Talbert Regional Park — Attraction in Costa Mesa

Park is sort of eerily beautiful with lots of brush and birds, very silent. But I gotta say as a woman alone I did not feel safe here at all. The trails form a maze through which you can’t see around you. I was here on a weekday so not many people; but the people who were there were young men, clearly homeless, walking around alone. I kept rounding corners and coming face to face with people in a way that was actually kind of creepy lol. I’m glad I had binoculars (I was birding) bc at one point I saw a man way further up a path I was walking on, and was only able to see him with the binoculars, and I’m not sure what he was up to—he was doing...something.—but I got a bad feeling and decided to turn around rather than pass him by. Many may think I’m being ridiculous, but fwiw I’ve traveled through many countries and places totally alone, and have almost never felt as instinctively freaked out by a place. And this was in broad daylight; it’s just that if anyone had decided to mess with me they could have basically stalked me without my detecting them, and no one would have heard me calling for help either. After like 45 minutes of trying to go deeper into the park, all my instincts told me to leave and get back to more open terrain.

I hope this helps anyone who is thinking of going here alone. If I had one more person with me I would have pretty much felt fine I think. And if anyone is feeling like having a real-life creepy video game experience—a natural maze, total silence except the cawing of crows, frequent surprise encounters around some corners, and a slowly mounting sense that someone may be watching you—maybe try this out, it was cool if a...

I enjoy the natural landscape with the cool ocean breeze, about a mile from the beachfront. This large, open space park borders the Banning Bike Trail and is within close access to Canyon Park, where public parking may be found. I like to park there and bike in thru to the Balboa Street entrance, off 19th Street. The naturalness of the park is a coastal asset, with dirt sand paths meandering thru past a seemingly endless variety of local shrubs. I’d recommend a dirt bike or scooter with knobby tires, to easily ride thru the sandy soil and on thru the BMX Dirt Trails! The downside with some of the trails is hiking and riding without appropriate footwear, bike or scooter wheels, when using that which is intended for pavement. My favorite time to ride or hike here is on overcast days, as it is a largely open area without much sun cover. Restrooms are off the beaten path, as the adjacent Vista Park by the Victoria Street Bridge is close for comfort! Access to Santa Ana River trails may be at Victoria Street or off the Balboa Street entrance, although the latter may turn out to be haphazard thru multiple paths and a slippery dirt slope up to the paved river trail. Unless familiar with the more westerly pathways, I’d suggest a study of Google Maps Satellite View before...

It's a pretty good park but it has problems. One problem is that its has a homeless problem. You see the park is beautiful but theres plenty of trash and dont stray off the beaten path. Me and my friend strayed from the path and we found some homeless dude sleeping which scared us. Beside that in this park there is a place called sheeps hills which is basically a pro bmx park but theres never really anyone there. I would just go to a better park if you...