Washington Street Skatepark
Washington Street Skatepark is San Diego’s answer to Portland’s legendary Burnside Skatepark. Located under a Pacific Coast Highway overpass near San Diego International Airport, Washington street is a burly homespun concrete skatepark built by skaters for skaters.
Details
| Location | San Diego |
| Address | Washington Street Pacific Hwy US 101 San Diego, CA 92101 |
| Coordinates | 34.076429, -118.182012 |
| Features | Bowls |
| Riding Allowed | Skateboards |
| Construction | Concrete |
| Hours | Varies |
| Fee | No |
| Website | https://washingtonstreetskatepark.org/ |
Washington Street Skatepark Overview
Washington Street Skatepark features a gnarly maze of bowls, spines, hips, spines – even an over-vert capsule.
Of all of the San Diego skateparks, this one is the burliest, a throwback to skateboarding fringe years in the wilderness, and riders should expect weird kinks and challenging lines.
First built by an entrepreneurial group of skaters back in 1999, when San Diego had no public skateparks and had banned skating downtown, the park survives today after a long battle between the city and the city’s skaters.
Washington Street is located just north of San Diego International Airport, at the intersection of Washington Street and the Pacific Highway Frontage Road. The skatepark sits under the highway, surrounded by a wall topped with a fence.
The gate to the park, which locks with a padlock, is located on the northeast side of the park. Most days, when the weather is good, someone with the key will unlock the gate, though precise times can be unpredictable.
Washington Street Skatepark is mostly a transition skatepark. The various bowls, some tall, some short, are tied together into an enormous snake run of sorts. Pool coping abounds and vert is plentiful.
The transitions back up to one another to form spines, some of which will give you a funny feeling in your stomach — burly, burly, burly. The one pictured directly above is particularly precipitous.
Since the park was built, it’s won Thrasher Magazine’s T-Eddy awards for Best Park and was the recipient of the San Diego Channel 10 News Leadership Award. This is a bucket list skatepark that every skater should visit if only to admire the accomplishment.
