The Tri-Valley boasts a wealth of sports facilities and outdoor venues for basketball players, cyclists, hikers, swimmers, tennis buffs, and others. There are ample opportunities, for example, to enjoy traditional sports. Those eager to explore new sports or return to old favorites also have many choices in the region. They include disc golf, skateboarding, and bicycle motocross (BMX).

As freelance journalist Melissa Fields notes in Salt Lake magazine, “the rules for disc golf are like traditional golf, but rather than hitting a ball with a club toward an actual hole in the ground, disc golfers throw plastic discs, or Frisbees, toward elevated metal-chain baskets. Most disc golf courses have nine or 18 holes. Each disc golf hole has a designated par, and the player that logs the least number of throws for the round is the winner. The biggest divergence between traditional golf and disc golf is the course itself: rather than being situated on flat, somewhat one-dimensional fairways, bunkers, and greens, disc golf courses utilize the land’s natural undulations and vegetation.

According to Fields, disc golf is a “fantastic” form of exercise for both body and brain. In 2024, “University of Utah researchers Amy McDonnell and David Strayer published results from a study where subjects walked around Red Butte Garden wearing electroencephalography (EEG) sensors. They found that after walking the garden, study participants experienced improved executive control.” Fields defines executive control as the ability to solve problems, make decisions, and coordinate disparate tasks. In short, disc golf provides the mental benefits of walking in nature as well as the physical benefits of exercising the eye-hand coordination required to toss a disc into a metal basket.

San Francisco Chronicle Sports Columnist Ann Killion writes that “the history of disc golf is connected to the invention of the Frisbee, patented by Ed Headrick, who worked for Wham-O in Southern California. To promote the flying disc, the company launched promotional campaigns involving trick throws. Sometimes Headrick and his friends would try to throw the disc into garbage cans, which led to the idea for disc golf, which would mimic ball golf. The garbage cans evolved into baskets with metal chains.”

Headrick also developed the raised metal baskets, called Disc Pole Holes, in 1975. In 1976, he founded the Disc Golf Association, which later became the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA). Hendrick created the first permanent disc golf course in a park in Pasadena, California, 50 years ago. Today, there are nearly 17,000 disc golf courses in more than 90 countries, according to the PDGA.

Tri-Valley players have access to several nearby courses. The Old Ranch Park Disc Golf Course is a 10-hole course at 401 Old Ranch Road in San Ramon. The Robertson Park Disc Golf Course features 18 holes and plays through and around the Ernie Rodrigues Softball Complex at Robertson Park, located at 1505 South Livermore Avenue in Livermore. In nearby San Leandro, the Oyster Bay Disc Golf Course features 18 holes on 30 acres of the Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline, just south of Oakland International Airport. Each hole is designed with two tee pads and two baskets, providing beginner, intermediate, and advanced player options.

In Livermore, construction has started on a new park, community garden, and disc golf course scheduled to open in early Fall 2026. The Springtown Community Park and Disc Golf Course are being built on the closed Springtown Golf Course along Bluebell Drive through a partnership of the City of Livermore and the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District. The new 6.8-acre Springtown Community Park is going in next to the existing Springtown library.

Disc golf fans may want to check out the Livermore Disc Golf Club as well. Members call it “a local place for players of all skill levels to enjoy competitive disc golf, work on getting better, be stewards of our course, and inspire growth of the sport here in Livermore and beyond.” This Facebook group has more than 750 members. It welcomes individuals new to the sport and publicizes local disc golf events.

Bicycle Motocross and Skateboarding

Several Tri-Valley parks offer bicycle motocross (BMX) courses. BMX reportedly developed in California in the 1970s when teenagers were inspired by motocross racing on motorized dirt bikes. Over time, specialized bicycles were developed that “allowed riders to begin expressing themselves in new ways through tricks and stunts, which became an art form themselves. The result was freestyle BMX, which developed shortly after the emergence of BMX racing in the mid-1970s and continued to grow in popularity well into the late 1980s,” according to Grunge.com writer S. Flannagan.

BMX riders can enjoy Pleasanton’s BMX Park, located at 3320 Stanley Boulevard. The park serves all riding levels, with one track reserved for beginners and young children and another for more experienced riders that includes a mountain bike area and challenging jumps. The 3.65-acre park also contains several picnic tables and a public restroom. It is open from dawn to dusk, weather permitting.

The Livermore Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD) BMX course at William J. Bill Payne Sports Park is open from sunrise to sunset at 5800 Patterson Pass Road in Livermore. The track is built for bicycle use only; no motorized vehicles are allowed. The BMX Track at Memorial Park in San Ramon is also open for public use from dawn to dusk every day. The track is located on Bollinger Canyon Road, just past San Ramon Valley Boulevard.

BMX riders will soon have an exciting new place to ride. Livermore’s Sunken Gardens Pump Track is expected to open sometime in the spring of 2026, replacing the earlier BMX course on the site. As Wikipedia explains, “a pump track is a purpose-built track for cycling. It has a circuit of rollers, banked turns, and features designed to be ridden completely by riders ‘pumping’–generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing. It was originally designed for the mountain bike and BMX scene, and now, due to concrete and/or asphalt constructions, is also used for skateboarding.”

Pump tracks are usually accessible to wheelchairs and often used by skateboarders and in-line skaters as well. According to Livermore officials, riders of all ages will enjoy a concrete track, pathways compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, synthetic turf, and more, “paired with the existing skate park for a fun, inclusive community spot.” In 1959, Sunken Gardens was reportedly the first park land LARPD bought. The skate park there opened in 2001. Once it reopens, Sunken Gardens will be an appealing spot for skaters of all sorts as well as BMX riders. The park is located at 3800 Pacific Avenue.

A skate park is also available at Pleasanton’s Kent Mercer Sports Park at 5800 Parkside Drive and the city’s Val Vista Park, which is also enjoyed by inline skaters, at 7350 Johnson Drive. The San Ramon Skate Park is located in Central Park on the corner of Bollinger Canyon Road and Market Place, and Dublin’s 48.2-acre Emerald Glen Park at 4201 Central Parkway includes a lighted skateboard park.

Tri-Valley residents and visitors who prefer other sports to disc golf, bicycle motocross, and skateboarding have ample opportunities to explore their favorite activities close to home. The Tri-Valley is a wonderful place to play, no matter which sport or activity you favor. Whether you love golf, pickleball, cricket, or something else entirely, there is almost certainly a venue to enjoy it within the Tri-Valley.

For more information about the Livermore Disc Golf Club, please visit www.facebook.com/groups/873017096088904.

For more information about parks and their amenities within Pleasanton, please visit https://www.cityofpleasantonca.gov/your-community/parks-trails. For more information about parks and their amenities within Livermore, please visit www.larpd.org/neighborhood-parks.

For more information about parks and their amenities within Dublin, please visit www.dublin.ca.gov/1458/Parks-Open-Spaces.

For more information about parks and their amenities within San Ramon, please visit www.sanramon.ca.gov/our_city/departments_and_divisions/parks_community_services/parks_facilities/parks.

For more information about the Oyster Bay Disc Golf Course, please visit www.obdgc.org/course.