Kit Carson, Escondido, CA

Kit Carson Park gives this broad stretch of south Escondido its name and much of its weekend routine. As a neighborhood, Kit Carson stretches from the older blocks west of Escondido Boulevard down past Felicita Avenue to the Westfield mall and the shore of Lake Hodges, so it covers a lot of different ground. The park itself runs to 285 acres, with about 185 left as native habitat. Inside are three small ponds, a five-acre arboretum, ball fields, a 22,000-square-foot skate park, a free disc golf course and Queen Califia's Magical Circle, Niki de Saint Phalle's mosaic sculpture garden and the only one she built in the United States. Farther south, a trailhead by the Sikes Adobe off Sunset Drive starts a flat stretch of the Coast to Crest Trail past Mule Hill and the farm fields of the San Pasqual Agricultural Preserve. Up north, Westside Park has a playground and a covered picnic shelter. Homes change as you go. The northern end near Westside Park has older, smaller houses on modest lots. Farther south come condo communities with pools, hillside houses with long views, and a run of new homes from D.R. Horton. For food, Craft and Taco Lounge on West Valley Parkway pairs creative tacos with local craft beer. Forgotten Barrel Winery pours wine on West 15th Avenue, on a residential street, at a site that dates to the 1880s, where old redwood barrels turned up on the property. Lourdes Mexican Food, known for its chicken soup, sits just over the line in Old Escondido. Chain dining clusters around Westfield North County on Via Rancho Parkway. Errands are spread out but complete. Trader Joe's is on South Centre City Parkway, Sprouts is on West 13th Avenue, and the mall covers most other shopping. Route 350 buses run along Escondido Boulevard and Bear Valley Parkway between the downtown transit center and the Del Lago Transit Center, and Interstate 15 frames the west side. Most of Kit Carson is built for driving. Walking from home to a restaurant is realistic in the northern blocks and rare in the southern ones, and the commercial strips along Centre City Parkway are plain to look at. A Saturday here often means a morning on the park trails and an afternoon at the mall, both within a few miles of home.