Bill Barber Park’s true name is Colonel Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park. Colonel William E. Barber died in April 2002 not far from the park which bears his name. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery having served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Colonel Barber received the Medal of Honor from President Truman for his bravery in Korea when he led “his troops to defend a key pass near the Chosin Reservoir during one of the epic battles of the Korean War, despite being wounded in the leg by machine-gun fire.” [To read more about this remarkable man, visit ArlingtonCemetery.net]. Stars & stripes abound at this patriotic park which features a “Don’t Tread on Me” rattlesnake path.
Location: Off Harvard Avenue near the Irvine Civic Center (Address: 4 Civic Center Plaza, Irvine). Parking lot behind Civic Center or off San Juan. MAP to Bill Barber Park in Irvine
Recommended by: Nicole
Highlights:
- Love the patriotic theme – red, white, and blue everywhere
- “Don’t Tread on Me” rattlesnake path running between upper and lower section of one of the play areas – great to run the kids ragged on or run toddler bikes down*
- For the little ones: situate yourself in the central circular planter area then there’s shade under the tree and a place to watch two of the three play areas at once for the smaller kids*
- For bigger kids (5+): series of walkways connected by bridges make it perfect for “tag” or “hide ‘n seek”
- Kids like to make a lake out of the water at the sink/faucet for some good clean (well, dirty) fun*
- Also a good park for kites, planes, frisbees, giant bubbles – there’s a large baseball field close to the play areas for major running around and lots of space to fly kites or remote-controlled planes/helicopters*
- The size of this park makes it stand out – huge grassy areas, ball fields, very large picnic gazebos, and a huge play areas
- Love the garden area with the frog fountain – surrounding by bougainvillea on trellises with citrus and native plants
Be Aware:
- Some kids will find it hard to resist getting wet in the sink/faucet on the smaller play area
- Some parks are perfect for just sitting and watching the kids play. I’d say this is suited for more active supervision. Mine wanted to be on opposite sides of the park at all times. Until you become comfortable with the park layout and play equipment, it might be challenging to bring multiple “little” kids or kids with differing abilities. [See highlight above on where to situate yourself for optimum supervision]
Checklist:
- Dedicated parking lot off Harvard and San Juan. Another lot at Civic Center, but a bit of a walk to the play area
- Recycled rubber and sand play surface
- Huge bathroom near play area with tons of stalls, but smaller bathroom near the ball fields is slightly nicer
- Plenty of drinking fountains
- Play area is somewhat sunken – so it can be hot – but picnic gazebos and garden provide shade relief
- Awesome picnic park
- Tiny Oranges has great photos and their own review
*Added 8-3-08 directly from Matt’s comments. Thanks for the details!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Dear Anonymous-
I am so sorry my description/label put you in an awkward position! Obviously, I’m a mom myself and would have been mortified. Sorry, sorry, sorry!
To clarify:
When I visited this park, some kids had blocked the sink to make a full size “lake” out of the area beneath the sink. If you look closely at the 2nd photo you can see it. The other commenter (Matt Cohen) tells of his kids bringing swimsuits. I wasn’t expecting any water on my visit – and my daughter really wanted to get wet. I wished I had brought a towel and swimsuit.
What I did:
I expanded the “water play” label to read “Water Play (Puddle-sized)” and “Water Play (Bring swimsuit).”
Again, sorry for the misunderstanding. Keep commenting and clarifying. That’s what this site is all about.
Michele
I took my 2 year old son to this park today. It was a warm day and I was excited to use your site to locate an OC park that had a “water feature”. Since the review of this park said to bring your suits and towels, I expected to enjoy a water fountain or a spray fountain play area (similar to the one at Irvine Spectrum). After doing 2 loops around the park and not seeing any water, I stopped in the park office to ask. With my beach towel in hand, they looked at me like I was nuts and said the only water area was a “sink” with a “faucet”.
Being that I invited 2 friends and their kids to enjoy the “water”, I was pretty embarrassed and felt badly that I mislead everyone (one kid was wearing his bathing suit!).
I kindly suggest that the assessment of this park be reworded. It really was a sink with a faucet and nothing more.
Thank you!
Thanks for the update. However, I disagree/have some comments on your assessment
We bring out dads group there every week (ocdads.org) and they run the gamut to pre-crawling babies to 5 year old running terrors. If you camp out your group in the central circular planter area, then there’s shade under the tree and place to watch two of the three play areas at once for the smaller kids.
Water overflowing – Hmm, that was probably our kids
We tell our group members to bring either swimsuits or a change of clothes as the kids like to make a ‘lake’ out of the water. Good clean (well, dirty) fun, we figure
Also a good park for kites, planes, frizbees, giant bubbles – there’s a large baseball field close to the play areas for major running around and lots of space to fly kites or R/C planes/helicopters.
Don’t forget the ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ snake that runs between the upper and lower section of one of the play areas – great to run the kids ragged on or ride toddler bikes down.
Great site!
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