Made a short drive to heller park and was (un)pleasantly surprised :(…read more This is one of those parks where you ask yourself "can any patch of grass with a swing set be a park?" Because that's all there was! Now in fairness, if you live in the neighborhood, this would be a "decent park" simply for the fact that it's already a part of your walk. Overall not a park I'd return to. It took me and my dog about 2 minutes to walk around the park lol

Heller Park is a small park located in a quiet neighborhood in Costa Mesa. It's not big and both…read moresides of the park are streets so just something to beware with kids and pets. Speaking of pets, there were some not on leashes so be careful of that as well. There are lots of grassy areas, a kids playground, benches, and public restrooms. Street parking only.

San Miguel Park is a small neighborhood park along the side of a road in Newport Beach…read more Interestingly it is Newport Beach's first universally accessible playground and has ADA features designed for children of all abilities. There's a private parking lot on-site. The park has multiple kids playgrounds, grassy areas, basketball courts, handball courts, a baseball field, a soccer field, and picnic tables. There are also convenient public restrooms.

San Miguel Park played an oversize role in a remarkably important part of my late childhood…read more In 1990, my childhood friend Michael's family moved from Whittier to Newport Beach. I'm three years older than he is, but he was a handful as a kid, so his mom liked to have me over to occupy him, and we always got along famously because he was the adventurous little guy while I was the rule-following older guy. If our ages had been reversed, our friendship never would have worked. We were used to running around his inverted cul-de-sac in Whittier and using different shrubs and bushes as bases. They all had numbers, and I believe some of them had code names in case other kids in the neighborhood had gotten wind of the numbers when we were playing hide-and-seek. But his family moved to a gated community, and while we could generally run around the neighborhood there just as easily as we could in Whittier, there were suddenly annoying rich people telling us to get out of the street/off their lawns/out of the sewer (!), so it wasn't as much fun. Michael's mom trusted me implicitly, so she probably didn't know that I followed Michael in his schemes. Once we got sick of playing Bump 'n' Jump in the downstairs activity room with the spectacular view (Michael liked video games less than any kid I knew), he would suggest we go to the park to play. Michael's mom wasn't used to driving us around, and it took way too long to walk all the way around the gated community to get out of it and to the park, so we did what most pairs of thirteen- and ten-year-olds did and hopped fences and climbed down the hill. We didn't call it San Miguel Park. It was just this thin strip of green space alongside fancy houses. It had a baseball diamond, a field, a basketball court, and four handball courts. When I came recently to do research for this Yelp review, it seemed way more manicured and set off from the neighborhood than it used to be, which makes me think a lot of the amenities might not have existed in 1990. What did Michael and I do at the park? Our usual little-kid stuff, although I was just about to outgrow most of it. We would often take his dad's racquetball rackets and a racquetball and try to play racquetball in the handball courts, specifically the northwest court. As you can imagine, that never worked really well, so we eventually modified Mojo Risin', the game that Michael played with his brothers that normally involved throwing stuffed animals, into its Mick Jagger version, in which Michael would strut around imitating Mick Jagger in front of the handball wall, and I would pelt him with the racquetball. It sounds stupid, but it was really fun, and Michael was spectacular at being a realistically annoying Mick Jagger, even at the age of ten. The park itself is pretty neat, although it's sad that there's no actual baseball diamond. There's a huge backstop and space for a diamond, but there's no dirt, and they've even removed the small benches and bleachers that used to be there. Also, the local soccer leagues use the backstop area to store all their goal equipment, so baseball plays second fiddle to soccer, which was the opposite in 1990. There's a parking lot that is only accessibly from the northbound side of San Miguel Drive. I don't think you can park on San Miguel, but you might be able to park on Spyglass Hill Road. In any case, there are plenty of spaces in the lot. The basketball court is in good shape, but unfortunately, there are permanent, dangerously sited benches and trashcans right next to the court. The handball courts get a lot of use, but they're not in awful shape. For some reason, they close earlier than the park itself does. There's also a green area near the handball courts that feels underutilized. There are one or two picnic tables down there, but they're not shaded, so it might not be pleasant to eat at them. It looks like something was planned but never built in this part of the park. It definitely wasn't landscaped and maintained as nicely when I was a kid. I think it was all dirt then. If you're coming with little kids, be sure they don't wander by themselves over to the northern edge of the park. I believe the speed limit on Spyglass Hill Road is something absurd like 40, and cars come careening down that hill around the bend faster than that. Ridiculously, there are no painted crosswalks at the northeast corner of the park, at the intersection with Port Harwick Place. I don't understand how that is even possible in such a residential neighborhood. I know the local Richie Riches probably never walk or ride their bikes anywhere and have their parents or their nannies drive them everywhere, but I can tell you from personal 1990 experience that when Michael and I were crossing that street to get to the park, it was a little bit nerve-racking. In the 32 years that have passed since that time, the traffic has only grown worse and faster. Be careful when you're crossing that street!

