Hellyer County Park, located just off Highway 101 at the Hellyer Avenue exit, has long been popular for its pleasant little lake (surrounded by a path that's just right for strolling or scootering), picnic areas, large lawn, attractive setting nestled against the foothills, and proximity to the Coyote Creek Trail. (It also features an Olympic-sized velodrome, in case you've been looking for one.)
Its playground area, however, was definitely not a draw. While the structure functioned fine as an add-on activity during a picnic or bbq, I'm guessing that nobody chose Hellyer just for a playground meet-up, particularly given the $6 county parks parking fee.
All that has now changed, as playdates are being scheduled left and right at the lovely new playground and water feature. With a beautiful, natural design that accents the location (between creekside greenery and the golden hillside), a fenced toddler/preschooler area, an impressive big kid structure, some great peripheral features, a fun and attractive splash pad, and now -- thanks to the shade sails -- ample shade, the playground is definitely worth the $6 splurge (or the walk in from outside the park gates). Indeed, many may find that it's worth buying an annual parking pass (which includes parking here and at many other county parks -- more on that below). It's definitely a playground that any local family should check out at least once.
The Details
Location: Hellyer County Park is located just off Highway 101 at the Hellyer Avenue exit. I've found that it takes about 18-20 minutes to get there midday from the 280/880 intersection (next to Valley Fair), but obviously you'll be looking at a much longer drive if you venture down with afternoon rush hour traffic.
There are a couple different entrances into Hellyer County Park. To get to the playground, take the entrance marked for Cottonwood Lake, not the velodrome. Once inside the gate, keep to your left at the split, and you'll see the playground up ahead on your right-hand side. There is a parking lot located directly in front of the playground, and there has been plenty of space at all of our weekday visits. If it's full when you visit, there are plenty of other parking areas throughout the park.
Parking: Parking inside Hellyer County Park costs $6, payable at the gatehouse if it's open or at a parking kiosk if it's not (credit cards are accepted). Rangers do circulate, so I don't recommend trying to park without a ticket. Note that there is street parking available outside the park, and you're welcome to walk in, but the playground area is a good distance into the park if you're managing little kids and playground/splash pad gear, so consider that in deciding if the $6 is worth it.
Another option is purchasing a Santa Clara County Parks annual parking pass. We've done so for the past two years, and we've loved having it. It really encourages us to go seek out adventures -- hiking, fishing, and now playground-ing -- at the county parks that we might otherwise skip because of the fees (nothing like that "We need to get our money's worth!" motivation). We use it most frequently at Vasona, Sanborn, Coyote Lake, and now, of course, Hellyer, but we've also used it for Uvas, Ed Levin, Martial Cottle, Mt. Madonna, and more. (Note that it doesn't work at Sunnyvale Baylands park, or at city parks like Happy Hollow, Almaden Lake, and Alum Rock.)
The Playground and Splash Pad
Oh boy, where to start! This new playground is a sight to behold -- fun for little and big kids alike. Even adults will find themselves getting into the action (I dare you to resist trying out the chime feature in the toddler/preschooler area!) -- or at least enjoy relaxing on shaded benches or a grassy hillside.
Even the best playground, however, has some drawbacks, so here's a breakdown of the pros and cons at Hellyer:
Pros:
- The playground as a whole has tremendous visual appeal. The play structures are a rich brown wood, accented with green. Looking at the structures from one side, they fit in beautifully against the background of the park's green lawns and the Coyote Creek's wooded area beyond; looking at them from the opposite perspective, they are lovely against the golden foothills. I spend a lot of my time at playgrounds, so if I can find one with a pleasant, natural aesthetic, that's a huge bonus.
- The main play structure in the big kids' area is really, really cool. It's tall and creative/complex inside (there's not just one way through), dense (with lots of twists and turns), and has various fun features (two fast tunnel slides, several different climbing options, a rope bridge, and a pretty challenging rock wall).
- The merry-go-round in the big kids' area is also a huge hit! Keep in mind that its speed will vary according to who's doing the spinning, so if you have a younger child or one who prefers slower revolutions, stay close at hand to help extricate him or her if the action gets too fast. This feature gets packed at busy times, so again, exercise caution if you have a younger child.
- The four swings in the big kids' area are comfortable, and again, the wooden framing is rare among playgrounds and has lots of visual appeal.
- The log climbing structure in the big kids' area is incredible and, as far as I know, unique in the South Bay. (Martial Cottle has a far more limited structure -- still fun, but nothing like this.) I love this structure because it challenges kids in a way that most typical play structures don't -- particularly once they reach the 5-8 year old range. Toddler X and his pals have explored it pretty thoroughly, and you can tell that they're truly concentrating and reaching beyond their comfort zones. Obviously you need to judge whether your own child is ready to climb on this or not, but for us, it has been a really nice addition to the playground rotation.
- The little kids' area is fully-fenced, with latching gates that many adults (including me) struggle with at first -- meaning that they are pretty darn kid-proof. (Here's the trick: from the inside, where it says "Push", you have to push the button and turn the handle to get it to open. From the outside, where it says "Pull", you just have to turn the handle and pull.) Hooray for enclosed play spaces!
- As in the big kids' area, the little kids' play structure and swingset are done in wood -- very pretty. The structure is basic and pretty small, but fun for little explorers. (Watch out, though -- head bumps are likely on the low overhead beams.)
- The little kids' area also features a nice sand play area with its own little water features -- two mushroom-shaped columns that shower water downward into the sand if you push down on them from above.
This is obviously a pro for some parents (or on some days), and a con for others (we all have those moments when we don't want our kids to get wet). If it's a negative for you, you may need to keep your child out of the sand altogether.
