Martha McLean – Anza Narrows is a regional park located along the
Santa Ana River in
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
, United States. The park is operated by the City of Riverside - Parks Recreation and Community Services Department. A plaque in the northwest corner of the park marks the point at which the
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding fa ...
party, the first Europeans to traverse the Riverside area, crossed the river in 1774 and again in 1776.
History
The park was named for Martha McLean, an activist who worked with her friend Ruth Anderson to save the Santa Ana River from being
channelized, as proposed by the
US Army Corps of Engineers
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, anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day)
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in the 1960s.
The park is located at a section of the Santa Ana River referred to as the Anza Narrows, in reference to the crossing point where the Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition crossed the river in 1774 and 1776.
[ A marker in the park commemorates the crossing, which is part of the ]Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is a trail extending from Nogales on the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, through the California desert and coastal areas in Southern California and the Central Coast region to San Francisco. ...
that stretches across Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
.
Amenities
The park contains picnic facilities, hiking, bicycle and equestrian trails as well as an eighteen hole disc golf course. Group picnicking with reservations is available. The park sits atop a shady bluff along the Santa Ana River with sweeping views of the river.
The landscape, which includes a mix of shaded picnic areas and open turf, terminated at the bluffs that drop to the river.
References
Further reading
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External links
U.S. National Park Service: Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martha Mclean - Anza Narrows
Parks in Riverside, California
Regional parks in California
Santa Ana River