OC cities pour millions into skateparks, pump tracks county-wide

Several Orange County cities are committing millions of dollars to expand and modernize their skateparks, with Lake Forest's Etnies Skatepark set to become California's largest facility after a $2 million renovation, according to Voice of OC.

The wave of investment reflects skateboarding's surging popularity — bolstered by its inclusion in the Olympics — and a 1997 state law that shielded cities from liability, allowing municipalities across Orange County to build facilities now drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year.

The Etnies Skatepark in Lake Forest, currently California's second-largest at 62,000 square feet, will gain an 8,000-square-foot pump track as part of its planned renovation. The park already draws roughly 22,000 visitors annually. Lake Forest Mayor Robert Pequeño said in a video posted to the city's official YouTube channel that the work is "about addressing needed maintenance and modernizing the park while respecting what makes it iconic."

Costa Mesa is nearly doubling the footprint of its skatepark, expanding from 15,000 to 34,000 square feet and adding a clover pool, pump track, snake run and quarter pipe. "It's one of the most popular skateparks in the county," Public Works Director Raja Sethuraman said at an April city council meeting, as Voice of OC reported. Mayor John Stephens called the undertaking "a great, beautiful project."

The city of Orange is building an entirely new $2.5 million skatepark at Grijalva Park, filling a gap left when Vans Skatepark at Orange Outlets closed permanently in 2020. "A new skatepark would provide a space for the community to gather as well as offer an additional amenity for fitness and active recreation," Charlene Cheng, the city's public affairs and information manager, said in an email to Voice of OC.

San Clemente opened Orange County's first asphalt pump track in April 2025. The 18,000-square-foot facility logged roughly 23,000 visitors in its first year — more than 10 times the 2,000 who visited the same site when it operated as a dog park. Laguna Beach and Aliso Viejo are each weighing similar pump track projects, Voice of OC reported.

Mitch Jensen, a skateboarder and architect with Action Sports Design, told the Lake Forest City Council in May that Olympic-era momentum is reshaping what riders need. "With the immense growth in popularity of skateboarding over the last 20 years — across all genders, all age ranges and all skill levels — and with the inclusion of skateboarding in the Olympics now, we're starting to see the need for a lot more of these intermediate and beginner features to really act as a training facility for skateboarding as a sport," he said. Cities are also broadening access by transitioning facilities into "all-wheel" spaces that welcome bikes, scooters and roller skates alongside boards.

Lake Forest Councilmember Scott Voigts, who uses a wheelchair, captured the broad appeal at the May council meeting: "As someone who rides around in wheels all the time, I like the idea of taking my chair to the pump track. It's going to be a lot of fun," he said. Most Orange County cities already have at least one public skatepark, and leaders say the current wave of spending signals a shift toward treating skateboarding as mainstream recreation.