Camino Ruiz Neighborhood Park

Elite '08

168

133

Lucas O.

San Diego, CA

Several years ago, I worked up here and always thought it was odd that there were lots of little parks but no big parks.  Not so much because of my deep concern for the welfare of Mira Mesa's children- I'm cold-hearted and am pretty sure those kids have bigger issues to overcome.  But mostly because so much of the Miramar/Mira Mesa area is gross, paved, commercial and yuck.  Gotta get more green!  I need someplace to sit outside and eat lunch dammit.

So now I'm back working in the area and what do I find but a new, gigantic park with amazing vistas.  Let's dispense with the good stuff that I don't care about first- Three baseball diamonds, half a bball court, and a big, modern playground.  Ample parking, the park is accessible without just being thrown between Papa Johns and a gas station.

In addition, there are a number of things that are specifically awesome for me.  The entire park sits on a neck of land which juts out into Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, which gives the park incredible vistas on all sides (and will probably be responsible for plenty of lost baseballs).  There's a reasonable amount of open space for picnics or, say, an officeworker desperately needing some fresh air.  And during the day, hardly anybody's there. It could be that the neighborhood hasn't quite found it yet (though it's been almost 2 years) or simply that most of the target audience is in school during the day, but I'll take it.

I have a hard time imagining giving 5 stars to a neighborhood park, especially one that still has the faint scent of suburban cheesiness to it, but this one is pretty impressive. I'm not sure who couldn't enjoy themselves here, but if you find such a person, don't be their friend.

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