Swimming pool hours, hiking trail access, boating rentals and after-dark programs will be cut at various Los Angeles County parks, due to a revenue squeeze that takes an 8.5% bite out of the county\u2019s Parks and Recreation\u2019s annual budget.
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\nWhile the $22 million in spending cuts are spread throughout the sprawling LA County Parks system, they will affect adults and children heading to parks in an effort to escape the summer heat or find a green space for healthy, outdoor exercise often unavailable in crowded, lower-income neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
The length of the county\u2019s pool season will be reduced, from 23 weeks to 11 weeks, ending on Aug. 16. The Parks After Dark programs will be eliminated at 34 parks countywide, accompanied by reductions in part-time staffing and administrative functions, county Parks and Recreation announced last week.
\nCyclists cruise through the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale on Friday, Aug. 24, 2024. This is one of six county regional parks closing on Mondays and Tuesdays starting June 30, 2025. The closures are due to budget cuts. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n
Six regional parks will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays starting on Monday, June 30. These are:
\n\u2022 Castaic
\n\u2022 Frank G. Bonelli
\n\u2022 Kenneth Hahn
\n\u2022 Peter F. Schabarum
\n\u2022 Santa Fe Dam
\n\u2022 Whittier Narrows
\nRegional lakes at Castaic, Bonelli in San Dimas and Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale will be closed for swimming, boating and fishing on Mondays and Tuesdays. These activities will be open Wednesday through Sunday.
\nA sign announcing the closures on Mondays and Tuesdays is seen here at Peter F. Schabarum Regional Park in Rowland Heights. (courtesy photo).<\/p>\n
In order to meet the 8.5% reduction to the parks\u2019 budget, parks administrators said in a statement that they had to make \u201csome difficult but necessary decisions to preserve our core mission.\u201d
\nThe county budget cuts are attributed to drops in property tax revenues due to the January wildfires, anticipated curtailment of federal dollar allotments and a $4 billion settlement involving 6,800 sexual abuse claims, some dating as far back as the 1950s, made against county employees who worked in county-run facilities.<\/p>\n
While parks remain open, i.e., being the core mission of the department, the cuts to operating days, programs and staffing will be permanent, the department announced.
\nAlvaro Cruz, 6, of Palmdale, and his 18-month-old brother Victor visit Castaic Lake\u2019s Lower Lake Lagoon\u2019s swim beach with their family on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. Los Angeles County Regional Parks are closing on Mondays and Tuesdays on June 30. Castaic\u2019s swim beach is currently open Wed-Sun. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)<\/p>\n
Boats, even those privately owned, will not be allowed at county lakes on those two days. Also the Castaic campground will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. All school field trips scheduled for Mondays and Tuesdays at the six regional parks are canceled. The county emphasized in its FAQs statement that all smaller, local county parks are not affected by these closures and remain open seven days a week. The LA County regional parks closures and reductions in services will undoubtedly affect the community, particularly during the summer months when these spaces are most utilized. The cuts, resulting from an 8.5% reduction in the Parks and Recreation budget, aim to preserve the core mission of the department while navigating financial constraints.<\/p>\n One resident asked: \u201cI use the regional parks for my daily walks, exercise and mental health, why am I not able to just walk in the park?\u201d The answer provided was no, no one would be allowed into the regional parks on Mondays and Tuesdays and that includes vehicles and pedestrians, because there will be \u201cno active park supervision, which presents safety concerns for visitors.\u201d That includes closure of all trails in those six parks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction to LA County Regional Parks Closures Swimming pool hours, hiking trail access, boating rentals and after-dark programs will be cut at various Los Angeles County parks, due to a revenue squeeze that takes an 8.5% bite out of the county\u2019s Parks and Recreation\u2019s annual budget. While the $22 million in spending cuts are spread […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/LDN-L-COUNTY-PARKS-0618-01-SR.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,933&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17264"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17266,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17264\/revisions\/17266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIn addition to cuts, the county is imposing fee increases to drive into a regional park. Also, boat launching fees at county lakes will be increased. But the county would not provide details on the new fee schedules. Entrance fees are proposed to jump at botanic gardens, including the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia.
\nParks and Recreation is asking residents to donate to the Los Angeles County Parks Foundation at https:\/\/www.lacpf.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\nRelated Links<\/h2>\n
Related links<\/h2>\n
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Conclusion<\/h2>\n
FAQs<\/h2>\n