Dinosaur Caves Park Playground, Shell Beach

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San Luis Obispo, CA
Dinosaur Caves Park Playground, Shell Beach
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Dinosaur Caves Park, or Dinosaur Eggs Playground, has a bit of everything. There is a massive expanse of lawn that just beckons you to run to your heart's content. Hills in the distance stretch high to the sky and fuel your imagination further. A playground with endless rope climbies, a sphere spinning climby that kids adore, hanging stepping stones, swings, baby swings, a concrete boat to climb inside, a spinner, dolphins, seals, a dinosaur sculpture to climb, and colorful dinosaur eggs to hide inside just adds to the fun! This playground is very popular so there will always be someone for your child to play with.

Walk to the edge of the cliff and look down on sea stacks, a sea arch, and picturesque cliffs. Sit on a bench by the purple flowers at sunset and enjoy the expansive feel of this park. Because it is shielded by the hills, this playground is warmer than other areas along the coast. There are pelicans galore making their homes on the sea stacks so it can be a bit smelly.
Walk west with your little one from Dinosaur Caves Park Playground past several clifftop lookouts with flowers to Margo Dodd Park (you have to walk in the street for a little while where the cliff eroded the sidewalk away, so be careful). There are so many different rock formations, and we named a few of them: salmon fillet rock, croissant rock, harp rock, alligator rock... You can walk all the way to the end of Ocean Blvd to the west and Inn at the Cove to the east, on the one-mile Dinosaur Caves Park Walk.
One Sunday a month April to Sept from 10am-4pm there is a craft market, and one Sunday a month May to July from 1-4pm there is live music called Pacific Breeze Concerts at the small amphitheater. 
On Easter, there is an egg hunt, plus bounce houses, crafts, and games! April 19, 2025 it will be at 10am for toddlers, 10:40 for ages 4-6, 11:10 for ages 7-9, and 11:40 for ages 10-12. 
An underground cave used to be below the current location of Dinosaur Caves Park. In the early 1900s, there was a tourist attraction here called "The Caverns of Mystery." H. Douglas Brown owned the land in the 1940s and started a gem cutting and polishing shop here. The huge flat rock just offshore became known as Brown's Rock. He built a cable footbridge so that visitors could access the rock. A gigantic dinosaur was almost completed. Visitors entered the underground cave through a doorway in the dinosaur's belly and traversed a gemstone-studded tunnel down to the caves. Neighbors objected (bah humbug) and so the dinosaur's head was never completed. Reports differ, but in the 1960s and 70s, the lapidary shop burned down, the concrete dinosaur was bulldozed, and the sea cave collapsed. The city of Pismo Beach bought the land in 1992 and built this wonderful park in 2003 for all to enjoy.

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Spinner!

Dinosaur statue by the eggs.

The huge playground!

Suspended stepping stones.

A tightrope with four balls on it.

Slide and suspended stepping stones.

Rope climbies galore at the playground!

Parents and kids at the playground, with views of the sea.

Slides and shade canopy at the huge playground.

The playground has a sphere spinner, tightrop with four balls on it, and rope climbies to spare!

Boat and dolphin sculpture to climb, plus dinosaur eggs on the right.

Baby swings in the middle of the fun.

Kids having a blast at Dinosaur Caves Park.

Dinosaur sculpture and dinosaur egg behind.

Slide and stepping climbey.

Suspended stepping discs, and balance beam, with yellow hills behind.

The fun climbing options!

Dolphin statues, four-person spinner, and group of moms gathered on the lawn.

Like a Monet painting!

Purple flowers and the blue sea, on May 1.

The amazing sea view at Dinosaur Caves Park.

Park bench and purple flowers by the sea- come at sunset when the sun isn't so burny.

Pacific Breeze Concerts, which occur one Sunday each month during summer, 1-4pm (May, June, and July).

People dance in front of the amphitheater at the Sunday afternoon summer concerts.

We named this one Cathedral Rock!

We named this one Croissant Rock- it is chocolate dipped with powdered sugar.

Harp Rock is what we called this one. Make up your own names!

Crystal Rock is what we named this one.

Clearly this rock is called Salmon Fillet!

The rock formations you can see from the park.

Margo Dodd Park is next door.

A bench at a lookout spot at Dinosaur Caves Park.

The backdrop of tall mountains behind Dinosaur Caves Park.

Bench surrounded by purple flowers, with the sea behind.

Pretty day at a lookout.

The playground and hills covered in yellow flowers in April.

Plaque about the history of Dinosaur Caves Park, with photo of the 1940s cable footbridge to Brown's Rock and headless dinosaur entrance to the sea caves.

Seal sculptures and spinner.

Swinging in the sun, with the sea beyond.

The dinosaur eggs, dolphin sculptures, seal sculptures, boat, and blue sea.

Boys having a blast with the sphere spinner.

Mosaic tile wall.

Mosaic tiles on the wall.

Dinosaur, baby swings, and sea.

View from the top of the playground.

View of the swings, seal sculptures, and spinner, from the top of the playground.

Seal sculptures and rocks to step along.

The spinner!

Directions

Dinosaur Caves Park is located at 2701 Price St, Pismo Beach CA. There is a large parking lot at 105 Cliff Ave, plus plenty of parking spots along Cliff Ave.

map

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ellie crowe

Wed, 23 Apr 2008

Wow! What a great find. I can\'t wait to explore it all. I love the dinosaur eggs!

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ld carter

Sun, 29 Nov 2009

As a young teen I lived in Grover City( 1955-60's )I enjoyed many hours playing, swimming in the area that is now a park. The caves were easily accessible by going down a man-made tunnel.
I would never admit it then...but it was scary at first, because it became rather dark quickly until you reached to bottom, then an opening to the ocean gave enough light to see.
At higher tides, the waves would crash the interior of the cave, making it diffucult to get outside to swim. At lower tides there was a small beach next to the cliff where the cave ended
I would never think of doing such things now...smile, but a teen is 10' tall and bullit-proof.

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jackie

Fri, 06 Nov 2009

My son loves the play boat! This is the only park he wants to visit.

Last Updated: Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:28:13 GMT

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