boxes and flat bar rails spaced intermittently all over the park so you can get some back-to-back trick lines going on.