Hotchkiss Park

Beautiful park in the middle of a neighborhood. Really relaxing, and a great park to read, relax, meditate. Bring your chair, blanket, pillow and AirPods to enjoy music.

By far my favorite park in Santa Monica. It is the perfect place for a picnic or to watch the sunset. You can see the ocean beaches of its location up on a hill. There is also a bodega close by you can grab snacks from.

Nice quiet place with huge trees. And as of August 3, 2023 this park still has those huge trees, soft grass, benches, restrooms, water fountain, a bus stop, steps/stairs, wheelchair accessible, and plenty of parking. I recommend this park if you're looking for a quiet place to get away from everyone and need hours of silence and meditation!

Lovely park; lots of shade, bathrooms. 2 hour street parking nearby.

This park was the highlight of my quarantine summer. The vibes in this park are immaculate and it’s spacious enough to stay socially distant from other pairs of people to enjoy the space. With the ocean peaking through and beautiful trees all around, I can’t recommend this park enough to anyone who knows how peaceful and restorative a good park experience can be. Thank you for your service, Hotchkiss Park.

Nice residential park with green space of shade tree covered lawns and ocean breezes. There’s ocean views thru the trees, public restrooms and a public transit stop.

Beautiful little park. Lots of trees for shade. Make note that the whole park is on a slope.

Has a great view of the beach sunset.

Did not know about this park until I came for an event. Love it. Easy parking all around on the street. Just big enough. Grass is very green. They have benches, a bathroom, and I would definitely come here again. A great spot to read, picnic, or sunbathe.

Nice park with lots of grassy area and open space. Bring your dogs or your kids to run around and get some exercise. Have a picnic, read, write. Sit and take a break from the city. Due to the fact that this park is inside a neighborhood, it's often quiet and relaxed. No playground or tennis/ basketball courts. Just you, the grass and the trees. Bathroom on site.

A beautifully peaceful oasis in the middle of a heavily populated area. Not far from the downtown area, this park in a quiet residential neighborhood seems miles away. Trees, grass, bathroom, and a view of the ocean.

Wow hot blossoms and orange sun Today is thanksgiving for all people! Okay , half of the people in the park area were homeless people and they were resting and recovering from the challenges of life's problems.

This pristine little park (about 2 acres) is a breath of fresh air for anyone (and their family / friends) to enjoy some sun and maybe a picnic. I might be partial since I live close by and frequent it often for my reading and writing pleasures - or just people-watching. It's kid and pet friendly and quite frankly, some of their antics are fun to watch! I wonder who Mary Hotchkiss was and wish the park had a plaque honoring her and her legacy.

The only reason for a 4 Star and not a 5, is that the restrooms weren't open at 630pm when we needed them. This park IS very clean, inviting, there's ample space for your bum and your car. It's dog friendly and picnic friendly. You can even sneak a glimpse of the ocean if you try hard.

Nice park with lots of green lawn to relax or take a yoga class. Been more crowded these days with everyone eager to get outside. They have some benches scattered around and a public restroom nearby. Parking is always available nearby too. Great for a small picnic or just to get some sun.

I love this park! It's easy to find parking, easy to find somewhere to relax and watch the sunset. People walk their dogs here, have picnics, do yoga - it's super mellow and a nice place to hang out.

This park has sentimental value for me. More than eight years ago, when I first landed in LA, I lived on Venice Beach. And I did a lot of walking. In fact I walked every inch of Santa Monica, just for pleasure. And Hotchkiss Park was one of my regular stops - to go potty, and grab a cold bottle of water from the little grocery across the street, and sit in the grass to rest my feet, and enjoy the peek of ocean view over the rooftops. The park is vintage, as can be seen from the old stone retaining wall that surrounds it....as well as the old sculpture it houses (see photos). I wish I knew the significance of that sculpture, and I wonder who Mary Hotchkiss is/was. The park bears her name. The park covers a small area, just over 2 acres, and occupies a gently sloping hillside. It's set in a quiet residential neighborhood, one with beautiful historic houses. It's one of the prettier sections of Santa Monica, yet to succumb to to the wrecking balls of architectural "progress". The park's age is revealed also by its huge old shade trees. This park has no playground, no sports facilities......just benches and luxurious thick grass. There is a small building containing restrooms, which was closed today. There is ample free street parking surrounding the park. It's a lovely place to spread a blanket on the grass and linger with a book. Check out my dozen photos.

If you want a break from the noise of the city then you may want to stop here. A really nice, quite park with lots of trees and shade.

Very clean , different areas to eat, rest , exercise and play , people is a very conscientious to keep distance ,restrooms are clean , you can find parking around the blocks

Hotchkiss Park, well manicured, always green, sweet, and adorable. Okay, I am partial to this place since it is right near me. Prior to taking residence in the area though I used to drive by and always admire it. Of course there can be a lot of weirdos (what park doesn't attract the odd/eccentric type), but perfect if you are a neighborhood pet owner. Be careful of the ominous Park Ranger, they will easily hit you with a ticket (with a hard to swallow price attached to it -- I hear around $250) if your pooch is not on a leash. Nice spot for a picnic, but on select Saturdays some annoying/untalented musicians will play out of their pick-up truck (oh yes) and sometimes make an appearance/perform in the park. Try to avoid it then. Also, there is one weird statue there, try not to let that dissuade you from going there.

Absolutely beautiful and charming park. Ocean views, dandelions, magnificent trees, often children at play and dogs sniffing about.

Feels like San Fran. Very quiet, clean, cool people around, new restrooms under construction, grocery store across the street.

Serene, with ocean view. Weekend donation yoga, picnics, bathrooms etc

Hotchkiss Park is a lovely neighborhood park. The grass is green and lush to lie down for a sun bath or to lay down a blanket for a picnic. The park is sloped towards the beach. So, it gets a refreshing ocean breeze and nice sun sets. There is a mixed use of dog walkers, friends hanging out, and homeless. Though, there are usually only two or three homeless at the most. And, they hang out around the benches near the top. My favorite are the hot neighborhood girls that hang out occasionally. Special thanks to the tall one in a mini skirt, who flashed me for a second, as well as they cutie next to the stairs, who undid her bikini top. You both put a smile on my face and happiness into my gait :) PS: Rumor has it that some park neighbors leave their wifi open on purpose. So, the park might have wifi for you laptop carrying folks.

Nice little park, one square block, mostly on an incline. It has bathrooms and a funny, unintentionally obscene statue, and lots of grass, along with some benches. It's a comfortable space, well lit and feels safe to walk through, even at night. It's mostly a green space for doing yoga or just sitting or walking.

Great little park as long as you don't mind the one or two homeless people hanging out. They're harmless anyways. Great park to hang out and enjoy the sun after grabbing a coffee from one of the many cafes near by.

Small community park in the heart of Santa Monica. Excellent shade provided by the fully grown trees. Bathrooms were out of order during our visit but everything was well maintained in general. Downsides are the lack of benches and no real recreation area/playground or BBQs.

Good park to relax at or play frisbee. They should put in picnic benches with BBQ's and bigger restrooms with stall doors and cleaner so it makes the park a little better. The only 3 problems are the few homeless that stay around there, the park is on a sloping hill that makes it hard to do a few things, and the restrooms are dirty and has no stall doors. There's also a mini mart across the street so you can bring a snack over to the park.

Gorgeous park in a great neighborhood. We walk through the park on our nightly walks and always feel so safe. It has great lighting and is always clean.

Nice park but pretty standard. Has several benches facing the ocean, some large trees, and restrooms. Pictures make it seem a lot bigger but it only occupies one residential block.