Kit Carson Park is a municipal park in

Escondido, California Escondido (Spanish language, Spanish for "Hidden") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County (San Diego area), North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San ...

, United States. The park was named after Christopher (Kit) Carson, the famous scout who guided Captain

John C. Frémont Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...

over the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

during a government exploration expedition. The park sits in a valley that is approximately west of where Kit Carson fought in the

Battle of San Pasqual The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican–American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley, San Diego, California, San Pasqual Valley community in the county of San Diego, ...

. A historical monument commemorating the battle is located on

Mule Hill Mule Hill is a historical site in San Pasqual Valley, San Diego, California. Mule Hill site is a California Historical Landmark No. 452, listed on November 2, 1949. The Mule Hill, a low hill, was the site of a battle during the Mexican–America ...

, one mile southeast of the park.

History

The City of Escondido acquired the land for its largest

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

from the

City of San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

in 1967. of the park have been developed, and have been preserved as

natural habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

. The park has been described as the "city's recreation hub" with a "giant recreation complex". Duck Lake at Kit Carson Park

A Sports Center opened in 1997 which includes a skate park, a soccer arena and an arena for inline hockey. Solar panels are being installed at the sports center, as well as near the softball fields, as part of a bigger project to generate energy atop Escondido city facilities. Escondido

Skate Park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipe ...

features wooden ramps rather than

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

, found in typical skate parks. The wooden ramp make the park more flexible when it comes to adding ramps and other features, but also makes it prone to weather damage. The city of Escondido renovated the 22,000-square-foot park in 2009, removing rotted plywood, replacing hardware and

waterproofing Waterproofing is the process of making an object, person or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resists the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet env ...

the new wood. More than 10,000 in-line skaters,

skateboarders Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United States, ...

and

BMX riders BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ear ...

from age 6 to adult use the park each year. Queen Califia's Magical Circle, the only American sculpture garden by the internationally acclaimed artist

Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monumental sculp ...

, opened in 2003 at the park. The park has been used as a command post and staging area during

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

s in the area."Local Crews Reflect"
''Union Democrat'', October 25, 2007

Park features

* Walking /

hiking trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Howe ...

* 5-acre arboretum: The Iris Sankey Magical Garden * 3 ponds: Tree Lake, Duck Lake, and Sand Lake * Tot lot /

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

* Shaded

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

areas with tables / barbecues * Covered picnic shelter * Open turf areas * Lighted youth

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

fields * Lighted adult softball fields * Lighted

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

fields * Lighted

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

courts * 3,000 capacity outdoor

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

* Queen Califia's Magical Circle sculpture garden * Eucalyptus Leaf Court

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

piece * Sports Center complex with

pro shop A pro shop is a sporting-goods retail outlet found at a sports facility, most commonly a golf course, where it is typically located in the country club building. Pro shops can also be found at bowling alleys, pool and snooker halls, tennis and ...

* 22,000 square-foot skate park * 2 full-size covered

roller hockey Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...

arenas * 1 full-size soccer arena * 1 "mini" soccer arena *

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she ...

Program Center, located at the north end of the park * Disc Golf course

Location

The park's entrance is located five minutes from

I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band), a band * , of the Imperial Japanese Navy * Älvsborg Regiment The Älvsborg Regiment ...

(off exit 27 for Via Rancho Parkway) at the corner of Bear Valley Parkway and Mary Lane, and opposite from San Pasqual High School.

References

{{reflist, 2 Municipal parks in California Urban public parks Escondido, California Protected areas established in 1967 1967 establishments in California Parks in San Diego County, California

History

Park features

Location

See also

References