La Mesa Park

Santa Barbara, California Print   Leave a comment

Description

La Mesa Park is our refuge on those rare summer days when it gets in the high 80s or 90s and our house is boiling hot! There is an abundance of shade, a huge lawn, and the breeze off the ocean is wonderfully cool. It can be 96 degrees somewhere else in Santa Barbara and 75 degrees here, at the same time!
There's a long row of BBQs, and we've had some great birthday parties here. There's a playground with a cable to tarzan on, some swings, and some bouncy horses for toddlers to pretend to ride. Behind the playground is a magical eucalyptus grove where you can see owls at night! Across from the playground is a fantastic lawn that extends out to deep blue ocean views. This is where we got married! A Monterey cypress frames the view on one side- I love that tree! People come to this spot in the morning to do yoga or taichi on the grass, and lovers sit on the bench overlooking the water. There's a great pedestrian bridge that leads over to a Mesa neighborhood and the Edgewater Way Walk. The bridge is wonderful for inspiring the imagination of kids- it's high, and it arches in places where the metal is expanding. Oh, the views from the bridge! And those lucky folk who have mansions right there! The Coast Guard has some housing to the left as you look out- those folks are lucky too!
Walk across the bridge and all the way to the Mesa Steps, steep steps that lead down to a ribbon beach. If you walk even further, you will come to Douglas Preserve, a wilderness area on cliffs high above the ocean where dogs run happily free. From there, you can have a birdseye view of Hendry's Beach and Hope Ranch.

Photo Gallery

Pampas grass lit by the sun- view from the bridge.	The ultimate balcony...view from the bridge.	Perfect lawn, shaded by trees, that looks out on the ocean.
A lovely place to play!	Lovers' bench.	The playground, shaded by trees.

Directions

La Mesa Park is nicely secluded because although it is on a main road, you can't see it from the road. That's why not too many people know about it! The entrance can be hard to find.
Exit Highway 101 northbound at Carrillo St and turn left. If coming southbound, exit at Carrillo St and turn right. Head along Carrillo St up over Santa Barbara Heights. The views are great coming down! At the bottom, the road changes name to Meigs Rd at the Cliff Drive intersection. Continue on and you will pass a set of stores on your right and then a townhouse complex. After that, you will see some grass on your right. Park there along the road or turn in at the La Mesa Park sign on your right. There is a semi-circular driveway and some parking spaces.
There are clean restrooms.

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Visitor Ratings

Overall Visitor Rating:

Jeff 11/05/2009 22:47

I remember when the bridge was built. As a kid, I think I rode my bike over the bridge a thousand times.