All About Skate Parks: Obstacles, Ramps, And Rails

Skating in skate parks provides you with relative safety when compared to skating in public places. What's more, well-designed parks enable you to ride your skateboard until your skateboard wheels give up on you. In other words, well-designed skate parks provide you with unlimited enjoyment-from gathering speed on pipes, then grinding over rails.

If you're unfamiliar with the terms we've just mentioned, then you need to read on. In this article, we're going to show you some of the things you'll see in typical skate parks and the things you could do with them. So, if you're ready to learn more about obstacles, ramps, pipes, and rails, then you're in the right place.

Obstacles

Skate parks try to mimic the obstacles you're likely to see on the streets. Thus, you will typically see obstacles that are designed to mimic rails, curbs, and even picnic tables. The design you'll encounter, of course, depends on the skate park and the people who designed these obstacles. But, anyway, these obstacles are a great way to practice your more basic skateboard tricks.

Ramps

Because of its design, the ramp is typically placed in the outer portions of the skate park. The reason for this is that riding on a ramp builds up momentum, which in turn translates to greater speed once you go down the ramp. You can, then, use this speed to ride over obstacles or fun boxes that are usually found in the middle of the skate park.

Pipes

Pipes are often located separately from ramps, rails, and other obstacles. That is because pipes are in a class of their own. That said, they're often used for training and competitions that are conducted on ramps.

So, if you want to ride fast, and ride high, rather than go over obstacles, then you should definitely check out the pipes in your local skate park.

Fun Boxes

Fun boxes typically combine ramps and obstacles in a more compact package. The ramps in fun boxes are usually lower and provide just enough speed to let skaters do some tricks. Other typical fun boxes also feature rails and stairs that give a good amount of realism as you would see in public places.

Prefab, Poured In, Precast

The last three items don't refer to a skate park obstacle, but rather to the type of construction of the skate park. Many skate parks are called poured in skate parks, and you'll be able to distinguish them because the surface and the obstacles are made of concrete and are set on the area.

Precast skate parks also feature concrete structures but have been precast off-site and the final product was then placed in the park.

Finally, prefab parks have obstacles made of prefabricated materials. They are easier to build than the previous two, but they are more difficult to maintain, and are not generally suited for experienced skaters who want more variety out of the obstacles.
There you have it, everything you need to know about skate parks. You'll be encountering these terms when you visit most skate parks, so it also pays to know what these terms mean.