Rancho Santa Margarita Central Park

Great park for summer concerts

Awesome park! Very safe and ALWAYS clean. Love seeing pictures of my kids year after year at this Park. We do our holiday pictures here. Great park for parties (with a permit) but please clean up… This park is too gorgeous to trash.

First of all, there is way too much vape. I agree with Kareem and John in the fact that these rude skater children have overrun the park. (I think one of them is named Pace.) One star for this Ghetto park.

This park is great! I have two kids (ages 2 ½ and 18 months) and they both love playing here. The park is well kept, the equipment is fun. The park has tons of grass and tables for picnics. We had my daughter’s first birthday here and it was a great location for it. She got to play, our older guests had shade to sit under, no one came by to bother us. It was perfect.
This park also hosts a ton of local events. Movies in the park, concerts, community events. The city does a great job with keeping their website updated and hosting fun events for all ages. My 2 ½ year especially loves the summer concerts. It does get crowded though so keep an eye on your little ones and grab a seat asap!
I do have some minor complaints though.
One is that it’s located right next to a middle school and when school gets out, the preteens are very rude and are mean to the little kids playing. They’ll rough house and have no spacial awareness for the toddlers running around. They scream curse words, climb on toys they are way too big for, and will even break parts of the playground. It’s not the park’s fault and the middle schoolers are acting somewhat normal for their age, but best to avoid this park around 2 – 4 on weekdays.
When toys break, it takes awhile to get them fixed. Sometimes months. The city will put up a terrible caution tape display and forget about it until enough parents complain. First it was a swing, then the see-​saw, now it’s the rope pyramid.
Parking can be limited and this park is not fenced, so be careful with your kids wondering off and getting close to the busy street. Especially the corner in between the assisted living facility and the active senior apartments. People zoom around that corner and it can be dangerous for kids crossing the street.
Also, as a side note to parents, bring sand toys, bring snacks/​drinks, and interact with your kids. Most of us that bring snacks, drinks, and toys are totally cool with sharing. We bring that stuff knowing it’s a communal thing and that everyone will play with everything. There have been times that I have apple juice and oatmeal cookies and another mom has grape juice and graham crackers and our kids end up switching snacks.
With that being said, it kind of sucks when one or two parents bring the «goods» and the rest of the parents let their kids mooch. Once or twice, it’s all good. I’ve switched cars and forgot the sand toys or forgot my back pack of treats on the kitchen table. We’re human, we forget stuff sometimes, and I’m totally fine with giving a snack or letting a kid borrow a shovel when their parent accidentally forgot their own, but to constantly do it and depend on other parents to feed and entertain your kids is kind of lame. Just be mindful of that. Obviously this little rant as nothing to do with the park, but just felt I had to throw that out there. It’s a friendly community, join in on it!
All in all, this park is great! You’re kids are going to love it!

Upon walking in your immediately greeted by warmth and hospitality of the staff. Reza is always so jazzed to see you and walks you through any questions you may have. This place is like an oiled machine and works off a cohesive and conscious level to bring a smile on your face. Dr L brings harmony and order to natural chaos, you gotta love his skills and mastery. My family is in good hands, thanks DR L.

This place should be named something else. The meatballs are so flippin good. You need to follow them and taste them. You won’t regret it.

Come by this October 2014 and see us at «Ranchofest»…BBQ House Ministries-​Holy Fire BBQ Team will be there this year! Our bbq food is…“Heavenly”! The team and our families love this park and the people of RSM.

Rancho lake is beautiful especially with Saddleback mountain in the background. There are lots of trees and workout stations. the shopping center is connected with carmelitas and several other restaurants like Italian pizza Japanese and sports bar. The trip on the side walk around the lake is one mile. Some people rollerblading while others run and most walk. It is also great place for family to go. there is a Beach Club that is open seasonally.

My family and I are so fortunate to live so close to such a beautiful, clean, well-​kept park with so many ammenities. So different from the parks that I’m used to back home in Hawaii. I think other families would agree with me as well because there have been many times that I fell into conversation with a parent or two and found out that they lived in neighboring cities, but drove all the way out here because we have the nicest parks. A little frustrating on the days that the park gets pretty crowded. Thankfully we can walk, so we don’t have to ever deal with the parking, which there always seems to be a lot of.
There are large kid play areas, jogging paths, large manicured lawns with beautiful trees sprinkled throughout the park along with well kept sidewalks, benches, picnic tables and BBQ grills scattered throughout the park. At one end of the park there’s a large open amphitheater that hosts many events for the residents of Rancho Santa Margarita from concerts and movie nights to animal shows and food events. Near it are the bathrooms (accessible to residents only by keycard) and an indoor soccer rink.
The immense play area offers lots of different options for kids of all ages to play on, which includes a toddler train slide with boxcars, seesaws, swings, rockwall climbing, a large netted spider web climber along multiple play structures with tunnels and slides of all sizes connected. The only problem that I find is that the park is so immense that it’s hard to keep track of a little active toddler running back and forth throughout the play area. I have to constantly relocate myself throughout the play area to keep an eye on her.
Tip:
The play structures can get pretty hot during the summer, so early mornings or early evenings are preferred during those months. Also, bring along some sand toys for your little one to get some sand play in as well!