Drive Time

Just driving to Libbey Park in Ojai is fun.

The 15-mile jaunt north from Ventura on California 33 follows the bends of the Ventura River through the funky enclaves of Casitas Springs and Oak View before reaching the small mountain city known for its spiritual energy.

On the drive to the park, in the town’s center off Ojai Avenue, visitors can watch as beach landscape fades, making way for rolling hills and mountains and thick groves of old, towering trees.

One in an occasional series on parks in Ventura County

During the cruise up, roll down the windows and enjoy sunshine and warm temperatures that hover in the 90s in June.

To find the park, look for the tall white bell tower at the city’s main post office. A few feet north of that is a small lion’s head mounted on a wall with water trickling from its mouth. This marks the park’s front door.

A 9-foot-high covered walkway runs in front of the park, which begins with a mission-style public area reminiscent of the quaint commons found in small Italian towns, where people sit and feed the birds.

Visitors who read the engraved plaques dotting the public area and the park will learn the names of people who helped build the park and a few others who simply enjoyed spending time there.

“I come up as often as I can and just sit and enjoy,” said Guy Crawford, a retiree from Camarillo.

The rectangular public area is anchored with a beige tiled fountain that looks like a large chalice. It spouts cool water that kids can splash in.

Park benches surround the commons, which is lined with blooming rosebushes. A plaque states that the Ojai Valley Garden Club dedicated the rose garden in 1978 to Austen Pierpont for “his devotion to the betterment and beautification of the Ojai Valley.”

In front of a nearby tree, another plaque states that the same garden club was thankful to Kittie Pierpont.

Underneath the flagpole is a plaque for Edward Drummond Libbey, the man who donated this wooded land where hundreds of adults and children come to play every summer.

The big draws at the park are the outdoor amphitheater shrouded by oaks, the eight lighted tennis courts and the New England-style bandstand where free concerts of show tunes and marches are performed every Wednesday night during the summer.

To take a walk in the park is to travel into a meandering forest of many types of trees--including giant palms--and colorful, fragrant flowers in every color.

Chirping birds and the occasional squirrel can be heard and seen.

A footpath and a bike path run through park and pass over small bridges that span a trickling stream. The paths also run by large grassy expanses with benches and picnic tables.

This park is a perfect spot for walkers, joggers or people just taking a stroll. It is also nice for kids. It’s not a place for people who want to barbecue, play loud music or get a rowdy game of volleyball going.

“It’s a nice family park and it’s kept very clean,” said Maive Roberts, who drove up from Ventura to play in the park with her two young children.

A sand-covered playground has equipment geared to children of all ages. Benches surround the play area and drinking fountains, and bathrooms are nearby.

There are slides, elevated walkways and tunnels painted orange and green, swing sets and a tire swing. There’s a big red Tic-Tac-Toe game for two in the play area.

Deeper into the park, the footpath leads to more tennis courts and a few more picnic tables. The path is lined by split-wood fences, and a few private homes are tucked in amid the trees.

On the far side of the park is a large area where people who play tennis opt to park.

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DETAILS

Libbey Park, at Signal Street and Ojai Avenue in Ojai, is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Free bandstand concerts will be held Wednesdays from 8 to 9:30 p.m. through Aug. 25.

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