100 N Toluca St, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Hours: Monday-Sunday (7 AM-7:30 PM)
Overview
Located in downtown Los Angeles, Vista Hermosa Park is a 10.5 acre park with wheelchair accessible paths and beautiful views of the Los Angeles skyline. This park veers away from the typical playground and equipment that most have for kids. Instead, there is a play area for kids on the eastern side of the park with a cement slide and a turtle and rattlesnake sculpture that kids are able to scramble and crawl around on. Despite there being no “real playground”, kids will love it here. There is tons of open lawn area to run and play and despite being right in the middle of Los Angeles the ample amounts of trees and greenery will make you feel miles away from the big city.
Scout’s Story
My wife and I had decided to stop at Vista Hermosa park on our way into downtown Los Angeles. This would allow us to give my 18 month old daughter a place to get out of the car and stretch her legs. We would be staying at the Holiday Inn Express overnight before heading to Childrens Hospital the following morning to have some scans done on my daughters cancer.
Being that the park was right on our way to our hotel we decided to stop and check it out. From the small parking area we passed by the visitor center and headed up the sloped paved walkway. At the top of the hill we were met by a beautiful grassy area with trees. I was a bit surprised by the surroundings here, as it was a lot prettier than I was expecting. To our left was an amazing play area where we took my daughter to run around.
What I love about this play area is that it is not your usual playground that you would envision. Kids will be more inclined to use their imaginations here. There is a rattlesnake that is built into the ground and wraps itself around the majority of the play area. There is also a very neat concrete slide with a big turtle next to it that kids will love.
My daughter played for nearly 45 minutes before we decided that we needed to start heading towards the hotel. She absolutely loved the concrete slide and went down it time and time again. Additionally, she had a great time running her hands over the texture on the turtle and the rattlesnake.
We ended our morning by running around in the grass for a little bit before heading towards the bench at the top of the hill. The views of the skyline from the bench are absolutely amazing. While the mid morning lighting was a little harsh, I could only imagine the views from here in the evening.
Our daughter ran back and forth on the bench for a few minutes before we made our way back to our car. I wish we had had more time to relax and stay here a little longer. This is a very relaxing park and surprised me with how outdoorsy it felt.
