This is a great place. If you wanna bring your animals and let them off the leash. It's the middle…read moreof a Saturday afternoon and my dog. Luis is virtually by himself. It's also a great place to bring the family. There are picnic areas, baseball diamonds. Basketball courts, and soccer courts. A little bit of fun for everybody.

at any given time, there's 10 dogs off leash, even though this is not a dog park…read moreI'm walking my dog we've had numerous dogs charge us and then the owner tries to stop them and then eventually does but it causes trauma for us cause there's an vicious dog charging us. I thought they were a leash laws?!?! unsafe i would avoid this one Not to mention, there's lots of people that are homeless living in their cars parked there every day so there's a lot of shady people just surrounding the park I had young children again avoid. I tried to call the park department to let them know and they just hang up as soon as they answer

People don't do much reviews on parks. Why? I don't know. I have been to this park 4 times in the…read morepast. I truly like this park very much. It's close to home and offers a lot of activities to do. It has children's playground equipment, 2 basketball courts, 4 BIG, tennis courts, a dirt track, clean bathrooms, picnic area, nice spacious landscape and the most important, it's kept nice and clean. This park is one of my favorite parks in Studio City. They have recreation areas and can let you sign up for sports/classes that interests you. Recently, I had taken few classes with couple of their teachers/coaches and they are WONDERFUL! Earlier this morning I went to play tennis with one of my friends. Tennis is one of my favorite sports to watch and to play. We don't keep score. We just like to play and have fun. You can walk, jug, people walk their dogs, kids, they have picnic areas and do a lot of kids birthday parties.. or you can just simply sit in silence and enjoy nature, the sunlight and have a good, peaceful time. Private lot parking, or street nearby parking. They are closed on Sundays. Kind of weird, but it's their rules, not mine. That's when people usually spend time with their families. I am not going to dock a star for that since it meets all the other amenities & requirements.

Quaint- Tennis courts, baseball area, and lots of space for a neighborhood park…read more Construction impedes the walking path so as of September 2024 it isn't very relaxing. I'm hoping to find a public track & field type of walk/run path in the valley! The sand is nice on my knees but annoying when ends up in my shoes!

Came here on a wednesday around 9am no wait to get in. Ticket 5 dollars parking lot free. Serivce…read morefriendly. Took around 30 minutes to walk everything. Its in a loop. Restrooms inside clean. It was a really nice and relaxing well kept garden. Cool history and plenty of photo opportunities. It had wildlife as well ducks and goose. All in all a hidden gem.

This 6.5 acre lush Japanese garden is unlike any other garden you'll ever visit…read more Conceived by engineer Donald C. Tillman and designed by UCLA professor Dr. Koichi Kawana, it opened in 1984 with a message in mind- recycled waste water can sustain new life. The result was a landscape of lotus and ponds, home to wildlife from mosquito fish to egrets. Meanwhile in the backdrop, pumps as wide as 8 feet in diameter are elevating sewage to be treated. The crowd was sparse on a weekday, ideal for a leisurely stroll. From the Shoin Building, a series of screen windows look out into the vast garden. It's an opportunity for rest and reflection. Operating hours are 9:30 am to 3:30 pm M-Th and one Sunday a month. Admission is $5 per adult. Restrooms, including gender neutral ones, are behind the Shoin Building. No filming allowed of any kind without a FilmLA permit, even on a phone for personal use. Seems overly restrictive by modern standards. Photos are fine if not posed/professional. This lush Japanese garden is fed by 6 million gallons of reclaimed water a day, making it unlike any other. You wouldn't know by looking at it, and that's the beauty.

When you arrive parking is plentiful along the borders of the park or in the parking spaces. I love…read morecoming to this park for dog training and for spending time with my dog allowing her to sniff and run on an extended leash (either 30 to 45 feet leash). The great thing about this park is that there is a sidewalk to walk on to walk the perimeter of the lake, or there are many areas of large green fields that surround the park. I have seen other dogs off leash, and normally this gives me great hesitation, but in a large park like this, you can be far enough distance away from everyone else and their dogs to avoid them. Now that it's spring, everything is blossoming and blooming, but be careful, when I was here the grass had not yet been mown, and there are so many foxtails growing right now. So many got caught in my shoes and thankfully I checked my dog's body completely and her feet and none had stuck to her. When things are mown it's great but also beware of the ants. When I was on the side of the park that has the football field sized grass area, I was watching my dog sniff and play and suddenly I felt something biting me. I looked down and dozens of red ants were climbing me from the dirt. I must have mistakenly stood on an ant mound. Thirdly, just also keep aware of coyotes, I have seen a coyote several times at Lake Balboa and they do not seem fearful whatsoever and they are just walking around casually in the middle of the day. This park is a true gem because of how beautiful and serene it makes life feel. There are people fishing in the lake, walkers, runners, people relaxing on benches reading, friends playing cards, birthday parties or other events, people bicycling or skateboarding. I love this park.