What you'll see first when you pull in, is the small beginning park area with three regular parking…read morespots, and one handy cap spot. There's a jungle gym and swing set, and some nice grassy area with a picnic table and a couple of benches. Then you'll see the road continue, along side a dirt path leading into the trees. If you follow the road down, you'll get to the larger section of the park with a lot more parking. There are lots more trails here, and one of them leads to the Santa Ana River Trail, which you can take straight to the beach. Both park areas are very clean and well kept, and since it is so close to the beach, the temperature out here is very nice and much cooler than even the city just next door inland.

Very nice park. Tons of people walking their dogs, saw some walking groups and bike riding going…read moreon. Some good places to have a picnic. Down at the bottom of the canyon. There is a playground up at the entrance but extremely limited parking, perhaps like 3 spaces. The sand in the playground needs to be better maintained. There was debris and trash in it. No restrooms. The lack of parking and no restrooms makes this a 3/5 vs 4/5 We do our family shoot here which I would saw was a great place.

I discovered this park during my stay at Newport Coast during the Memorial week holiday. I used my…read moreAI Grok in my Tesla guided me here for places to go on Memorial Day. I was pleased to get there just in time to enjoy the 250th anniversary celebration, music, a fith grade drawing competition and American flags lining the trailways of the entire hiking trail. It was a beautiful site to see and experience. The event also set up a temporary memorial area which honored California Veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Beautiful views of the back bay, so I'll be returning in the future for a hike.

Castaways park is a special park. This is the epicenter for magnificent events in Newport Beach…read more Nothing good happens in Newport Beach until it happens at Castaways park! And the views of Backbay, the harbor, and the ocean are the best around. There is a story about how many years ago when Newport Beach was under water, sailors would dock at Castaways Park for that 360 degree view looking for pirates. And a ship carrying the affluent from another continent crashed and everyone onboard became a castaway at what is now called Castaways Park.

Fairview Park is one of my favorite places to walk and run because there are endless route options…read more You can stay around the park on dirt or paved trails, climb the stairs for a workout, enjoy the grassy open areas, or connect to the Santa Ana River Trail and head all the way to the beach. The trails also connect by bridge into Costa Mesa, where you can grab coffee or food after your workout. The people on the trails are friendly, and the park workers are always courteous, stopping their trucks to let pedestrians pass. Wildlife is part of the experience, so be aware of coyotes, snakes, rabbits, and squirrels. I also recommend staying aware of your surroundings and avoiding walking alone in the early morning or late evening. Whether you're looking for a relaxing walk with a friend, a quick mile, or marathon training, Fairview Park is awesome!

Huge park with hiking trails. Plenty of parking spaces. Very nice neighborhood place to hang out…read more They have public restrooms and tennis/baseball courts there. People go here to have photoshoot sessions. I love going here.

Beautiful park! Quiet, clean, dog/bike friendly. $3 vehicle entry fee weekdays and $5 on the…read moreweekends.

Orange County parks seem like the perfect date spot. A place for athleticism and wildlife, with…read morewater fountains, bathrooms, and marked trails; near gas and food for recovery; within Orange County city areas. I see the beauty of nature and city, serene and lovely, for $5 to park and zero dollars to walk, breathe, and admire the natural and person-made park. According to the squirrel I met here, the food here is amazing, but nothing for us human beings. The parking lot was so clean and spacious on this lovely Sunday. The bathrooms were clean and comfortable; they even had a trash can outside. They have enough ventilation, so even if someone farts hard, it may not be so bad. I saw some lovely dogs, families, people jogging and walking, and some cool airplanes and boats controlled remotely by people chilling and enjoying Sunday morning. For me, this is also a great place to burn off complex carbohydrates from breakfast.

Situated along Bear Street near South Coast , I love walking my dog at this little park. There's…read moreplenty of shade and trees for a nice stroll. Lots of squirrels which my dog loves. Sometimes there isn't much parking, but there's plenty of parking in the neighborhood behind the park. I've hosted quite a few barbecues and events at the tables near the restrooms. There's two playgrounds sand volleyball court two handball courts two basketball hoops. With picnic tables and trash receptacles spread throughout the park. There is even a dog waste station filled with bags at the first cul-de-sac of the two in the neighborhoods. All in all, an outstanding little park and hidden gem of Costa Mesa!

Shiffer Park is a small park just off the 73 and 405 freeways next to South Coast Plaza in Costa…read moreMesa. The entrance is just off the street where cars might be driving fast and is inconspicuous that you might miss it. There's a small parking lot at the front of the park but there's also some parking in the roundabouts and neighborhood on the west side of the park. The park has basketball courts, a couple kids playgrounds, grassy areas, and public restrooms. There weren't many people here at all so it's not a busy park with a lot of foot traffic. Not many people come here and most of the noise comes from cars driving by.

Small park in quiet neighborhood. Take my dog here every day…read more Some residents do not leash their dogs. On weekends some people climb the fence onto adjacent school property. When Costa Mesa PD is called about these problems, a park ranger never shows up. Good for a picnic....shaded picnic tables. Park has lots of trees providing shade.

Nice neighborhood park next to a school. There are lots of trees for shade. There is also a covered…read morepicnic area. The school playground is also open to the public when school is not in session after 4:30pm weekdays. It seems to be open all summer long. The school has basketball courts and soccer fields.