woods creek rotary park

wc7.jpg

The park in January smells like turning leaves and dark earth, saturated soil that has sipped sweetly all of the smells and sounds and tastes of summer - dropped strawberries, bare feet, birthday candles, spilled lemonade. Today, we are the only ones. We park the car, unclip buckles, listen for the birds in the grey canopy overhead. Branches bend like broken bones and knock into one another as the wind blows. Aspen pulls her hood over her hair and looks up. "Mama, look! A helicopter!" The machine rumbles by, and after a moment, the park is silent again. 


woods creek rotary park

If you hadn't already realized, we live just a few city blocks from the toy shop, which itself is about a half mile from Rotary Park. Naturally, this has become our place to run and roam and rest. The creek snakes through the baseball field and grassy knoll, full and tumbling in the winter and spring, whispering slowly in the summer. The play area is just big enough, and there are picnic tables, trash cans, a gazebo & two bathrooms for public use. Although the park is positioned right by the highway, it's wonderfully quiet & feels far off. 

Click here for directions to Rotary Park.


LOCATION: downtown sonora
AGES: 0+
AVERAGE TIME DURATION: 1 HR
PRICE: FREE
TIP: if you go before noon, bring a towel to wipe water off the slides.