Gilroy, CA Curfew Laws: Park Curfew (2026)

Section 18.7 of the Gilroy City Code sets two curfews for the city's park system. Parks with night-lighted court facilities, used for tennis and basketball, stay open until 11:00 p.m. every night of the year before closing until 6:00 a.m. All other city parks close earlier for five months: from November through February the gates shut at 8:00 p.m., while from March through October the closure moves to 11:00 p.m., always reopening at 6:00 a.m. The ordinance defines a violation simply as entering or remaining in a park during closed hours without prior approval from the director, whom Section 18.1 identifies as the director of the recreation department.

That approval requirement gives the Recreation Department, not just the Gilroy Police Department, a formal role in authorizing after-hours access for maintenance crews, permitted events, or supervised programs. Section 18.1 defines "park" broadly to include any park, reservation, playground, swimming pool, or recreation center owned or used by the city, so the curfew reaches facilities like Christmas Hill Park and Las Animas Park along with neighborhood playgrounds. A companion power in Section 18.8 lets the director close any park or section of a park at other times for maintenance, control, or administration, independent of the standard 18.7 schedule.

Gilroy Police officers patrol the parks and can cite anyone found inside after closing without the director's sign-off; because Chapter 18 does not write a specific penalty into Section 18.7 itself, an after-hours violation is punished under the City Code's general penalty provision, Section 1.7.