Fans of Huntington Beach’s Adventure Playground will need to wait one more season before the newly renovated facility will reopen due to California’s Drought State of Emergency.

City officials recently made the tough decision to postpone the opening of the park due to the fact that two of the playground’s most popular attractions, the mud slide and the raft mote, require a significant amount of water to operate. The current drought conditions and associated water restrictions made the feasibility of operating the playground impractical.

Adventure Playground, currently located in Huntington Central Park, east of Central Library, first opened to the public in 1983. Prior to that date, the City operated the original Adventure Playground in the 1970’s at the bottom of a quarry pit located on the southwest corner of Talbert Avenue and Gothard Street.

Adventure Playground provides a safe place for youth to play in a rustic-playground setting free of adult-made rigid play structures. A mud slide, the raft mote, rope bridge, and several tree forts allow for children’s imagination and creativity to lead the way for a day of outdoor adventure.

The playground has recently undergone a series renovations thanks to several Eagle Scout projects, church volunteer projects, support by local civic organizations and volunteer community members. Hand-built tree forts and a new earth path leading up to the top of the mudslide are the main focal points of the newly-improved playground. A new craft building station will also be a feature when the playground opens in 2023.

Barring prolonged drought conditions, Adventure Playground will reopen in late June 2023. Updated information can be found on the City’s website at www.huntingtonbeachca.gov.