Winners For

Best Picnic Spot

One part of Lincoln Park feels cozy and breathtaking at the same time—two qualities seldom found together, but just what you need for the ultimate outdoor dining experience. Here's what you need to know. Heading south on Fauntleroy Way Southwest, drive past the main entrance to the park and turn into the next parking lot. Right away you'll see a...

Just north of the east-bound entrance to the Venetian Causeway is a living, lush example of urban planning at its finest. In the midst of towering condo high-rises, Margaret Pace Park is an eight-acre haven whose volleyball, tennis, and basketball courts; soccer fields; outdoor gym; running paths; covered playground; and eye-catching artistic el...

Whether it's during the hectic, weekday lunch hour or a leisurely Saturday afternoon, Citygarden offers the perfect spot for spreading out a blanket and dining alfresco. Adults will enjoy watching the tourists, office workers and families that populate this 2.9-acre urban oasis in the center of downtown. Kids (and kids at heart) will scream in j...

While Irvine continues to try to promise that its Great Park will one day rise up, hang out in what's a true treasure of green among the suburban beige of Fullerton and on-the-border Brea. Long a spot for amorous North County lovers, Craig (named after one of the few Brea council members who was not a Ku Klux Klan member) Regional Park offers am...

Before Longfellow penned "The Song of Hiawatha," Minnehaha Park and Falls were filled with mysticism and wonder, an expanse of unadulterated nature in a soon-to-be-bustling city. Nowadays, the omnipresent light rail runs right by the park, but it's less of a deterrent than a convenience in a place where driving everywhere can be a pain. With the...