Douglas Park — Attraction in Santa Monica

After having a COVID test across the street, my daughter and I were walking my Service dog and met nice lady and her elder Corgi mix Charlie. She mentioned that Charlie didn't want to leave the park. We looked across Wilshire and saw this park. At first we thought it was a dog park becuz part of it was fenced in. Turns out that was a Lawn Bowling area. To the left was a Community center. Continuing down the path, we found a charming pond being filled by a babbling brook. Inside the pond was a little fence where turtles lay, legs stretched out, heads extended as if to take full advantage of a beautifully warm day. We walked the path further to find the bigger pond that supplied the babbling brook. Beautifully colored Mallard ducks and ducks with purplish shiney heads and blue bills swam and bobbed in the water. A big ol' duck sat on the edge of the island as if holding court. Children squealed with delight, families played together, friends laughed and talked on blankets in the grass and at picnic tables, others walked or sat by themselves reading and enjoying the day. The park was fairly clean (trash cans available along the path tho some folks didn't use them), a bathroom facility was available but I didn't see if it was open, there were playgrounds, a skate/bike arena, and tennis courts. I don't remember seeing basketball courts. I am vaccinated and wear a mask in public to protect myself and others, doing my part as much as I can, from Covid and the variants. I was a little disturbed that most of the parks visitors, children and adults - young and older, did not wear masks. I guess the entitled people of Santa Monica don't feel the need to protect themselves or anybody else. I know that was a snarky statement and I want to talk about the park not make it a medical or political debate. So let me end by saying the park was charming and I enjoyed it. The people of Santa Monica...well, let's just...

This one-block neighborhood park in Santa Monica is perfect for all! There are two tennis courts and a full-size bowling green, which are both frequently utilized. The short-gate access to the playground is little people focused, and there are many "Sesame Street" style music classes for the wee ones as well. There are a couple of nicely designed ponds with frogs, turtles, and ducks that our four-legged friends very much enjoy, too. There are several picnic tables around the pond's edge and are fairly shaded by the surrounding trees. In typical Santa Monica fashion, there are four individual bathrooms, one for those physically challenged, outside sinks, and drinking fountains. There are 3hr. meters on all four sides and several areas where you can lock up a bike or electronic rides. This small neighborhood's park brings a lot of joy and it's topography bring a nice proportion of shady...

For a few different reasons, it might be the best park in LA. With the kids section in the back, it lets it be an appropriate park for kids that doesn't lead to mayhem everywhere else. The multiple duck ponds and the streams that connect them. The lawn bowling, the multitude of tables, the flat cement area for doing skating and learning new wheels. The bathrooms are clean. Only thing that could make this place better is a couple grills and maybe some workout stations. This place has it all, though. If you really want the secret sauce, it has an underground disc golf object course that can be played at night. Just use UDisc app and search Douglas and you'll see the layout. It's like a hidden secret...