Playground

Irvine Regional Park is the kind of place locals keep in their back pocket for weekends when you just need to get outside without a lot of planning. The open grass fields give kids plenty of room to run, and the walking paths connect right into the trails if you want to stretch the legs a bit further into the surrounding landscape. Pack a lunch — the picnic tables get claimed early on nice days, and for good reason. Parking is straightforward, which is honestly a bigger deal than people admit when you’re hauling stuff for a family outing.