Skateboarding
Skateboarding
10 of the most extraordinary skateparks in the world
From old churches to the rooftops of the world, enjoy some of the most iconic skate terrains that human hands have shaped!
Hard though it might be to believe, we are currently living in the golden age of the skatepark. It's only when you step back that the ‘woah’ factor comes into it. As skateboarders, we have always been around skateparks because we sought them out, but today across the globe, we have parks cropping up in the most unlikely places, and some are the envy of America.
In China, the Cayman Islands, Oregon, New Zealand and Europe, we are looking at skateparks the like of which we may never see again. In terms of design, location and ambition, skateparks have evolved into beautiful leisure spaces. Here is our guide to 10 of the very best: you don’t even have to be able to hit the lip to enjoy them!
01
Gratitude Trails, Andros, Greece
Alex Hallford - Sweeper
© Sam McGuire
This handcrafted series of intertwined bowls high in the mountains of an Aegean Island is the brainchild of Nikos Garyfallos, who invites selected skate crews to visit only occasionally. Fast, treacherous and with a surface that can devour the unsuspecting, this is a skatepark not for the faint of heart. Enquiries can be made via the Blu Enigma hotel in the nearest town of Chiara.
Witness a Greek skateboarding paradise!
02
Livingston Skatepark, Scotland
3 min
Daily Grind: Craig Stewart
This is what it means to have a place in your blood.
Livingston is a proving-ground skatepark on the road between Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland. Kenny Omond is the guiding light behind the place, which is reputed to be one of John Cardiel’s favourite parks anywhere in the world. The vast park was built in 1981, with extensions being added in 1993 and then again in 2012. Designed by architect Iain Urquhart, Livi is revered as one of the world’s great remaining vintage skateparks. In 2023, the local council applied for it to become a listed site with Historic Environment Scotland.
03
Pura Pura, La Paz, Bolivia
7 min
Pura Pura Skatepark, Bolivia
It's the highest skatepark in the world and it was built in less than a month by more than 100 volunteers.
Formed in 2014 in a collaborative effort undertaken by the mighty Make Life Skate Life non-profit organization alongside co-ordinator Robin Höning and local Bolivian skaters like Milton Arellano and Kenny Davalos, this unique space was constructed in a little under a month by an army of over a hundred volunteers from fifteen countries who ascended on the space to create skateboarding magic. And ascend is the right word: at more than 3,500 metres above sea level, the oxygen in this Andean world is thin, and any activity here is almost instantly exhausting. The Pura Pura skatepark in La Paz, Bolivia, is nothing short of a 1,200-square-metre DIY skate miracle.
04
Kaos Temple, Oviedo, Spain
Danny Leon in the Kaos Temple
© Luis Vidales/Red Bull Content Pool
The Church of Saint Barbara, designed by architect Manuel del Busto in 1912 in Oviedo, Spain, was transformed into the colourful 'Kaos Temple' by artist Okuda. Instead of a ceiling fresco, there is now a mini ramp and the wall ride extension has replaced street art and the altar. Such a vivid re-imagination of space has naturally become an Instagrammable icon and has appeared in countless photography blogs and advertisements.
05
Pietrasanta, Italy
Pietrasanta Marble Skatepark
© Simone Verona
Marble and granite are perfect materials to skate on but are rarely used in skatepark design due to expense. However, in the Tuscan town of Pietrasanta, marble is processed in large volumes. This fact gave local skateboarders the idea of using the resulting waste for a secondary purpose. This is how the first skate park made entirely of marble came into being. It is, by all reckoning, the only one of its kind in the world.
06
Stockwell, London, England
2 min
Daily Grind: Ewen Bower at Stockwell
Enjoy a long afternoon at Brixton Beach with Lovenskate’s charger.
Stockwell (occasionally known as Brixton Beach) sits behind the world-famous Brixton Academy in south London. Built in 1978 and resurfaced with varying degrees of success several times since, it is an absolute must-do for anyone from, or passing through the capital, who is into skating. Stockwell is famous for its community spirit and positive vibrations – not just among the skaters but the BMX crew, who value it equally. One of the city's most vibrant spaces and a place which lends character back to its neighbourhood, a summer's evening here must be experienced to be understood.
07
Vancouver Skate Plaza, Vancouver, Canada
2 min
Daily Grind: Cory Wilson's Vancouver skate plaza
Cory Wilson gives a tour of one of the first skate plaza’s built in the world.
Right in the middle of their downtown district, housed underneath the Georgia Street and Dunsmuir viaducts, the city of Vancouver has created one of the world’s first purpose-built skate plazas. Opened in 2004, it completely revolutionised skatepark design around the world with myriad permutations now found in most major cities. Featuring practically everything a skateboarder could want, from stairs and banks, ramps to rails, the covered plaza offers the skaters of Vancouver a legal place to skate street spots under most weather conditions.
More Canadian skateboarding goodness!
08
Mystic Skatepark, Prague, Czechia
10 min
Mystic Cup 2019 highlights
Lucy Adams hosts our guide to Prague's 25th Mystic Cup skate contest.
Prague's Mystic Skatepark is a European jewel. Hidden beyond a railway viaduct on Stvanice Island, which bifurcates the River Vltava as it snakes its way through the city, the skatepark exists in a kind of world of its own. Opened by Tomas Rejman in 1994, it has survived flooding, financial crises, property developers and more to become one of the best not only covered skateparks but hangout spots in the skateboarding world. The skatepark also hosts an annual contest which has become the stuff of legend, not least because of the all-night afterparties.
Prague's Mystic Skatepark down the years
09
Bowl du Prado, Marseille, France
11 min
Red Bull Bowl Rippers 2020
Marseille-native Vincent Matheron gives his insight into the action at the Red Bull Bowl Rippers 2020.
The iconic and notorious Prado Bowl in the French Mediterranean port city is where skateboarding legends have been created and enshrined for the past quarter of a century. Marseille's famous bowl was built in 1991, and not only is it still internationally renowned, but it continues to fuel generations of bowl rippers like Stéphane André, Alex Giraud, Julien Benoliel, Guillaume Mocquin and Mehdi Salah, right up to today's rulers Vincent Matheron and Stéphan Boussac. With her face turned toward the future in the form of a new surface and our annual Red Bull Bowl Rippers making the park a worldwide draw once again, what are you waiting for?
Marseille's fabled skate history
10
Aljada Skatepark, Sharjah, UAE
Jagger Eaton – Switch Back Noseblunt
© Jake Darwen/World Skate
Aljada Bowl
© Niall Neeson
Jagger Eaton – Frontside Nosegrind to Fakie
© World Skate
The street course at the 2022 World Skateboarding Championships
© Niall Neeson
The Aljada skatepark complex lies in Sharjah, next door to Dubai. The skateparks (three major ones plus beginner areas) themselves form the nucleus of a kind of youth entertainment hub around which a vast designed living project is being created. The hub, known as the Madar, is designed by the world-famous Zaha Hadid Architectural practice and also features drive-in movies, dozens of eateries, a kids' soft play area and so on. The skatepark hosted the 2022 World Championships in both Park and Street Skateboarding, so to say it is state-of-the-art is no exaggeration.
More skateboarding from the Arabian Gulf
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