1,200-acre historic urban cultural park containing museums, several theaters, and the world-famous San Diego Zoo

How to Get There

Head east on Broadway toward Broadway. Turn left onto 11th Ave. Turn right onto Russ Blvd. Turn left onto Park Blvd.

Overview

Balboa Park is a 1,200-acre historic urban cultural park in San Diego, California. In addition to open space areas, natural vegetation zones, green belts, gardens, and walking paths, it contains museums, several theaters, and the world-famous San Diego Zoo. There are also many recreational facilities and several gift shops and restaurants within the boundaries of the park. Placed in reserve in 1835, the park's site is one of the oldest in the United States dedicated to public recreational use.

Geography

The park is essentially rectangular, bounded by Sixth Avenue to the west, Upas Street to the north, 28th Street to the east, and Russ Boulevard to the south. Two north-south canyons—Cabrillo Canyon and Florida Canyon—traverse the park and separate it into three mesas. The Sixth Avenue Mesa is a narrow strip bordering Sixth Avenue on the western edge of the park, which provides areas of passive recreation, grassy spaces, and tree groves, and a camp for Camp Fire. The Central Mesa is home to much of the park's cultural facilities, and includes scout camps, the San Diego Zoo, the Prado, and Inspiration Point. East Mesa is home to Morley Field and many of the active recreation facilities in the park.

Park layout

Balboa Park is a primary attraction in San Diego and the region. Its many mature, and sometimes rare, trees and groves comprise an urban forest. Many of the original trees were planted by the renowned American landscape architect, botanist, plantswoman, and gardener Kate Sessions. An early proponent of drought tolerant and California native plants in garden design, Sessions established a nursery to propagate and grow for the park and the public.

Park layout

Balboa Park is a primary attraction in San Diego and the region. Its many mature, and sometimes rare, trees and groves comprise an urban forest. Many of the original trees were planted by the renowned American landscape architect, botanist, plantswoman, and gardener Kate Sessions. An early proponent of drought tolerant and California native plants in garden design, Sessions established a nursery to propagate and grow for the park and the public.

The park's gardens include Alcazar Garden, Botanical Building, Desert Cactus Garden, Casa del Rey Moro Garden, Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, Japanese Friendship Garden, Bird Park, George W. Marston House and Gardens, Palm Canyon, and Zoro Garden.

The main entrance to the park is via the Cabrillo Bridge and through the California Quadrangle. That entry is currently a two-lane road providing vehicle access to the park.

El Prado, a long, wide promenade and boulevard, runs through the park's center. Most of the buildings lining this street are in the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture style, a richly ornamented mixture of European Spanish architecture and the Spanish Colonial architecture of New Spain-Mexico. Along this boulevard are many of the park's museums and cultural attractions, including the Museum of Us, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Museum of Photographic Arts, the San Diego Art Institute, the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego History Center, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, and the Timken Museum of Art. Other features along El Prado include the Reflection Pond, the latticed Botanical Building, and the Bea Evenson Fountain. Next to the promenade are the San Diego Air & Space Museum and the San Diego Automotive Museum.

Theatrical and musical venues include the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, featuring one of the world's largest outdoor pipe organs; the Old Globe Theatre complex, which includes a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre as well as an outdoor stage and a theatre in the round; and the Starlight Bowl - an outdoor amphitheatre. The Casa Del Prado Theater is the home of San Diego Junior Theatre, the country's oldest children's theatre program. The House of Pacific Relations International Cottages collected on El Prado offer free entertainment shows.

The Botanical Building, designed by Carleton Winslow, was the largest wood lath structure in the world when it was built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition. It contains large specimen palms and other plants and sits next to a long reflecting pool on the El Prado side.

Located in the eastern third of the park is the Morley Field Sports Complex, which includes the Balboa Park Golf Complex, which contains a public 18-hole golf course and 9-hole executive course; the San Diego Velodrome; baseball and softball fields; cross country running course; the USTA-honored Balboa Tennis Club and tennis courts; archery ranges; the Bud Kearn public swimming pool; and a disc golf course.

Among the institutions and facilities within the park's borders but not administered by the city's Parks Department are the San Diego Zoo, the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD), and San Diego High School. Other attractions in various areas of the park include chess and bridge outdoor tables, horseshoe pits, playgrounds, walking and jogging trails, sports fields and courts, and picnic areas. Clubs and facilities for pétanque and lawn bowling are based in the park. There is also Spanish Art Village which consists of art shops.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Balboa Park (San Diego)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0