Monday, June 3, 2013

Eastbrooke Park

We visited Eastbrooke Park a few days after a monsoon (more or less).  Technically we're still in a drought, but at this point you have to consider the whole previous year or more to see it.  We found lots of evidence of very high, fast-moving water in the park...but I'm getting ahead of myself.


Eastbrooke Park is pretty much a neighborhood park, in that it's nestled in the middle of a subdivision and there's nowhere to park other than on the street.  However, it's also directly connected to the network of trails that runs throughout the county, so you could park somewhere else and get there via the trail.  There's an elementary school that would serve this purpose about half a mile south.  Here's a map view of the location, courtesy of the new-style Google Maps, which is helpfully highlighting how I'd get there from work.  Not sure why.  But thanks, Big G.


It's not a very large park if you don't count the whole trail network, but it is pretty nice. There's a shelter (first come first served) with unique architecture.  The gaps between the pillars are great for hide and seek if you can fit in there.



There's also a playground...


...a very informative sign that tells about the park, the surrounding area, and where it's located relative to the trails...



...and as I mentioned before, the trail and the creek it follows. Within the park border there are a couple of secret trails and neat bridges over the creek that are great for spotting tadpoles and maybe a little snake, or throwing rocks into the creek.  (I'm told by my daughters that nobody says "neat" anymore.  They will just have to deal with it.)



As I also mentioned before, we found signs that during the heavy rains in the past week, the water in the creek was REALLY high for a while.  Check out how much tall grass is lying flat near this bridge, and note the debris piled up around the bottom of the railing. The water actually flowed over the bridge and the trail.



Looking out over the stream from the bridge, you can see where the creek got so high and so fast, it started cutting corners and jumping directly across the bends.  It must have been something to see!  (from a safe distance!)



We had a great time at Eastbrooke Park, playing on the playground and looking at the creek and the surrounding foliage.  There are a whole bunch of honeysuckle bushes near the creek that will be blooming like mad in a few weeks.