A playing ground of adventure

Lauren Vane

Deep in the woods of Huntington Beach Central Park lies a pocket of

wilderness where children can build forts with hammers and nails and

get messy on a real mudslide.

A step into the Adventure Playground is a step back in time to a

place before video games and television were the dominant form of

entertainment. The concept here is easy: Let kids be kids.

The playground itself is rather simple. A man-made pond, less than

one foot deep, covers one corner of the playground. Children push

themselves around the pond on plywood rafts, creating a scene from

the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

A mudslide, made possible by a small hill, a hose and a tarp,

occupies the center of the space. To the left of the entrance is a

small lumberyard of scrap wood that children can use to build forts,

using real construction tools under the supervision of playground

staff.

“It’s something where kids can come and it’s all right to get

dirty,” said program coordinator Mark Hoxie.

The Adventure Playground has been a staple of summer activity in

Huntington Beach since 1974. In 1983, the playground moved from its

old location -- where the new Sports Complex stands -- to its

isolated corner of Central Park.

Hoxie said the playground’s current location is the perfect spot

because it’s a good place to stick a noisy crowd.

Parents and day-camp leaders alike agreed the open space of the

Adventure Playground is a thing of the past and something that

children rarely get to enjoy anymore.

“The nice thing about this is they can actually get muddy and it’s

no big deal,” said James Stone, of Bakersfield. He sat with his wife,

Michelle, as they watched their two daughters, Summer, 9, and Laura,

4, push themselves around the pond on a raft.

The playground is open to the public. Admission is $2 for local

children and $3 for everyone else. Adults are free.

Area day-camps frequently book the Adventure Playground during the

summer, Hoxie said.

“You can actually be a kid in Orange County,” said Sue Beesley,

assistant director of the Calvary Christian School day-care center,

one of the day camps that make the Adventure Playground a routine

stop on their list of summer activities.

The Calvary Christian summer program has been bringing children to

the playground for about six years and it’s always one of the

children’s favorite activities, Beesley said.

“They get totally dirty from head to foot and it’s totally

disgusting and they totally love it,” Beesley said.