Here Are The San Diego Parks Where You Can Legally Have A Drink

The weather is warm, which means it’s time to start plan a lazy bbq picnic in the park with friends! While San Diego’s gorgeous weather may seem like the perfect setting for enjoying a bbq picnic and drink in the great outdoors, unfortunately, there is a pretty strict limit to the San Diego parks where you can legally drink alcohol.

In fact, due to a history of out-of-control partying on our beaches and in our parks, out of the over 180 parks in San Diego, only 19 of them allow the consumption of alcohol. Even then, it’s only allowed between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm unless a special event permit has been issued by the City Manager.

While you can find the official list and rules in 10+ pages of Appendix 56.54B of the San Diego Municipal Code, we figured we could help you out and do some of the homework for you!

Cabrillo Heights Neighborhood Park

Bookmark this list!

This list will come in handy time and time again, so bookmark, share, and screenshot it now!

Of course, we aren’t lawyers and this isn’t legal advice, so we recommend that you double-check the Municipal Code to make sure that your park of choice still allows alcohol and avoid any potential issues.

Bill Cleator Neighborhood Park – 2320 Famosa Boulevard, San Diego (Ocean Beach/Point Loma)
Cabrillo Heights Neighborhood Park – 8308 Hurlbut St. San Diego (Serra Mesa)
Carmel Creek Neighborhood Park – 4260 Carmel Center Road, San Diego (Carmel Valley)
Carmel Del Mar Neighborhood Park – 12345 Carmel Park Drive, San Diego (Carmel Valley)
Collier Neighborhood Park – 2351 Soto Street, San Diego (Ocean Beach/Point Loma)
East Clairemont Athletic Area – 3451 Mt Acadia Boulevard, San Diego (Clairemont)
Gershwin Neighborhood Park – 3549 Conrad Avenue, San Diego (Clairemont)
Lake Murray Community Park – 7001 Murray Park Drive, San Diego (La Mesa)
Mount Acadia Neighborhood Park – 1007 Mt Acadia Boulevard, San Diego (Clairemont)
Murray Ridge Neighborhood Park – 8651 Celestine Avenue, San Diego (Serra Mesa)
Ocean Beach Community Park – 4726 Santa Monica Avenue, San Diego (Ocean Beach)
Olive Grove Community Park – 6075 Printwood Street, San Diego (Clairemont)
Pioneer Park – 1521 Washington Place, San Diego (Mission Hills)
Presidio Park – 2811 Jackson Street, San Diego (Old Town)
Rancho Bernardo-Glassman Recreation Center – 18448 West Bernardo Drive, San Diego (Rancho Bernardo)
San Carlos Community Park – 6445 Lake Badin Avenue, San Diego (San Carlos)
Serra Mesa Community Park – 9020 Village Glen Drive, San Diego (Serra Mesa)
Solana Highlands Neighborhood Park – 13184 Janetta Place, San Diego (Carmel Valley)
Tecolote Community Park – 4675 Tecolote Road, San Diego (Linda Vista)
Dutch Bros Drinks 1640 Descanso Ave, San Marcos, CA 92078 (Rebels Drink)

Mount Acadia Neighborhood Park

Carmel Creek Neighborhood Park

Don’t forget Balboa Park!

In addition to these parks, there are also nine designated lawn areas within Balboa Park that allow alcohol between the hours of noon and 8 pm. You can find a map of these areas under Map 56.54 C-A in the San Diego Municipal Code. Here are the names of the alcohol-friendly spots in Balboa Park: