Chicano Park
1 Review
Hello everyone! This is a friendly reminder that any of these fun places we may visit, we are a guest at. Please treat both businesses and trails with the utmost respect. We here at Hidden San Diego follow the 'Leave no Trace' mantra, meaning whatever you bring with you comes back with you. If you see trash on a trail, please do your part to help remove it. Remember, we are not picking up trash from another person but instead cleaning up for Mother Nature. Happy adventures!
2043-2085 Logan Ave.
San Diego, CA 92113
32.699534, -117.142502
Dog-Friendly: Yes   Kid-Friendly: Yes
Open 6am-10pm daily
Website
About Chicano Park:
Murals fill every inch of Chicano Park, which is actually the bottom/beginning of the Coronado bridge! The creation of the park started as a source of contention between the City of San Diego and the local Chicano community. Originally back in the late 1960s and early 1970 there were plans to create a park but then the city decided to build a government building instead.
The locals were tired of all the construction and industrialization of their neighborhood, especially in the aftermath of the construction of both I-5 and the Coronado bridge which geographically divided the community.
The locals started an uprise at that site that lasted almost two weeks. They wanted something in return for the community after all of the industrialization that had took place in the prior two decades. And thus Chicano Park was established at that site on April 22, 1970.
The murals here are amazing. There are plenty of them scattered throughout the park. Take your time when you visit, really soaking up each and every pillar. They all tell stories. There is a statue of Emiliano Zapata, a leader and hero of the Mexican Revolution that occurred during the 1910s. There’s also playground area for the kids and of course public restrooms for men and women.
Across the street of Logan Ave are more murals along with a basketball court. There are two small parking lots accessible from both Logan and National Ave. Street parking is also available.
A memorial has been put up for those who lost their lives after a drunk driver crashed over the bridge:
There’s a skate park here now. So cool!
Anonymous
“Rumored to not be safe at night” is actually just a rumor tokd to us as kids and we told ourselves in order to maintain a racial discourse about the Chicano people, some of who have ancestors who lived in the area since it was a part of Mexico.
In 2014, i was a down on my luck single white woman from East County, with no place to live. With racist beliefs in my heart in my about the park and chicano gang violence in my head, i chose Chicano Park to lay my head at night. It was my thought that i would seem crazy enough to live in such a violent place, i would be left alone. I was left alone for a year while I worked my way off the streets. I never saw any gang violence. What I did see was young teenagers peacefully using the skate park, low riders parading their cars proudly displaying their work, art, and heritage, along with little old abuelas (grandmothers) bringing their grandchildren to the park to play. In the evenings the stage is utilized by dance classes in the beginning of my stay i veered away from the.handball courts fearing the youth who congregated there until I learned that many groups of of people who congregated tat the courts were not violent gang members but off duty peace offficers, parole agents, and police officers who compete in ha dball tournaments.. In the 5 years since I lived in the park, i have moved into a place of my own in the area where my open vehicle and scooter i use have been left unlocked and left alone. All my friends from east county who come visit me here always would ask me if their car was safe on the street (meaning no =roaming gangs will tag or steal their cars. They too receive a lecture of the history of the place and a lecture on racist lies we were told as children giving them a true picture of the park.
April 27, 2020