Kit Carson Park is a municipal park in

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

, United States. The park was named after Christopher (Kit) Carson, the famous scout who guided Captain John C. Frémont over the Sierra Nevada 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. A historical monument commemorating the battle is located on Mule Hill, 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 distri ...

from the

City of San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

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

natural habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...

. 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, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...

features wooden ramps rather than

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

, 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 or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environme ...

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

skateboarders Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States 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. ...

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 ''Queen Califia's Magical Circle'' is an outdoor sculpture garden located in Kit Carson Park in Escondido, California, named in honor of the legendary Queen Califia of California. Opened posthumously in 2003, it is one of the last works of Fr ...

, 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-American sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monume ...

, opened in 2003 at the park. The park has been used as a

command post Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or e ...

and staging area during

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

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 small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

* 5-acre arboretum: The Iris Sankey Magical Garden * 3 ponds: Tree Lake, Duck Lake, and Sand Lake * Tot lot / playground * Shaded picnic areas with tables / barbecues * Covered picnic shelter * Open turf areas * Lighted youth

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

fields * Lighted adult softball fields * Lighted soccer fields * Lighted

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

courts * 3,000 capacity outdoor amphitheater *

sculpture garden * Eucalyptus Leaf Court

public art Public art is art in any 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 physically acce ...

piece * Sports Center complex with

pro shop A pro shop is a sporting-goods shop within a public or private-membership amateur sporting activities facility of some kind, most commonly a golf course, where it will typically be located in the country club building. In the case of golf pro s ...

* 22,000 square-foot skate park * 2 full-size covered roller hockey arenas * 1 full-size soccer arena * 1 "mini" soccer arena * Girl Scouts of the USA 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 (via Rancho Parkway Exit) 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