Parks and Recreation
La Selva Beach is home to both La Selva Beach and Manresa State Beach where one can fish, surf, and boogie-board. These breaks are not as popular as others in Santa Cruz County. La Selva Beach does not have direct public access, although residents of the neighborhood can get a key that allows them to open an otherwise-locked gate so that they can drive down to a parking lot near the beach (the parking lot is under the trestle). For years surfers have parked at the top of the nearby cliffs in La Selva to check the waves, then have hiked down the steep hillside, crossing the railroad tracks and descending a second hillside to get to the water. In an attempt to curb this practice (presumably for soil erosion reasons), a chain-link fence was erected in the early 2000s on the near side of the railroad tracks. Many surfers still access the beach via the cliffs, easily scaling the fence.
The central park of La Selva Beach is Triangle Park. The park is triangular in form and enhanced by a triangular structure with the flags of the world. There is also a horseshoe pit.
In the summer, one can witness small girls practicing their baton-twirling/hurling skills in preparation for the festivities of the annual La Selva Beach 4th of July Parade. As a side note, this parade is vastly shorter but less known than the so-called "World's Shortest Parade" which takes place concurrently in Aptos, California.
In winter, one can view the painted-wood Christmas-themed display that exponentially enhances the community's cuteness factor in conjunction with the lights of "Candlelight Lane." Candlelight Lane is what Playa Boulevard is transformed into during the month of December from the intersection of Playa Boulevard and San Andreas Boulevard to the intersection of Playa Boulevard and Estrella Boulevard. This transformation consists of the illumination of multi-colored lights which have been placed upon the pine trees and palm trees.
La Selva Beach is adjacent to Manresa State Beach.
Read more about this topic: La Selva Beach, California
Famous quotes containing the words parks and, parks and/or recreation:
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Angela Davis (b. 1944)