Loma Alta Park

This swimming pool is the only pool that it is difficult to get my son to go to,
he and all his friends think there are too many rules and to be honest this is true the children are pretty much allowed to do nothing except stand in the water the nasty swimming pool attendants need to take themselves less serious you can offer safety without making it a miserable experience

When I visit home and see my nephew, I always bring him to this park.
This is for the park only and not the facilities. There are two separate playgrounds. One for the older kids and one for the younger kids. The times I have come, it has been off peak times so there are usually no more than 10 kids playing.
I also like the big fields and being able to play frisbee as well. This is a nice neighbor hood park to visit. Another thing I like is a few times I have gone, the sheriff are having lunch and they are always friendly.

The structure of the park definitely gets a 5. This review focuses on the services and the users of the park. The park has great facilities. But who can use them? It seems to me that is geared towards a very limited group that knows exactly what is going on but the larger community cannot find its way over there. When can you use the basketball field? Which activities are going on? There is no decent blackboard or no decent explanation when you ask someone behind the desk. Plenty of good intentions though? Why don’t they try to engage the Altadena community more? On top of it, this: since a while Aveson schools uses the fields. This really interrupts the regular usage of the park. Group after group arrives over there and takes over the field. We were using it and although we were never chased away, we had no other option to move. I think it is inappropriate.

The star rating is for the pool only. The rest of the park is great and definitely four star-​worthy — the community gardens, the Wednesday farmer’s market, the equestrian area, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, age-​appropriate play areas, picnic areas and community events ranging from Zumba to Juneteenth celebrations make this park as a whole a tremendous addition to the Altadena community. It’s really a great park.
The pool, on the other hand, is a tribute to the worst that county government has to offer.
Pool Pros: It’s clean, good-​sized and offers activities like swim team and synchronized swimming for youngsters. And it’s free. Honestly, the fact that it’s fee (and less than a block from my house) outweigh pretty much everything else I ahve to say. But still, I have to say it. You have a right to know.
Pool cons: The insane rules. It’s as if every time someone filed a complaint with the Los Angeles County Parks Department, they added a new rule to address that one complaint. Now to just use the pool you have to be fluent in a labyrinthine network of nonsensical, and even unhealthy, protocols enforced by teenagers.
You can’t bring anything into the pool except yourself, your swimsuit and your towel. I had pictured a nice, leisurely afternoon by the pool, reading my magazine, working my crossword puzzle, reapplying sunscreen as necessary, staying hydrated, admiring my pedicure with my cute sandals on. And that was all nixed. No books, no drinks, no reading material (I argued with the person who appeared to have the most park seniority over my magazines and managed to get them in), no pen, NO SUNSCREEN OR SANDALS.
Okay, I get why having extraneous doodads crowding the pool area could pose a safety issue (sort of?) or entice thieves (New Yorker-​reading thieves?) but the no sunscreen thing was baffling. And unhealthy. This is Southern California, where skin cancer is a serious health problem. And you are expected to slather it on outside the pool area and check it in a bag, no option to reapply after swimming. The proffered reason for this rule is that it spills and gets all messy, which, okay, but for some reason stick sunscreen and lip balm also isn’t allowed in.
The no sandals thing is plain gross. Everyone has to take a shower before they get in (good rule), but we can’t wear sandals in the community showers. Basically, they are courting community-​wide fungal infections.
When you get in, you will learn that in order to swim in the deep end or use the diving board, you have to pass a swim test. Okay, fine — except you have to do this every time you come. I get it, safety, but every single time? No list of people who’ve passed?
If you like getting chastised by teenagers on their summer breaks, I suggest swimming in the proximity of the diving board when no one is actually using the diving board. That was fun.
Finally, and this is my biggest gripe, is that you don’t get in at all if you aren’t wearing a swimsuit. This means that parents who came with their kids but just wanted to sit on the deck don’t come in at all, and they stand outside the pool area watching their kids through the iron gates. This is such an unnecessarily demeaning way to treat people, and I can think of no possible safety concern that is more important than allowing a parent to be present when their child is swimming.
Also, no shirt colors other than white (thanks for assuming we’re all gang members, LA County!) and if your dark colored sports bra shows under your white shirt, you will be turned away (not for the fashion faux pas, but because of the nonsensical rules).
We saw one woman fall prey to that particular insane rule — no dark sports bras under a white t-​shirt — and she left in a huff. The staff of teenagers laughed at her as she left. Classy, kids.
The teens also assured me that the rules are the same across all the other county parks. I don’t think this is accurate. I haven’t been to every other park and I’m not totally sure which pools are city-​owned versus county-​owned, but I know for sure that the public pool in Sherman Oaks lets you bring in sandals and suncreen, as does the enormous pool at Hansen Dam.
Finally, these rules aren’t posted on the LA County Parks department website so you have no idea until you get there. Bureaucracy at its finest.

This is a fun park with playing fields, and two playgrounds, one for kids up to 5, and one for the older kids. It is nice, and keeps the little guys from getting clobbered by the older kids. Also, the pool is free to all and open 7 days a week during the summer! The pool is small and always crowded, but a good place to cool down on a hot day.