Palomares Hills Park — Castro Valley

Palomares is such a great park on the eastern side of Castro Valley that has trails, playground, and sports fields

The play area has two structures and a swing set (standard and bucket swings).

The smaller structure has a double slide, stairs, ladders, and a bridge. The larger structure has two slides (spiral and straight), stairs, ladders, a bridge, monkey bars, a gymnastics bar, and a climbing wall with holes not rocks.

There are plenty of picnic tables and a bathroom near the play area. Behind the playground is a trail that follows the upper rim of the park. It’s an easy walk but there are stairs. Follow the path along the park edge and you’ll circle around the large grassy field and exercise equipment. Across the street is the baseball field. To the left of the baseball field is the Palomares Hills vista trail. This trail is mostly paved but a few sets of stairs at the start and a bunch of stairs at the end. It could be stroller friendly if you didn’t mind going up about 20 steps (then down on the way back) and forfeiting the stairs at the end (since you have to walk right down them to get back to the park since the trail ends at the top. You could also take the neighborhood streets but it’s a longer walk). It was such a nice walk. Not too long but beautiful views at the top. It’s mostly uncovered so not a great idea for a hot day. Along the path are numbered light boxes. We liked anticipating and finding the next number. 

There are bathrooms. Street parking.

On weekends and evening this is a hot spot for Hayward Rec activities including soccer for all ages.