As a proud canine, I probably don’t need to tell you how I feel about trees. But just imagine my delight at seeing big, glorious Coast Redwood trees. No, I’m not talking about those towering evergreens in Northern California. I’m talking about our own little grove right here in Balboa Park, conveniently located in the aptly named Redwood Circle. This out-of-the-way picnic area is one of several scenic spots clustered within Balboa Park’s very green west mesa.

Just off of Balboa Drive and a little north of the lawn bowling area, Redwood Circle provides ample shade and picnic benches for a nice respite while trekking along Trails #1 and #2 of Balboa Park’s marked trail system. A cement pathway and numerous shade trees encircle a large open grassy field, an ideal space for sunning your belly or tossing a ball or Frisbee around. The grove of aforementioned Coast Redwoods majestically flanks the northeast arc of the circle. Some of these beauties reach over 75 feet tall and are still growing!

Immediately to the south of the circle, you’ll find a gently sloping dirt path that winds through a dense grove of palm trees toward the Bridle Trail. It’s amazing all the nooks and crannies I find on this end of the Park whenever I can pull myself away from Nate’s Point dog park.

Second only to food, the thing that excites me the most is watching little balls rolling on the grass. Now while I get my fair share of fetching balls in the many dog parks in Balboa Park, I sometimes like to catch my breath by watching those spiffy-looking players all dressed in white take aim on the Lawn Bowling greens, or rink, situated between Founder’s Plaza and the Cabrillo Bridge.

English-style Lawn Bowling is just one of three types of outdoor bowling available in the Park, the others being bocce (Italian) and pétanque (French). While the San Diego Lawn Bowling Club has been around since 1931, the game itself originated in the 13^th century and is especially popular in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

Though plenty of strategy and a skillful touch are involved, it can be played by two-leggers of any age. The trick, as I understand it, is learning how to correctly roll the balls, or bowls as they are called, which are not perfect spheres. One side is a bit flattened causing the bowl’s path to curve as it slows down. Fortunately, the Lawn Bowling Club offers a free lesson; just give them a call or send an email to set up a time. Otherwise, grab a bench and enjoy a relaxing afternoon around ye ol’ Lawn Bowling rink.

While I prefer to blog about all the great outdoor activities in Balboa Park, with the economy down, I would be remiss if I didn’t inform my readers of an exceptional deal on museum admission. Now in its 20^th year, Museum Month is granting half-price admission to over 35 museums in San Diego County throughout the entire month of February! I would also be remiss if I didn’t point out that 13 of the best museums in the county are found right here in Balboa Park, making it a great place to start.

So what do my two-legged readers need to do to get in on this? Just head over to your nearest Macy’s Department Store to pick up a Museum Month pass, which you’ll need to present at each participating museum to get the admission discount.

This is an excellent opportunity to check out museums you’ve never been to before, revisit old favorites, or see new exhibitions at places like the Museum of Photographic Arts, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Automotive Museum, and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, to name a few. You can easily plan your visit using the calendar on Balboa Park’s Web site. Just please don’t forget to take your dog out for a nice long walk before you get lost in museum land.

On my way to Nate’s Point Dog Park, I often like to make a pit-stop in Sefton Plaza, near the corner of Laurel Street and Balboa Drive, to pay my respects to the “Mother” and “Father” of Balboa Park. Gazing at each other across Laurel Street, statues of Kate Sessions and George Marston serve as a fitting gateway to Balboa Park’s west entrance.

The north side of Sefton Plaza, a.k.a. Founder’s Plaza, provides a shady little rest area with stone benches, a soothing fountain, and scarily lifelike bronze statues of Balboa Park’s founders George Marston (1850–1946), Alonzo Horton (1813–1909), and Ephraim Morse (1823–1906). Each was instrumental in the early days of turning brush-covered hillsides and canyons into what would eventually become the largest urban cultural and recreational park in North America.

At the southwest corner of Sefton Plaza stands a life-size statue of Kate Sessions (1857–1940). A noted horticulturist, Sessions worked tirelessly to establish the many gardens, flower beds, and tree groves that flourish throughout the Park’s grounds today.

Always a perfect meeting place on the Park’s west mesa, Sefton Plaza now offers the 21^st-century convenience of a new information kiosk, featuring a touch-screen way-finding computer and Wi-Fi access—something not even our forward-looking founders could have envisioned!