"Mountain View & Bethany Drive" Park

This small community park is located between Mountain View and Bethany Dr in the Turtle Rock Community. You can get to this by heading east on Campus Drive, make a right on Turtle Rock Drive and then right again on Emporia. The park will be right in front of you.

We stumbled on this little quite park when we're searching for another park that was recommended by one of our friends. We couldn't find what we were originally looking for, so instead we took the chance and tried this park.

There are two play structures in this park, however, without the proper specification, I could only guess that one is for 2 to 5 while the other one is for 5 to 12. The very first thing I noticed of these two play structures are how "unique" they look. They definitely do not look like the typical play structures that we found in other city parks. 

The 2 to 5 play structure has two ladders, one staircases and one climbing tube. There are also two sets of slides: one 90 degree turn slide and one dual slide. The play structure breaks into two sections and are interconnected with a bridge. The climbing tube is definitely something I've never seen before. It's actually quite interesting because at first I thought the tube is a slide, however, after I discovered a step is installed within the tube surface, I realized it is a climbing tube instead of a slide. Unfortunately, the tube opening is extremely high and in no way a toddlers, or any kids before 5 could possibly climb onto it without the help of an adult. This seems like a big oversight on the design of the play structure.

The 5 to 12 play structure has one monkey bar, one ladder, one staircases and one rock climbing wall to get on the platform. From there, the only way down is either the tube slide or the pole. Play activity is limited to a single metal steering wheel which looks like an afterthought more than part of the design. It's interesting to see that there's no real slide on this play structure except the tube slide. Do they think bigger kid enjoy tube slide more than open slide? :)

There are four swings, two for toddler and two for bigger kid. There are also one spring horse that is made to look like, or actually is a tire, which from my point of view is quite cool.

We arrived this park on a late evening weekend so it's hard to determine if the park is busy or not during weekday after school hours. However, judging from two problems I saw in this park, I would say this park has very little traffic.

First and most important, the play structures in this park are dirty. Not only do they cover with dirt and dust and leaves, some of them are also coated with bird droppings, which actually is a health hazard. Second, the supposingly sand pool that the play structures is sitting on, turned into a solid ground and has some plants grow out of it. To me, this means that no kids (or very few) has been playing in the field to loosen up the sand and the sand slowly compact into its current form. These two problems indicate that the park has not seen much foot traffic for a very long time.

I talked to few friends about the park situation, they all said that Turtle Rock is an old community and this is not uncommon. I think this is a valid argument, however, it's not an excuse to have the park in this poor stage. So what that the community residents' age is higher than other? Their kids, grandkids, or even great-grandkids can still come visit and enjoy the parks if they're well maintain. It's always sad to see a park for kids in this kind of situation and left to...... "died". I hope the Turtle Rock community will consider put in some efforts to these community parks and bring them back to life.

Pro: quiet neighborhood/area, non-exist park traffic, never before seen tube slide

Con: Poor condition, dirty facilities, unattractive play structures, street parking

"Paseo Westpark & N Santa Teresita" Park

This park is located right next to the Westpark Kindercare. You follow the north bound Paseo Westpark and after you past N Santa Teresita (on your right), the park will be on the left side. Pull into the Westpark Kindercare parking lot and it will be there. At this point I'm still trying to figure out if this is a city park, or a community park. Judging from the location and the nameless status, I will have to assume that it's a community park.

The park is quite quiet during the weekend, almost no one come here, occasionally there will be one or two families join in and enjoy the park with their kids but that's about it. I've never visited the park during weekday so it could be very busy since it's right next to Kindercare (I drove by the other day during weekday, still don't see a single human being.....).

The park has two play structures, one for 2 to 5 while the other one for 5 to 12. The park also has a seesaw, a spring horse, and four swings.

The footprint of the 2 to 5 play structure is quite small, much smaller than other toddler play structure in most of the park I've been to. Although it's small, there are three ways to get on the platform: a traditional staircases, a ladder and a plastic multi-steps and two slides on either end for the toddler to get down, one goes to the sand pool and the other one goes to the padded ground. Compare to some other play structures that have multiple ways to get on but only one way down, this is a much more thoughtful design.

