Bolsa Chica Wetlands is a jewel in SoCal! Great place to walk, take photos, enjoy nature and breath…read morein the beauty of the wetlands. This is a birders paradise. Great walking trails just beware of snakes and other critters on the walking paths as the weather warms up. Bathrooms at the north end interpretive center on Warner Ave. near PCH.

+ Robust wildlife. We saw large caterpillars, many snails, eleodes (aka desert stink beetle aka…read morePinacate beetle), egrets, and other common species. + Pleasant, peaceful ambience. - A few parts of the trail run close to the streets and farther from nature. - A few parts of the trail were very narrow due to overgrown bushes. + Good amount of free street parking. - Few to no trash cans, restrooms, potable water. - Lotta litter. + Thankfully volunteers/rangers come to pick up trash.

Really pretty park. Beautiful landscaping with flowers, trees, and a creek. You'll see horses here…read moreand people walk their dogs. Pay attention when you're walking because there is horse poop on certain trails. (64/100)

Been going to this jewel of a park for nearly 40 years. And since then, ive seen this park grow…read moreand grow. So much of this park growth has been in the last 10 years. From a redesigned dog park, new bridge layout by the lake, the city / community horse park and or horse riding range has only seen exponential growth. In high school much of the park was around the lake the playground and the nature center. Since then, the area has seen a Renaissance! Such great layouts, such vision to make the park a joy to visit. The the urban forest has been a tiresome endeavor. From just a few trees and a new trail, its a been a labor of love. Now the the park has multiple trails, separate mini eco areas of interest and bikers horses hikers and walkers joggers can enjoy the area..pets, with leash can have a wonderful time relaxing after a day at the dog park. Overall, it has around 1 to 2 miles.of trails, many picnic tables and a grand view for photo takers. Couple with other areas.of the park, you can easily make it into a 5 mile course. Parking, thats the hard part. Small area by Ellis street, around 4 spots, safely. I would recommend the golden west side, by dog park you'll find enough space there. In addition, a nice trail will lead you to the urban forest. Now , for bikers, you must be careful, slow speeds. For horses , a relaxing stroll. For walkers and runners, it will be a great time. Access for bathrooms, water fountains, and facilities, most located by the main park. Overall, a strong 3.95 to 4 25. Clean place Safe place Multiple uses Missing... water fountains and parking and more trails for runner or walkers to the south east.

I would this location a strong 2.75 to 3.0 star location. Great for people looking to walk and do…read moreshort jobs. In addition, long winding trails to rear of the park with jumps and turns and quick uphill and downhill for bikers. Parking can be done on Garfield...and or seapoint drive. Fill with many internal paths, I have a great sense of feel of being bigger than it is. Great photo shots can be obtained for sunrise and sunset. Just west, is another interconnecting park system, just 1/4mile away - with many more trails. The positive- little know park means less people and positive- next door park is bigger and family oriented. And positive parking is available. Beach is only 3/4 mile. Away and bikers walker joggers and runners can all have a great time. Lacking water fountains, lacks bathrooms and lacks its own parking lot - see street parking and lacks a map of the location. But, has that small hometown feel.

We ventured here to get some photos of neowise comet in July 2020. Randomly found it one night…read morewhile we were driving around to locate an area with no obstructed views. Found the comet too! Woohoo

Not so much a park. More of a walking trail around a flood…read morecontrol basin The Good: a convenient hiking/walking trail for the residents of Huntington Beach. It's maintained twice a year, once before and once after bird nesting season. Lots of wildlife in this small natural space in the urban jungle. The Bad: This is a basin, which means it holds water, which means it's a breeding site for mosquitoes. Dress accordingly. Also, they only maintain the vegetation twice a year. It becomes quite overgrown, and it invites undesirable natural and urban predators, like coyotes or meth creatures, homethheads addictedus Also, the dog owners that don't leash their dog. It's very annoying but typical HB resident behaviors. Be alert of both dog and owner when suggesting they follow the rules. The Ugly: the filthy meth creatures (homethheads addictedus) that not only disturb the residents and park goers, but the wildlife. You gotta have some "situational awareness" at this park. Especially if you're alone or have kids. Keep them close.

When I moved here 13 years ago, I wanted to be part of the community, so I responded to an ad in…read morethe paper for a cleanup day at Bartlett Park. My kids now just call it the dirt park. When we arrived for cleanup day, we began to learn about this little bit of open space in the "walled city" of HB. Lots of homeless people live in the park. They were given time to clear out their personal belongings and the suckers brought in had the lovely chore of clearing out their garbage. The next day, the homeless were allowed back in. Just great. Hey, I realize the homeless need to be able to sleep somewhere, but I don't want to be the one to clean up their crap and welcome them back home with open arms. I started studying about the history of this park. Most know about the historic Newland House and Newland Barn in the rear of the Newland Center mall. But the lower portion, the undeveloped area is quite a mess. The area behind the main mall, the upper portion, is owned by the city and the lower portion, down near Adams Ave. is owned by the county. The city portion is a protected Indian burial ground, tree sanctuary and home to some kinds of protected insects, as well as home to a bunch of coyotes. The lower area is similar but is also a flood control channel, formerly operated by the county. Recent development has rendered the flood control useless but it still fills up with water and produces some lovely moss covered mosquito breeding grounds. Kids use the open space for various unsanctioned activities. There have been bmx bike jumps and ramps dug into the ground with shovels, paintball and pellet ball areas and there is a big nightlife in here for teenagers to do what teenagers do. The sound of helicopters in the area remind us about this activity and folks know cat burglars forage for goods in cars and open garages and stash them in the unpatroled park. Its actually a great area for folks to walk their dogs during daylight and people are generally cool about picking up after them. They have a few trash bins and a dog waste bag dispenser. There was a study conducted years ago about potential development. The most popular thing neighbors wanted was a golf course, to replace a closed down course on PCH 20 years ago. The least wanted thing neighbors wanted was also a golf course. Pretty funny. Ball field or soccer fields are sorely needed but the city has decided to create some walking trails, a tot-lot park, some picnic areas and leave it relatively undeveloped. Since this was voted on, 3 years ago, next to nothing has happened yet. We will see what the future holds.

