Picnicking at La Mesa Eco Park

Before the summer ended, my girlfriend and I decided to take a peek at the La Mesa Eco Park. I was curious about this place because the TV ads say that the La Mesa Eco Park is the best nature get-away within Metro Manila.

La Mesa Eco Park is located within the La Mesa Watershed, which is the source of Metro Manila’s drinking water. The ecopark is a good picnic place because of its tall trees and lush scenery. La Mesa Eco Park also boasts of various activities like horseback riding, boating, zipline, and paintball. We enjoyed visiting the La Mesa Eco Park. However, I believe that it is not as grand as advertised.

How to Go to La Mesa Eco Park


The park is located in Quezon City. For those who are commuting from the South, the best way to reach La Mesa Eco Park is to ride any bus going to Fairview. These buses could be found anywhere along EDSA. Tell the driver or the bus conductor that you are going down the La Mesa Eco Park. Go down Pearl Street and there you could ride a tricycle that enter the park. The fare would be 25 pesos if there were only two passengers in the tricycle. If there are three to four passengers, then the fare will be 10 pesos per person. There is a tricycle terminal within the ecopark.

For those who have vehicle, La Mesa Eco Park could be reached via Commonwealth Avenue. Turn right to Pearl Street and follow the signboards along the way. There are ample parking spaces within the park.

La Mesa Eco Park Entrance Fees


Entrance fee for non-Quezon City residents is 50 pesos per person. Quezon City residents pay 40 pesos entrance fee. Students from Quezon City pay 20 pesos entrance fee. Senior citizens from Quezon City do not pay any entrance fee while non-Quezon City senior citizens pay 40 pesos entrance fee.
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The road to the Picnic Grounds

Once you enter the park proper, you can ride the electronic jeepney to take to the picnic spot. However, the jeepney is just few so, more often than not, you will walk to the picnic grounds. The picnic grounds is not very far and walking under the trees is refreshing.

What to See Inside La Mesa Eco Park


There are many interesting spots within the ecopark and you will be surrounded by trees.wherever you go. The ecopark is a nice place to relax for the weekends. During our visit, the place is packed with people, and many of them are having their family gatherings. Almost all spot inside the ecopark can be used as picnic grounds. There are some people who brought their tent.

It is also good to stroll around the place, but there is nothing much to see, aside from the trees. The place is not that large, so you could stroll around the whole place within an hour.

During weekends, the place is jam-packed with people and looking for an ideal picnic spot may be hard. If you are having a family gathering, I suggest that you go early to get the best picnic ground. Visitors can bring their own food and drinks, but for those who forgot to bring something to eat, there are food shops inside the La Mesa Eco Park that have barbecue, rice, and other food. The ecopark has grilling facilities, so visitors can cook their food.
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Making some barbecues for the kids.
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 My girlfriend is looking for some souvenirs.

There are also some souvenir shops where they sell keychains, shells, souvenir shirts, and other items. You could also have a henna tattoo there and also leave your kids to do some artworks, if they got bored.
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Henna tattoo please.
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Made by kids...

Of course, our visit to the La Mesa Eco Park will never be complete if we did not take a look to the La Mesa watershed. However, before seeing the watershed, you have to climb these stairs…
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Just to see this…
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Yeah it sucks, you can never get near the watershed because it was fenced and taking pictures is prohibited. The top of the stairs is also a good place to look to view the whole La Mesa Eco Park.
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There is a statue of Neptune with a girl seated on a big turtle. The place is called Neptune Pond. Sadly, Neptune will be sad because the pond is not clean. Aside from Neptune Pond, there is the Fishing Wharf but I don’t see anyone fishing on that pond because it is dirty.
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Of all the places in La Mesa Eco Park, the best is this:
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The trees and greeneries surrounding you is enough to take off your stress gathered for the whole week.

Other Activities Inside the Park


There are other activities inside the park like paintball shooting, boating, horseback riding, swimming, and the zip-line. I never tried any of those because we chose to relax inside the park.