The 5 to 12 play structure has one staircases, two ladders and one monkey bar to get to the platform, while you're on the platform, you can use the two single slides or the dual slide to get down. My daughter seems to enjoy this one more than the 2 to 5 play structure so that's something. However, there's no shade on this play structure at all, so it's quite tough to stay up there watching the kids play under the sun.

Another problem is the condition of the 5 to 12 play structure in general. The play structure itself is fairly well maintain, however, one of the two activity equipments under the platform is not working at all. The Spin Racer's cars are stuck on the rail due to the sand and it's been like that for quite long. Also, the sand condition in the sand pool that the play structure is sitting is quite bad, the sand is not fine and almost like tiny rocks. I would compare it to the condition in Plaza Park that I review before.

Overall, this is an average park. I know I shouldn't expect too much from a community park (may be I should?), however, if the maintenance and the sand condition improves, the park's quite environment and non-exist foot traffic is actually quite nice for families that do not like to be disturbed while their kids are playing.

Pro: quite area, parking, non-exist park traffic during weekend.

Con: small-ish 2 to 5 play structure, lack of maintenance, bad sand condition.

Plaza Park

Plaza Park that is located at the corner of Warner Avenue and Paseo Westpark, which is just about two blocks from Culver Drive (Google map at the end of the post). A typical playground layout that breaks into two sections: a wooden castle structure for younger age while a plastic/metal play structure next to it for older kids. Both structures features stairs and slides. There are also a spring horse, two kid size swings and a seesaw that can fits four people.

The playground has a car park adjacent to it, which is very convenient for parents. During weekend day time there are quite a lot of activities on the big soccer field nearby, so if you're thinking to park there, be aware.

Traffic to the playground is not too bad. We were there on a weekend around evening time and only about 6 kids (that's about 3-4 families) were there playing.

The wooden castle structure has two wide walkways for kids to walk into the castle, but climb up to the tower and the slides would be quite difficult for toddlers since the steps are quite high. However, what worry me most is the condition of the structure. Since it's sitting on top of the sand area, obviously whoever walks into the castle from the sand area will bring in a lot of sand onto the surface of the structure, and because of that, plus the foot traffic, the wood surfaces on the structure have been worn out badly and I worry that tiny wood chip will cut my daughter's finger.

The plastic/metal play structure has two staircases, and two climb bars to get onto the structure platform, with a full spinal slide and a half spinal slide on either end, plus the two lookout "windows". The staircases are unprotected (not a complete handrail) so toddlers will have a little bit difficult time to get up. My daughter (2yo as of writing) seems to enjoy the full spinal slide more than the half spinal slide side. The speed is definitely quick on the full spinal slide so watch out for that.

The plastic/metal play structure also suffers from the same problem its wooden friend has. The paint on the metal handle, especially the top coating, is mostly gone, and even the top plastic layer on the plastic balls on the structure is gone.

 

Another problem on the playground is the condition of the sand and the landing ground. I'm not sure if I can call that sand anymore since the particles are so big, I would consider those "dried soil" than fine sand. Of course those areas probably never consider to be a sand pool to begin with, but I'm sure all the kids who play there will try to play with it and assume those are sand. Surprisingly, although the sand is rough, the area is generally clean and doesn't have a lot of debris from the surrounding trees and grasses.

While the sand is rough, the soft-mat surface that the playground is standing on is even rougher. You can see the big crack on the photo on the left, which is very likely caused by the long exposure of the California dry nice weather. However, this is no excuse for the park to be in this condition.

Irvine thrives on high level of living standard and well maintain public facilities, but I fail to see it in the Plaza Park playground. I hope the city and the community can work together and renovate the playground.



Pro: parking spot nearby, convenient location, not too busy, quite area, restroom nearby

Con: lack of maintenance/poor condition on the playground facilities, lack of toddlers play facilities.