You don’t have to wait for people like me to share parks on social, you can search it all yourself!
Park Map
I shared a Fun 30 Second Park Hack this week for playing a game with my park map. See the video! All you have to do is pull up the map on your desktop or laptop computer, pick a marker, and click the “Click here to visit blog for details!” text for it to take you to the blog post about that park on the map! So fun and quick!
Park Indexes
Back in 2008, the local newspaper split its news sections into 3 areas of the county: North, Central, and South. Since everyone was already organizing event notices and local news around those areas, I followed suit with my grouping of playgrounds.
I thought it might be helpful to share a little review of the areas featured. And for you to know that the blog is powered by YOUR recommendations and also my capacity to visit them and put them up on the blog. So please let me know if you want your favorite park included or if you want to volunteer to provide me with the pieces I need to put it up on the blog!
I just updated them for 2024 to make sure all the links work!
North OC
North OC = Anaheim / Anaheim Hills, Brea, Buena Park, Cerritos (LA), Cypress, El Dorado Park area (Long Beach), Fullerton, Garden Grove, Placentia, Stanton, Yorba Linda. Visit the North OC index page. (Pictured: Box Canyon Park in Yorba Linda)
Central OC
Central OC = Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach/Corona del Mar, City of Orange, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Tustin, Westminster. Visit the Central OC index page. (Pictured: Mason Regional Park in Irvine)
South OC
South OC = Aliso Viejo, Dana Point/Capo Beach, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest / Foothill Ranch, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano. Visit the South OC index page. (Pictured: Oso Viejo Park in Mission Viejo)
Ask Me Anything (AMA on Instagram) Yielded a List of HB Coffee Shops
Big thanks to Annalia for the question and to Aubrey (from Raising Little Explorers), Leah, Deb, Kayla, and Kelly (from SoCalNatureKids) for answering!
Chain:
7 Leaves
Tastea
Philz
Small:
Coffee Whipped - also got a vote from a reader who gave it a vote for “excellent customer service.”
Steadfast Cafe + Donuttery - “Steadfast Cafe on Beach Blvd. by Slater. It’s small but love the pastries and lavender lemonade. Also it’s right next to the Donuttery so you can get a coffee and then go get a donut.”
One Fine Blend - “Not sure the coffee is the best but ambiance so fun at Central HB Library downstairs in the atrium.”
Spotted on Instagram (Parks, Play, & Nature)
Seal Pups in La Jolla. Camille at SanDiegoMamas on Instagram shared about the seal pups at The Children’s Pool in La Jolla. She has all sorts of info on How to See the Seal Pups. I might pair this with those cute character buns at Harumama La Jolla and a trip to Birch Aquarium.
The 3 moms at PuddleParenting on Instagram had a really cool discussion in their Stories about outdoor nature books for kids featuring diverse characters — however made the point that having non-white authors of these books is important. So they crowdsourced a list that they are keeping in their Highlights under “Books.”
Dripping Cave in Aliso Viejo. Aubrey from Raising_Little_Explorers on Instagram shared her Moms Only Hike to Dripping Cave in Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park. I also like it as an adults-only hike. Now is a good time to go (after the trails open up again from the rain) because there is not much shade and it can be rattlesnake-y in summer. Here are my blog posts on this spot in case you want to learn more:
Tiny Hikes Teaser: This was not the Tiny Hike I planned to share today, but the daffodils were calling and I don’t want you to miss out on the sights, sounds and earthy smells + joy this will bring after these gray days!
If you want tonight’s mini trail guide to see the daffodils (and new tiny hikes via email each week), subscribe to my OC Tiny Hikes add-on newsletter.
A paid subscription is only:
$5 per month (which comes out to about 4 tiny hikes per month for about $1.25 each)
$39 per year (which comes out to 52 hikes for about 75 cents each)
Have questions? Happy to answer via email!