Adventure Quest #1 - Back Bay View Park

In an effort to see more of California I've decided to start going on some Adventure Quests.  I may share some of these adventures with you lovely folks. 

Adventure Quest #1

Back Bay View Park - Newport Beach CA - 2 Stars

Today I visited Back Bay View Park.  I was intrigued by this park because of it's close proximity to the water and thought it would have some good views.  To my disappointment this park is incredibly small and doesn't even have it's own parking lot.  I parked in the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort parking lot which is free for 30 minutes, but then goes up to $8 for the first hour then up from there depending on how long you stay.

I took the trail up to the top of the hill overlooking the bay.

As you can see there is a decent RV camping lot and some kind of cool looking water obstacle course plus the resort with a pool.  On the west side of the bay, not visible in this picture, there was tent camping on the beach as well.

I only spent an hour at this park, but it probably could have been walked in less than 30 minutes.  Here is a view of the park:

Most of the path is paved which is nice for biking or walking, but it's really too small of park for much.  There were two picnic tables and a few benches, but no shade.  So visit on a cool day if plan on picnicking here.

All of the plants looked like natural California scrub brush type plants, as I like to call them, and some cactus.

There were few flowers, some beetles, lizards, bees, and mourning doves.

If you visit this area you may want to skip this park and plan on spending some time along the bay itself at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort.  They had a playground right on the beach, with a roped off swimming area.  No lifeguard though, but the water was super calm anyway.  I also spotted some food trucks near the northern end of the parking lot.

I give this adventure 2 stars out of 5.