Vista Hermosa Natural Park

Vista Hermosa Natural Park

Vista Hermosa Natural Park is a 10-acre “Window to the Mountains” in urban Los Angeles. Meaning “beautiful view,” Vista Hermosa brings nature to a hillside neighborhood which had little. Community workshops shaped the park’s programming to include an informal “grotto,” an adventure play area, a system of trails, picnic areas, an open meadow, and sports field. The park’s sculpted topography retains, treats, and captures 95% of rainwater that falls on the site in a system that includes permeable paving, green roofs, a grassy meadow, vegetated swales, and a 30,000-gallon cistern that supplies irrigation for the park. The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority uses the park to teach community members and area children about the native Southern California landscape.