- The little kids' area has two additional fun features -- a ground level set of chimes that you step on to produce different notes (super fun to play around with!) and a wooden spring platform (little ones like to sit on the stable center circle while the bigger preschoolers run all around them).
- The main water feature/splash pad is fantastic! There is as much water flowing here as at any playground splash pad I've seen -- if your child wants to get drenched, it won't be difficult!
The structure goes along with the nature theme of the park, with a stone design (including some really cool arches) that sends water shooting up from below, out from the sides, and down from above. The water flows continuously, so no need to keep pushing a button or waiting on a timer as at other parks. The area around the water feature is fenced on three sides, with a grassy hill creating a natural border on most of the fourth side (one entry path connects that section to the big kids' play area), so if you find a good spot to sit and observe, there's not much chance of an escape.
- With the addition of the shade sail structures, almost half of the playground -- the entire water feature, a chunk of the big kids' area, and a good portion of the little kids' area -- has shade (glorious shade!). In true Californian fashion, we've actually found ourselves complaining that the water feature area was a bit too shaded on some sunny but cooler days. :) But for most of the year, visitors will be delighting in the break from the sun.
- The ground surface is primarily the rubber stuff I love! The landscaping around the perimeter is mostly wood chips, however, and of course they manage to make their way onto the playground.
- Bathrooms are located right next to the playground, as is parking.
- There are over a dozen benches around the perimeter of the play areas, many of them shaded, and picnic tables a short walk away.
Cons:
Like I said, even the coolest park has some negatives. Here are a few I see:
- The main playground is not fully-fenced, and unfortunately the non-fenced section opens directly into the parking lot. Like, the big play structure is about 10 feet away from the cars -- a distance that a child could wander in a matter of seconds.
I feel like they could have planned this better and fenced this side in as well. It looks like they need it to be accessible to park vehicles -- the metal posts they've installed to prevent cars from driving right onto the playground are the movable kind -- but I'm thinking there must be some fencing solution that would still have allowed the needed access while avoiding the possibility of little people wandering directly into the lot. (I also don't like cars parked directly facing play structures. Twice over the past four years, people have unintentionally driven cars into local parks by pressing the gas pedal rather than the brake, and it's only by good fortune that nobody has been injured. With the permeable fence here and the possibility of kids being on the outside of it, I wish they would have left the area immediately in front of the entrance car-free.)
- There is a lot of activity and fun to be had in the main play area, and with the dense structure it is very easy to lose track of your kids. This is a concern for several reasons. First, as mentioned above, the un-fenced parking lot access is just feet from the big structure -- if your child gets on the far side of the structure, out of your line of sight, he or she may be awfully close to the cars. Secondly, the other side of the structure is very close to the merry-go-round, which, as also mentioned above, can get moving very fast if big kids are pushing. I've seen little ones wander near and adults have to swoop in to prevent disaster. Finally, the big structure poses a good deal of risk for little ones -- lots of high drop-off points, very fast slides -- and those areas are accessible even by the youngest toddlers (the steps up to them are crawlable). If you have a toddler or young preschooler, you'll want to stay close at hand -- including climbing into the structure if necessary.
- Because of all of the above, this park can be problematic for families with kids of different ages. I can say this from experience -- with a toddler and a kindergartener, I have one child who is seeking the fastest, highest, hardest experiences available, and one who should (but doesn't necessarily want to be) playing at a much lower level. On the occasions that I've had both at the park together, I've found it very stressful. To supervise Baby X in the toddler area, where she is safe, I would be leaving Toddler X in the big kid area, almost certainly out of my line of sight. This absolutely freaks me out. If I allow Baby X to play in the big kid area so that both of the kids are in one section, it can be very stressful -- with swings, the fast-moving merry-go-round, and the challenging structure, it's really not a spot meant for 1 year-olds. I'm sure that if your children are closer in age, it's less of a problem, but with two vastly different sets of needs, it's a difficult park for me.
- The slides on the big kid structure are fast. It's a pro for speed-lovers, a con for kids who are a bit more risk-averse.
- In the sand play area (within the toddler/preschooler section), there is a completely random, completely unnecessary rock, partially buried in the sand. I'm not sure if they put it there for visual appeal or what, but it just seems like an accident waiting to happen -- an unstable toddler, walking in sand, is going to go face-first into it before too long.
- There are no baby swings! Really! Despite the fact that the little kids' area is clearly designed for preschoolers (most of whom aren't swinging themselves on "big kid" swings yet), the swings within the enclosed area are not the baby variety. They're low to the ground and over the rubber ground surface, so little ones probably won't be getting injured, but it's still confusing why they'd choose big swings, rather than baby, for the toddler area.
- The concrete ground surface of the water play area apparently can get slippery (we haven't had a problem, but have heard this from several other parents). We always wear shoes in water features after a very scary staph infection likely caught at a splash pad several years ago, so if you're concerned about slipping, that may be the way to go.
- As far as we can tell, the water features -- both the large splash pad, and the small mushroom things in the toddler/preschooler sand area -- operate year-round. This, of course, is a nightmare for parents who don't want their kids getting soaked on a cold, cloudy day. While I had no problem giving Toddler X a hard no on the big water feature, it was tough to stop Baby X from splashing in the sand area features. During an early January, cloudy day visit (the moms were wearing jackets and scarves!), she ended up soaked to the bone and very chilly. I wish they'd turn the features off from, say, November through February.
With its lovely, unique structures and water feature, fenced-in toddler/preschooler area, and ample shade (thanks to those shade sails), Hellyer has easily jumped onto my list of the Top 10 playgrounds in the South Bay, and it's certainly worth checking out at least once. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!