My pack and I traveled to the city of San Gabriel to visit some friends and check out a couple of the local parks. We didn't do much planning (just looked for green spaces in our Thomas Guide), but we could not have been more pleasantly surprised by two of the nicest parks I've encountered in Los Angeles County.
*** VINCENT LUGO PARK ***
Rating: 4 Paws
San Gabriel, CA 91776
626-308-2875
Vincent Lugo Park, named after the former San Gabriel parks commissioner who helped turn a landfill into this beautiful place, is San Gabriel's largest park and has just about everything a dog could ever want in it.
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| This park has it all...even a farmer's market! |
The landscaping is gorgeous. Native plants grow alongside a dry riverbed with small bridges crossing the river in a few places. A perfect little baseball field sits at the East end of the park and an outdoor classroom is available to teach the local kids about the natural and cultural history of the neighborhood.
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| Unfortunately, you can't swim in a dry river... |
There are 3 easy to walk paths that total just over 1 mile and take you through the entire park.
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| The longest of the 3 paths goes alongside the Alhambra Wash. |
There is plush grass to roll in, dozens of shady trees to lounge under, picnic benches, water fountains, public restrooms and poop bag dispensers.
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| My compliments to the groundskeeper - this lawn is like a golf course. |
This place really does have it all, including one unique feature just for the small human members of the pack....
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| How many parks have a playground ranked by Yahoo as one of America's Top 10? |
La Laguna de San Gabriel (aka. Dinosaur Park) is a unique playground built in the 1960's that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. It's full of hand sculpted sea creatures that the kids can climb on and slide down while their parents sit on a bench under some shade trees. A must visit for any little Human Angeleno...
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| Bummer for me...dogs aren't allowed on the slides. |
*** ALMANSOR PARK ***
Rating: 3 Paws
626-570-5081
Only about a mile down the road from Vincent Lugo Park is the entrance to Almansor Park in Alhambra - a recreation center for humans that has facilities for just about every sport imaginable.
There are baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, ping pong tables, soccer fields.... even a lawn bowling club!
There is also plenty of grass and trees for a dog to explore and there are water fountains spread throughout the park; but not a poop bag dispenser to be found. Additionally, there's an area designed for parties that includes a cabana and some barbecue grills and dogs are allowed to join in the festivities.Only about a mile down the road from Vincent Lugo Park is the entrance to Almansor Park in Alhambra - a recreation center for humans that has facilities for just about every sport imaginable.
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| This place is designed for human games, but there are plenty of things for a doggie to do as well. |
There are baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, ping pong tables, soccer fields.... even a lawn bowling club!
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| I'm not exactly sure what lawn bowling is, but anything that involves rolling things in the grass is ok by me. |
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| Some green grass is all I need to have a good time. |
Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner is an Alhambra legend and there is a nice statue of him next to the baseball fields.
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| Ralph Kiner hit 50+ home runs twice in his major league career - a big deal back in the 1940's. |
Right in the middle of the park is a little pond with a pretty water fountain that is full of birds and turtles.
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| I love lakes and ponds....even the ones I'm not allowed to go swimming in. |
Next to the pond is a bunch of picnic tables where you can have a snack and enjoy the scenery; just watch out for the bird droppings because apparently birds have no qualms about doing their business just about anywhere.
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| The birds like this park so much that they're dancing on the picnic tables... |
That's all for this week's adventures. I hope you visit and enjoy these wonderful parks soon and be sure to check out my website CanineAngeleno.com for more great places to take your humans.
Click here to see what factors I look at to come up with my park ratings.
See you at the park!
Chloe Canine-Angeleno
Much of the information I've shared in this blog came from the following sources:
The City of San Gabriel
The City of Alhambra
All photographs were taken by my pack leader, Jim Gross
Everything else was discovered by getting my paws dirty and the extensive use of my nose.
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