{"id":47204,"date":"2021-04-21T17:37:07","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T23:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/looking-for-a-park-farmington-has-50-of-them\/"},"modified":"2021-04-21T23:37:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T23:37:07","slug":"looking-for-a-park-farmington-has-50-of-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/looking-for-a-park-farmington-has-50-of-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for a park? Farmington has 50 of them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"City
City Council member Sean Sharer and his daughter, Scarlett, 5, fly a kite Wednesday at Brookside Park in Farmington. The city has about 50 parks.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

By Morgan Mitchell<\/p>\n

Herald Staff Writer<\/p>\n

FARMINGTON \u2013 As cool weather gives way to warm spring days, residents and visitors of Farmington are coming out of their winter confines to recreate and enjoy the fresh air. And they are in luck because the city of Farmington boasts no fewer than 50 municipal parks.<\/p>\n

The parks range from smaller neighborhood parks nestled in residential areas to large parks that are \u201clandmarks within the community,\u201d said Christa Chapman, spokeswoman for the city\u2019s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs.<\/p>\n

Chapman listed the department\u2019s top five favorite parks in the city, including Brookside, Lions Wilderness, Berg, Foothills and Sycamore.<\/p>\n

\"Park-goer
Park-goer Jim Valdez exercises Wednesday in Berg Park in Farmington.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Brookside Park, one of the oldest parks in Farmington, features a \u201cmeandering stream,\u201d play structures, a skate park, large grassy areas and is also the location of Bisti Bay, the Farmington outdoor waterpark.<\/p>\n

Farmington City Councilor Sean Sharer and his 5-year-old daughter, Scarlett, happened to be recreating along the green grassy area. He said the pair went to the park Wednesday to try to fly a kite, and that he and his daughter go to the park almost every day in the spring and summer. Sharer added the city plans to open Bisti Bay most likely Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n

Lions Wilderness Park showcases sandstone formations and natural vegetation of the area as it runs adjacent to the Bureau of Land Management\u2019s Glade Run Recreation Area. The park houses the Lions Wilderness Amphitheatre, which Chapman describes as \u201ca stunning venue featuring a stage built into the natural sandstone backdrop and a full dining area and commercial kitchen, making it an ideal place to host special events and weddings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Donna
Donna Schmitt, left, and Christie Vliss walk along the Animas River on Wednesday in Berg Park in Farmington.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lions Wilderness is also the starting point for the historic Road Apple Rally, the longest continuously run mountain bike race in the United States. The course trails are marked and accessible year-round. More information can be found at www. RoadAppleRally.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The park also has a disc golf course that Peter Garner deemed \u201cepic\u201d in a Google Review.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost unique course I\u2019ve ever played at in over 8 states! So much fun scrambling around the rock and easy to keep track of your disc,\u201d Gardner said in his review.<\/p>\n

Berg Park runs along the Animas River and also features a splash pad, pavilion that is able to be reserved for parties and such, and access to river trails.<\/p>\n

\"The
The splash pad, Bisti Bay, on Wednesday at Brookside Park in Farmington. The water feature is planned to open at the end of May.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

George Golombowski, a longtime city volunteer recently appointed to the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Commission, said Berg Park is his favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite thing about Farmington parks is we have parks everywhere. No matter what neighborhood you live in, there is a park,\u201d Golombowski said. \u201cThey are accessible to everyone. My grandchildren use the playgrounds, and they are well-maintained in all of the parks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foothills Park is deemed by Chapman as the perfect example of a tiny neighborhood park that is \u201cbeautifully designed\u201d and has a playground, basketball court, walking trail and shelter for small gatherings.<\/p>\n

\"A
A skate park at Brookside Park in Farmington is one feature of the park.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Farmington\u2019s hidden gem, however, according to the Parks and Rec Department, is Sycamore Park. Rachelle Crosby, park planner for the department, said the park \u201cis an amazing collection of amenities that few Farmingtonians utilize.\u201d<\/p>\n

The park has a large lawn area with rentable shaded structures that come with tables and barbecue grills, which Crosby said makes the area perfect for birthday parties and other activities. Next to the shelter of the park are two areas of play equipment, a basketball court, a soccer field, skate park and a new pump track for bikes.<\/p>\n

\"Jim
Jim Valdez likes to stop and meditate along the banks of the Animas River in Berg Park in Farmington.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The facility also consists of rentable rooms for parties, a rentable commercial kitchen for \u201cprepping large meals or salsa to sell at the farmers market,\u201d computers, bathrooms, an indoor basketball court and parking.<\/p>\n

For more information about Farmington parks or to find a park near you, visit www.fmtn.org\/Parks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

mmitchell@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

small and tucked away in neighborhoods, others are \u2018landmarks\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[799,138,1982,443],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-47204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-farmington","tag-new-mexico","tag-parks","tag-san-juan-county-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47204"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=47204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}