Play Date: Covina’s Secret Park

Listen, I can’t tell you where exactly this park is located.  Nor can I tell you the name.

It’s a secret.

All I can tell you is that we stumbled across this pleasant patch of paradise while looking for a shortcut to downtown Starbucks.

I know, I’ve said too much already.

Like most parents, I’m looking for a park with decent shade and age-appropriate activities.  The trees line the westerly perimeter and provide great shade in the afternoon.   And the park is one of the few in the city rated for kids as young as 2.

This means you won’t have to spend every second hovering over your yungin’ as he attempts to scale the formidable obstacles like the Wall of Death at Hollenbeck Park or The Ladder of Lost Tears at Joslyn Park.

This park isn’t without its problems though.  First, there’s a train track near the park (clue #3!).  This means a train is barreling thru and tooting its horn hella loud, hella often.  I’ve seen it scare kids with less than steely resolve.

Another problem is this shameful construction oversight, likely the result of a lazy supervisor.

The design allows for an optional floor board to be placed between the two platforms.  The slots for the nuts and bolts are right there.  Instead, there’s a 18″ dip that kids fall into time and time again.

And then there’s this:

We searched high and low, on top of trees and under the litter that the grandmother who was babysitting 8 kids left (WE SAW YOU, LADY!). Yet and still…no see-saw.

Use the clues provided here to cruise the city and find your way to this park.  It’s a quiet alternative to the hustle and bustle of the Covina’s more visible parks.   And if you see a grandmother with 8 children, ranging from from 1-12 years old, reading a trashy supermarket romance novel in between flipping thru her phone and doling out Cheeze-Its, make sure she picks up her shit!