36 Favorite Picnic Spots in OC

What started as a blog post on Father’s Day picnic spots in OC back in 2010 has morphed into my favorite picnic spots in OC! I know. I always recommend taking Father’s Day and any other holiday outdoors in Orange County. Please don’t limit yourself to this list! It’s just to get the ideas going. Pick somewhere close or go for a road trip. Just get outdoors!

When I asked you for picnic recommendations in 2024, I didn’t get much input. In fact, I got more comments like: we don’t really picnic unless we go to concerts or movies in the park. So let’s start a new dinner picnic, breakfast picnic, or any have-a-meal-outdoors picnicking trend!

Beaches, kids and family meals are made for each other.  There are playgrounds on the sand at:

• Aliso Beach Park
• San Clemente North Beach
• Laguna Beach Main Playground
• Marina Park in Newport Beach
• Peninsula Park Playground near Balboa Pier
• Eisenhower Park in Seal Beach

Set yourself up to play with views of the shore at:

• Pines Park in San Clemente
• Pico Park in San Clemente
• Lang Park in Laguna Beach
• Montage Beaches in Laguna Beach (that’s the one in the featured photo)
• Village Green Park in Laguna Beach
• Lantern Bay Park in Dana Point
• Harriet Wieder Regional Park in Huntington Beach
• Seabridge Park in Huntington Harbour

Go for a nature walk at:

• Niguel Botanical Preserve in Crown Valley Community Park
• Oso Creek Trail in Mission Viejo
• Huntington Beach Central Park
• Check octinyhikes.substack.com for more nature walk trail ideas from me at OC Tiny Hikes

Sit by a lake at:

• Woodbridge Village Center Play Area and seating with views of the playground and lake
• Heritage Park lake in Irvine
• Clark Regional Park lake in Buena Park is a favorite picnic spot for us – we bring our camp chairs
• Huntington Beach Central Park also has a few lakes (one near the playground as mentioned above)
• Yorba Regional Park has so many options for picnicking near the lakes!
• Tri-City Regional Park lake in Placentia
• Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea also got a vote with readers
• Lake Mission Viejo now has seating with a view outside the fences (of course, if you live in MV and have access to the lake, then go there!). You’ll find this seating on the side of the lake along Olympiad. You can literally park your car right there at the curb and enjoy the seating and view.

You can picnic near pretty much ANY playground at a picnic table or by setting up a picnic blanket:

• Oso Viejo Park playground in Mission Viejo
• Irvine Adventure Playground is supposed to be good for dinner picnics right before closing
• Great Park playgrounds in Irvine can also be a low key spot on quiet evenings with good lighting at the playground
• Baker Ranch Park playground in Lake Forest
• Los Rios Playground in San Juan Capistrano
• Cedar Grove Park in Tustin
• Pioneer Road Park in Tustin
• Irvine Regional Park is a classic for multiple playgrounds and also a lake
• Los Olivos Community Park in Irvine
• Box Canyon Park in Yorba Linda
• El Dorado Park East in Long Beach

Easy picnic food ideas:

• Read my post about How to Barbecue Near the Beach
• My friend, Heejee, from White Blank Space shared this recipe in the photo above for Folded Kimbap which is the perfect picnic food
• Bag of baby carrots and some hummus for dipping
• Pumpernickel pretzels and pub cheese for dipping (TJs)
• Pineapple spears (Costco)
• Ready-made salads and sandwiches/wraps from the refrigerator section (TJs)
• Some vintage sodas or lemonade (TJs)
• Foot-long, ready-made sandwiches from the deli case (Ralphs, Albertsons, etc.) those big ones that feed everybody.
• I’ve even seen people have pizza delivered for a picnic! Anything goes!

I love the TJs soft-sided coolers for easy packing.  Don’t forget towels or picnic blankets. (Can you tell I love TJs?)  Happy Father’s Day to all the dads who take their kids out to play all year long!

Originally published in June 2010.