According to La Mesa Eco Park website, the swimming pool inside the park is not treated with chlorine. Salt granules were used instead to kill bacteria. To enter the swimming pool area, visitors must pay additional 80 pesos.
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Horseback riding is another activity inside the La Mesa Eco Park. There many horses that are for hire and the horse owner will guide the horse for your tour around the park. Horses in La Mesa Eco Park are smaller compared to the horses found in Picnic Grove at Tagaytay City. You have to pay 50 pesos to ride a horse around the La Mesa Eco Park.
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So, that’s our La Mesa Eco Park experience. The park is not that bad. However, the park administrator must ensure cleanliness and find ways to stop trash from being littered. They should also clean the ponds within the park to make the place better.

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15 comments:

  1. Nice...but hey! Why no photo of you and your girlfriend together? Not romantic lah...like that! Hahahahaha!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tagal ko na din nung nagpunta kami dito. Dami na rin bago. One of these days e babalik kami jan para mag piknik. hehehe! Sana before the year ends makabalik kami.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Suitapui:

    Haha...no. I don't put photos of me and my beloved in this blog. The sweeteness might overflow and infect the readers. ^_^

    @Anney:

    Hi Ate. Sana nga makabalik kayo. Kami kung babalik eh susubukan namin yung hindi naming nasubukan na activities doon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sarap naman dyan! hope makagala ako dyan soon! hehehheheheheh

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  5. Waah! isa din yang La Mesa Eco Park sa mga gustong-gusto kong puntahan. Considering na malapit lang naman ang San Mateo, Rizal sa Fairview (via San Mateo-Batasan Road) Hope one of these days, makavisit kami jan ^_^

    Ganda ng buong Park!

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Xprosaic:

    Sana nga bro. ^_^ Balitaan mo kung nakagala ka na ah.

    @Fiel-kun:

    Talagang malapit lang 'yan sa San Mateo parekoy. Maganda ang lugar na ito. Sana makadaan ka nga. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  7. NOw I see! This was the place always aired through campaigns and always advertise Miss Earth I think!

    I love the place! Nature lover kasi ako, thats why!

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  8. wow... ayos ung post mo ah... parang review na tungkol sa place. i've heard many stories about the said ecopark. sadly, walang chance parang mabisita ko. one reason is, nasa dasma ako kaya dayo ang gagawin ko though my relatives naman ako sa valenzuela. hehe. tsaka gang pictures ko lang nakikita... parang ung sayo. :D

    and oh.. i wanna try that henna tattoo also. did you and your girlfriend have one? like your names written? hahaha naahh i'm kidding.

    p.s.
    sure we could be friends here. i wanna have gazillion of friends, YOU KNOW. hahaha :))

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  9. Nice post as always, Ish! Parang gusto ko pumunta dun kaso masyadong malayo. Hehe.. :)

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  10. @Jhiegz:

    Yes. I think that this is the place na binibisita ng taga Miss Earth. Yun nga lang, medyo OA yung mga nasa ads. Iba kasi ang dating ng lugar pag na-camerahan na eh. Parang gumaganda.

    Salamat sa pagbisita. Lagi ko na po kayong dadalawin si iiyong blog.

    @Tine:

    Wow. Ang layo mo nga. ^_^ Di bale, magkakaroon ka rin ng chance makapunta sa La Mesa Eco Park.

    Yey! Friends na tayo. :-D

    @Mariel:

    Thank you Mariel. Malayo ka rin pala dito. Ok lang ang layo, pag nakapunta ka naman ay masusulit mo rin ang pagbisita mo.

    ReplyDelete
  11. thanks for sharing your experience :)
    we'll be going there tom :)

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  12. Heya Jotan, thanks for the visit. So how's your La Mesa Park experience? Hope you share it with us.

    ReplyDelete
  13. parehas lng dun sa isang blog n nakita ko.copy lng lahat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Saang blog mo nakita, Rey?

      Pwedeng pakibigay mo sa akin yung link?

      Delete
  14. copya lng sa ibang blog na n view ko. pati mga picture

    ReplyDelete

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