Longboarding Centennial Skatepark in Salida, CO

Centennial Skatepark in Salida, Colorado is the newer and larger of the two skateparks found in Salida. A recent build, opened in August, 2021 is a great 14,000 square foot cement skatepark that riders of any skill level will enjoy. This Grindline Skateparks design and build has a ton of great features and unique obstacles that make for a very fun experience! Longboarding Centennial Skatepark is fun because there is a great flow to the layout with fun transitions. Plus the stunning mountain back drop makes for a beautiful setting.

While you’re in the area, be sure to check out the classic Old Downtown Salida Skatepark.

First Impressions of Centennial Skatepark in Salida:

I was excited when we first got to the Centennial Skatepark in Salida. I could already tell the skatepark had some good lines. Some of the transitions looked tricky and a little technical. But the size of these obstacles made them approachable and great for learning new techniques.

Pros: Great vert, great street obstacles, big bowl, unique features

Cons: No lights

Directions: Click here to get directions to Centennial Skatepark in Salida

Know Before You Go: The skatepark is located within the larger Centennial Park and is located next to the Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center. At the park you’ll find picnic tables, shaded picnic area, a playground, restrooms and sand volleyball courts. Also worth noting, there is another skatepark in Salida! The old Salida Skatepark is located downtown and includes a great bowl and small street area.

Riders Thoughts: Centennial Skatepark in Salida

Centennial Skatepark in Salida, Colorado is a great skatepark for many different reasons. First off, it’s a nice clean skatepark in the middle of town and has a very safe atmosphere. The surface of Centennial Skatepark is smooth cement. And you can find a variety of cool transitions all over the park. The different transitions and features make this a fun place for longboarding in a skatepark.

One unique feature of this skatepark is all the rocks and little boulders that surround it. These give a cool look but can be pretty sketchy if you fall off your board and need to run off.

The main street section is in the middle of the skatepark in Salida. It has a quarter pipe and ramp wall that leads down to a large pyramid platform with ramps on all sides. This platform features one long box with metal ledges on all sides as well as one other ledge with metal edges. This platform also features a cool raised ramp on one side.

The street area of Centennial Skatepark gives plenty of open space for traditional pop tricks and room to avoid other riders. This skatepark is good for a variety of riders because there is a great diversity of skating obstacles ranging in size from small to large and everything in between. The short but long box in the street area is a great example of a smaller obstacle that riders can utilize to build skills but continue to use once they are more experienced.

Shred it Later – Pin it Now

The other side of the street section at the skatepark in Salida has a really cool brick wall that gives riders an opportunity to ride a smooth transition up a textured surface. This wall is great for dropping in or if you’re on a longboard it’s great to use as a banked turn to pump and build speed.

Riders can go from the brick wall or down the ramp through the long skinny corridor section of the skatepark that ends at a quarter pipe.

This part of the Centennial Skatepark has a long angled rail centered on a sharp angled ramp.

Checking Out the Bowls

There are two bowls at the Centennial Skatepark in Salida and they are both pretty big. The “flow bowl” is a large bowl that takes up about a third of the entire skatepark. This is a really unique bowl that is very wide and overall pretty shallow, with “The Heart of Colorado” feature in the middle of the park .

There are a few taller walls throughout the bowl that make for some deeper sides and the numerous pockets make pumping and building speed easy. This bowl is shaped well for carving, but it also kind of leads riders to going in circles. The taller walls in this bowl make for some pretty gnarly transitions that experienced riders would enjoy the opportunity to skate.

The second bowl of the Centennial Skatepark is much deeper than the first. And it provides experienced vert riders a great place to ride big walls. This bowl has a deep side, a medium depth in the middle and a deeper side with smooth transitions between the three parts. The tallest wall on the deep side sits a few feet taller than the other walls. This makes for a gap transition about half way up on either side of the wall. This side of the bowls also features a few pockets great for pumping and building speed.

The middle of the bowl makes for a cool half pipe with a few rocks in the wall. In the deepest side of the bowl there are steep walls and a tall rounded pocket. The raised walls in this bowl also create some cool smooth transitions on the perimeter of the skatepark. And the tallest wall of this bowl creates a platform with a cool wall ride and box along the perimeter of the skatepark.

If you like skating stairs you’re in luck. Park at the aquatics center and you will enter the skatepark via the steps. This is a five stair set with two tall hand railings. On the rounded section of the stairs the steps are a wider and it makes for three big steps.

Thanks for Reading!

Overall, the Centennial Skatepark in Salida, Colorado is a great addition the the abundant supply of great skateparks in Colorado. Riders of any skill level will enjoy their time here because the variety of obstacles provide a little bit of something for everyone.

We live on the road full time and as we travel we stop at skateparks whenever we can. And we’ve been lucky enough to encounter some pretty sick parks along the way! Check out the links below to see some of the skateparks that have stood out to us:

• Ripon Skatepark
• Leadville Skatepark
• Tulare Skatepark
• Anthem Skatepark

To sustain our on the road lifestyle we create hand painted longboards as well as design and screen print our own shirts. To see our latest lineup of hand crafted longboards and apparel head over to our Lost Coast Longboarding Shop!

If you’re interested in helping us out in other ways you can click the image below to get to Amazon. You can do your shopping as usual, but it helps us out too!