Covid19 hasn't stopped people from enjoying themselves at this park. I came on a Saturday and it…read morewas packed, I was able to find a place in the Sand to sit at and it was 6 feet from people. The water is warm and In the weekends there is a lifeguard looking out for the swimmers. The water is ankle deep and it gets gradually more deep but not super deep -there's lots of children playing un accompanied while the parents sit and relax in the sand. I posted pics of the playground since it's huge and there's not a lot of pictures of it.

This small park is terrific and has a pirate playground. The picnic tables are all warped so we…read morebrought our own with chairs, however we ended throwing a tablecloth over one of them and using it. The bathrooms stalls don't have doors. Majestic trees give off lots of shade. We were there for my grandsons 1st bday party and were surprised by the boat show in the evening! We had an amazing day, so grateful for such a beautiful location.

Carl Thornton Park is a neighborhood park located in Santa Ana that spans 32 acres. Two of those…read moreacres is the lake in the middle and you'll often see ducks roaming around. Although you can fish in the lake, you need a license and it's catch and release only. There are baseball fields, soccer fields, a kids playground, outdoor fitness area, large grassy areas, and shade from a lot of trees. There are also restrooms and a parking lot. Part of the space is the George Upton All Access Park, an accessibility-focused park that caters to kids of all physical abilities. This park is very kid-friendly and is the location of many kids and adult sports leagues.

This is a decent sized park with a pond where there's usually lots of duck and geese. There are…read morealso several playgrounds throughout and large grassy areas. It's a nice little walk around if you aren't looking to do too much walking.

Not much to do except walk around the lake they have there. They do not have not a lot of shady…read moreareas as well as the playground is still under construction. There was a lot of random people and a man running told us to watch out for other people huddled up in the corner of the lake. Overall, would not recommend taking your kids there especially at night.

Haster Basin Park, Garden Grove:…read more $25 million. Two years. A facelift meant to turn a drainage ditch into a "recreational haven." They slapped on new soccer fields, jogging trails, shiny exercise stations, and even built a fancy pump station to keep the floodwaters--and maybe the city's reputation--at bay. On paper, it's a glowing civic effort, a love letter to the community. In reality? It's a postcard from the edge of dystopia. Step inside, and the illusion peels off faster than the faded graffiti on the crumbling fitness equipment. The gates are busted, the lake's a floating landfill, and wildlife swims through a soup of plastic and rot, like some grim nature documentary with zero budget for editing. The park's got more trash than a reality TV reunion show and enough drug paraphernalia to open a museum of societal collapse. Irony punches hardest in the form of a gated, compound-like structure smack in the middle--Spanish villa vibes, locked up tight. The most beautiful part of the park, reserved not for the public but for... well, who knows? Maybe the sparkling OC Parks truck parked inside holds the answer. Shiny, pristine, like it rolled off a showroom floor while the park rots around it. A metaphor on wheels. Clusters of people sit around, doing who-knows-what. I work in the homeless space, so no judgment here. But when the vibe feels more "post-apocalyptic gathering" than "community picnic," something's off. Suspicious characters, endless trash piles, and an atmosphere thick with neglect. Garden Grove wanted to hitch its wagon to the Disneyland star, sprucing up areas near the resort while the rest of the city gets left to decay. Haster Basin is the sad proof. It's a park dressed up for a party it wasn't invited to. Consider this review a beacon. I'll be posting it everywhere--tagging Disneyland, Anaheim, and the Garden Grove Council. Because if you're trying to lure tourists from the convention center for a quick jog, they deserve to know they're stepping into a facade. The closer you get to the park, the further you feel from any real sense of care.

I love walking here! Depending on the season, you see different types of wildlife. I like the…read moreentrance on PCH than the one on Warner. Both lots have limited parking. Warner has an educational center and clean bathrooms. PCH has a port a potty, but is next to a beautiful bridge/walkway, I basically walk all the way to the Warner lot, use the restroom, visit the center and walk back. That's around a 3 mile loop. Always stopping to take pictures!

This reserve right across from the beach just beautiful. Watching the sunrise was amazing and…read moreseeing all the birds in their natural habit. Free parking. The path is very long. Started getting packed when sun started to rise.