By SDCN Editor
Encinitas, CA–Cottonwood Creek Park has received the prestigious American Society of Landscape Architects San Diego Chapter 2024 Climate Action and San Diego Landmark Award, the City of Encinitas announced.
The recognition highlights the enduring value and community impact of outstanding landscape architecture projects. Cottonwood Creek Park, designed by the Schmidt Design Group, has been enhancing the quality of life in Encinitas for over two decades.
“Receiving the ASLA San Diego Chapter 2024 Climate Action plus San Diego Landmark Award is a tremendous honor for Cottonwood Creek Park,” said Encinitas Mayor Tony Kranz. “For more than 20 years, Cottonwood Creek Park has provided not only a beautiful and engaging environment for our residents but also a benchmark for environmental stewardship and innovation in landscape architecture. We are proud of this recognition and grateful to Schmidt Design Group for their visionary work that continues to inspire and enhance our city.”
Situated just blocks from the beach, the 8-acre Cottonwood Creek Park is renowned for its natural character. The park offers open turf areas, a picnic gazebo, sports courts, a children’s play area, pedestrian bridges, decks, and environmental education. One of its standout features is a 600-foot-long flowing creek and wetland habitat, created by daylighting existing drainage infrastructure, a practice uncommon 20 years ago. This design involved excavating up to 15 feet of soil to create a vegetated channel that serves as a habitat corridor and a natural play area. These elements balance environmental sustainability with recreational needs, significantly enhancing community well-being.
The park’s natural play areas have become a local favorite, with children exploring the creek’s edges and enjoying the evening frog serenades. Historical significance is honored with quotes from early newspaper articles engraved on stone panels, celebrating Cottonwood and Moonlight Creeks. As one of the first large-scale installations of pervious concrete in San Diego County, the park also utilizes decomposed granite for its paths, further contributing to its sustainable design.
Now 20 years old, Cottonwood Creek Park continues to lead in sustainable site design, engaging visitors with interpretive signage, historic tiles, and natural play elements that narrate the park’s past, present, and future. The Landmark Award celebrates landscape architects’ projects that create significant and lasting community value, and Cottonwood Creek Park exemplifies this with its innovative design and sustainable features that have set a regional and beyond standard. Established in 2004, the park transformed an industrial maintenance yard into a vibrant, sustainable community space.