For the next several months, a San Mateo family looking for a big outdoor playground will find it inland. Coyote Point's two county playgrounds are both out of service, and the City of San Mateo is opening two rebuilt playgrounds of its own in the same season. East Hillsdale Park reopened on October 7. Central Park's new Adventure Village gets its ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, and the San Mateo On Ice rink opens in the same park nine days after that.
Coyote Point won't be back in the picture until spring 2027 at the earliest. Until then, Central Park becomes the default for weekday afternoons, birthday picnics and the long gap between school letting out and dinner.
Four playgrounds, two directions
Between September 14 and November 10, the county takes both Coyote Point playgrounds out of service, and the city finishes both of its rebuilds. East Hillsdale is already open, and Central Park follows on November 10.
| Playground | Run by | Status this winter |
|---|---|---|
| Adventure Village, Central Park, 50 E. 5th Ave. | City of San Mateo | Ribbon-cutting Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, 4 p.m. |
| East Hillsdale Park, 123 31st Ave. | City of San Mateo | Reopened Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026 |
| Magic Mountain Playground, Coyote Point | San Mateo County Parks | Closed for construction since Sept. 14; reopening expected spring 2027 |
| Eucalyptus Playground, Coyote Point | San Mateo County Parks | Decommissioned; no immediate plans for new equipment |
The Eucalyptus closure is the one that changes the most. According to the county's Coyote Point closures page, the playground was taken out of service because the equipment had aged and replacement parts were no longer available, and the county has no immediate plans to install new equipment. Magic Mountain is a temporary loss. Eucalyptus has no return date.
What Central Park is getting back
The old Central Park playground structure was 27 years old, according to Hoodline's coverage, which cites RRM Design Group, the firm that designed its replacement. Work started June 2, 2025, after a groundbreaking that April. By September 2026, the city reported that the boardwalk system was still being installed and every other major piece was finished.
The result is a woodland village theme built to sit under the park's existing tree canopy. The San Mateo Daily Journal puts the project at $8.9 million and describes these pieces:
- Inclusive play structures connected by a raised, accessible boardwalk
- A tactile sand play area
- Musical and dance chime play
- A central plaza with shade and seating, designed for families to gather
- A new restroom building and a shaded picnic shelter
- New lighting, upgraded paths, and new sod and irrigation for the central lawn
According to Hoodline, the new restroom is a prefabricated building with eight all-gender stalls. That matters for a 16.3-acre park that will host a playground and an ice rink at the same time this winter. The Daily Journal also reports that the city and its contractor worked to protect the park's heritage trees, some of them more than 100 years old.
The city's October 23 announcement says the new picnic shelter opens for reservations beginning in early November. The timing helps, because the county is not taking reservations for the Magic Mountain picnic sites until that area reopens in spring 2027. Families who usually book a bayside table for a winter birthday will have one large reservable option in the city, and it is new.
In that same announcement, Mayor Adam Loraine framed the city's goal for the playground plainly.
"We want this to continue to be a regional destination."
The playground reopens while Magic Mountain, the county's large playground in San Mateo, is closed for construction, so that goal gets an early test this winter.
East Hillsdale is the quieter half of the story
The smaller reopening came first. East Hillsdale Park is a 2.1-acre neighborhood park at 123 31st Avenue. It had been closed since September 2, 2025, and reopened October 7 after a 13-month renovation, according to the San Mateo Record. It was the park's first playground upgrade in 20 years.
The project started in January 2022, when more than 60 residents met at the park and voted among three equipment designs. The Park and Recreation Commission approved the Miracle Play Group design that March. The finished work includes new play equipment, a repaved perimeter path, upgraded lighting and a new storm drainage system. According to the Record, that drainage system performed as designed during storms even before the park reopened. An April 2026 update reported that supply chain delays had pushed back installation of the play equipment and light poles.
The two projects shared a contractor, Suarez & Munoz Construction, Inc. The East Hillsdale construction contract was priced at $2,050,000. That is the construction contract alone, not a total project cost, which the city has not published. Set beside Central Park's $8.9 million, the two numbers show what each project is for. East Hillsdale is a neighborhood playground, and Central Park is the citywide one.
East Hillsdale also has no parking lot. The city's reopening notice asked visitors to use street parking and avoid blocking driveways. That makes it a walk-to playground for the blocks around it more than a destination to drive to.
What is still open at Coyote Point
Coyote Point Recreation Area, at 1701 Coyote Point Drive, hasn't closed, but its play areas have. During Magic Mountain's construction, the county has closed the playground, the picnic sites around it, the parking lot directly behind it and the EV charging stations in that lot. The RV camping areas and the restroom near Magic Mountain stay open. Anyone who used to charge a car there during a playground visit will need another plan until spring.
The replacement should be worth the wait. The county's design is a seaside-themed play landscape with a 50-foot zipline built for all abilities. It was the concept chosen by 78 percent of the more than 840 people who took the county's survey. Construction began September 14, and the county expects it to open in spring 2027.
The Central Park winter, in order
The bigger reason Central Park becomes the default is how closely its openings follow one another. In the span of a few weeks the park goes from a construction zone to its fullest season.
- Early November: The new picnic shelter opens for reservations.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, 4 to 5 p.m.: Ribbon-cutting at 50 E. 5th Ave., with remarks from local officials, after which everyone is invited to explore the playground.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: San Mateo On Ice opens its 11,000-square-foot outdoor rink in Central Park for daily recreational skating.
- Sunday, Jan. 10, 2027: The rink's season ends.
- Spring 2027: Magic Mountain is expected to reopen at Coyote Point.
Public skate sessions cost $24.61 for skaters ages 4 and up, with skates included. Beginners can rent a "skate buddy" for $15 to hold onto on the ice, and the rink notes supply is limited. The rink's age floor is the reason the two attractions pair so well. A family with a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old can split up for an hour and meet in the new central plaza afterward, in a park the city has owned since it bought the Kohl Mansion property in 1922.
Between Thanksgiving and the second week of January, Central Park will have a new playground, a reservable picnic shelter, a new restroom and a seasonal ice rink, all within walking distance of downtown. Coyote Point's playgrounds will stay closed for all of it.
At Griffith Partners, we follow them closely, because the closeness of a park like Central Park is part of what a San Mateo home is worth to the family living in it. If you're curious how that plays out for your own address, we're glad to prepare a free home valuation.