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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