Still the best place to run in the San Fernando valley. I live here I'm always here. Running…read moregroups/events are here constantly. Love seeing the same local runners out there and new people I've never seen before as well. It's a great running community we have here. You can basically run or walk whatever distance you want. Started running marathons 10 year ago. My go to daily training location.

Our little friend Toby C. turned four a couple weeks ago, and he had his birthday party at Valley…read moreVillage Park. We went with our two boys, and everyone had a grand superhero-themed time. We got easy parking right in front of the playground on a Sunday at noon. The park was large and the playground was nice, tons of space for kids to run around, and structures to climb when the mood struck. Toby's parents took over a sizable area with picnic tables, where they set up a buffet lunch and, later, cake. My three-year-old will remember this party for the orange soda ("Why are you letting me drink this?"), but I appreciated the ample, well maintained neighborhood park. I'd recommend Valley Village Park for your recreational needs in this part of town.

Updating my review as I did come back to this park with my dog to attend the Larpbo pack walk this…read moreevening. The park is very beautiful with soft grass that seems well maintained and cut and there are zero foxtails which is a big plus. I can tell everyone respects the park as there's zero trash on the ground and everyone is picking up after their dogs. We did some excersizes with our dogs in the park and then we walked around the neighborhood and then back through the park along the nice dirt trail to end. Similarly to last time, again I noted ALLOT of off leash dogs. They seem well behaved but one did decide to run away from its owner and did a full circle around our pack and the owner was chasing it. This caused several dogs to react and get riled up and it really could have been an issue if that off leash dog had decided to run at any of us, thankfully it didn't, it was just happy to run in circles until its owner caught it. Overall despite this, these distractions were actually really helpful for practicing training with my dog, and she did amazingly. There were so many other distractions too such as loud cars or motorcycles and kids and people running or biking. I guess maybe my dog leveled up because it was a very successful walk! I was very happy today with the experience. All the people who live in the neighborhood next to this park are so lucky to be so close to such a beautiful and well maintained space.

I walked from Magnolia and Supulveda to the trail. Trail was only 2.2 miles away from my current…read morelocation, so I walked. The beginning there's a steep incline where it feels like you're constantly crouching. But don't let that scare you. It's easy. Over all id rate the intensity of the hike 4/10

It's a not a long trail Very fast on the way down…read more But it really kicks my a** on the way back up Very good workout

Nice oasis in the middle of the city! There's a parking lot…read morenear the entrance which is a major plus. ColdwaterCanyon Park isn't your typical one, but it has easy hiking trails (connects to Fryman Canyon), benches and beautiful views. Another bonus is Tree People with their nice plants, picnic benches and clena restrooms. Sometimes I like to bring a book and read, relax, enjoy the peace (when not interrupted by leaf blower at some house in the hills). There are water fountains and a snack vending machine with healthier options. This is a great place to take a walk, exercise, hike, depending what you are in the mood for. The views are amazing and it's great to be surrended by nature, so many trees and birds (I have seen many blue birds around). Keep your music to yourself (bring those earbuds), there are many shady spots and cute flowers, depends on the season. Enjoyable spot in LA if you need to recharge, exercise, get away, be in the nature!

I've been doing this trail, or these trails, since the mid to late 90s. I've typically followed the…read morecommon path, which is paved for a portion, open dirt road for a portion, and has some light hiking type trails but mostly easy. Today I took the path less traveled that leads to the main path at the center point, and it was intense but good. Highly recommend pants if you do that path. Views aren't spectacular but cool. No animals on our route today thankfully as there could've been snakes given the heat!

Jesse Owens park is one of my favorite local neighborhood parks to take the kids!…read more One of the things I appreciate most about this park is that it is fully gated, which gives me a little extra peace of mind when the kids are playing. There's plenty for them to enjoy, including two swings, a slide, a climbing area, a mini rock-climbing wall, and, best of all, a mini racetrack where the kids can have fun and create their own races. It's such a fun little feature that keeps them entertained! There's also a large grassy area in the back, which is perfect for bringing your own soccer ball and letting the kids run around and enjoy the open space. Another big plus is that the park has its own bathrooms. I always appreciate this because not every neighborhood park has them, especially when you're spending a few hours there with little ones. The only thing I wish they had was a designated parking lot. There is free parking across White Oak, as well as street parking available in the back, so parking is still pretty convenient.

Date: February 1, 2025…read more I think this is my first review of 2025! Woowoo! That's what motherhood does to ya. I had this park bookmarked for a while now and decided to check it out today. We were actually around the area for lunch but didn't plan to go to a park and ended up driving back this way for it. Read the reviews and was excited to check it out and I'm so glad we did! As a recent mom of three, I felt so comfortable and safe solo watching my kids here. It's a nice playground in the middle of a fenced off grassy area with a restroom right by it. I loved that the restroom was right next to the playground to make a quick trip and not worry too much about my kiddos playing. They have a bunch of trees and also shaded top above so it was nice even though it was hitting 80F still! Surprisingly all the parents around were super attentive to their kids and made sure nobody was hurting another. I heard so many kids apologize for accidentally bumping into other kids and it just felt so nice to be in a kid area with kids who were well behaved, especially bc of my toddlers. Restrooms weren't too bad for a park. Not the cleanest but definitely not the worst I've been to. Overall I'm so happy we found this park and we will definitely be back more often!

I went here for the 2nd annual Encino Fest. I had never been before and this was a good excuse to…read morecheck it out. Parking was an issue. There are metered spots all around the perimeter, but they were all taken. I ended up driving a block away and parking in front of an elementary school at a curb that's for pick up and drop off only during the school week. The park is about medium size. There's a tennis court, basketball court, a playground, tables and benches, and open grassy areas scattered with trees for shade. For the festival there were a few food trucks on the street, but you really didn't need to buy anything as long as you were willing to wait in a long line for a free pretzel, ice cream, and bottle of water. Just make sure to check in at one of the tables first where they'll ask you for your name and email and then give you tickets for the pretzel and ice cream and then you can get in line. One person is allowed to ask for multiple tickets for their family. The festival is kid centric, like the entertainment on stage were kids dancing and the live music was also aimed at kids. One song had lyrics that sounded like "Simon Says". There were also several tents that had a bunch of freebies like stickers and potato bag clips and even a booklet of the U.S. Constitution, which makes sense since a lot of the booths were promoting various local politicians. There's an onsite bathroom by the basketball courts, but beware that it's not the cleanest, but it's a public bathroom, so of course it isn't. If you have kids, this festival was made for you. If you don't, you can still enjoy the freebies, but it's not really something you'd want to stay around long for.

I've been coming to Encino Park for years, and it's one of those neighborhood spots that just feels…read moreeasy and welcoming. The park is really spacious and well-maintained. There's plenty of grass for kids to run around, toss a ball, or just roll out a blanket for a picnic. The playground is solid, clean, safe, and usually full of families in the afternoons. I like that there's enough shade from the trees so you're not baking in the sun the whole time (which is a big deal in the Valley). What I appreciate most is how relaxed the vibe is. It's not overly crowded or chaotic like some bigger parks in LA. You'll see people walking their dogs (on leash), neighbors chatting, and kids practicing soccer. There are also tennis courts and a community center, which makes it feel like a true local hub. Parking is usually pretty manageable, especially compared to other parks in Los Angeles. Bathrooms are basic but generally kept in decent shape. Overall, Encino Park is simple, clean, and family-friendly. It's not flashy, but it's dependable and sometimes that's exactly what you want in a neighborhood park.

This is a great spot. I love the trails for a run or a bike ride. The trail winds up through a…read moreshaded grove of oak and walnut trees alongside a small stream, so it looks like a peaceful nature escape right in the city and it really could be! That said, my experience was mixed. The trail is very natural and rugged, way less groomed park and way more nature path through the hills. It's narrow, often overgrown, and there aren't any clear signs, so you're basically figuring it out as you go. Parts of the dirt path get muddy or sandy, and at times it felt like I was pushing through bushes more than hiking a trail. If you're coming expecting a smooth, family-friendly stroll with benches and clear loops, this isn't that kind of place. There's also no restrooms or marked facilities but more of just a small dirt parking area (street parking) and the trail entrance. I did appreciate the quiet, green canopy and the feeling of actually being in nature. It's one of those spots where you have to adjust expectations: come here for a low-key, adventurous walk under trees and through brush, not for a manicured weekend park outing. If you love exploring rugged little local trails and don't mind getting a bit dirty, you'll appreciate it more than someone looking for a casual park vibe.

Overgrown and leads to no where but that just means peace and rest which was welcomed and embraced.read more