Deukmejian Wilderness Park in Glendale California

It was one of those crystal clear blue sky white puffy cloud days that are so rare in Southern California. I had been diligently working all day at my computer trying to drum up real estate business when I decided to go out and enjoy one of Glendale and La Crescenta's best parks. I took my camera and my lunch and drove up to Deukmjian Wilderness Park.

This huge park has a historical stone barn that was built from 1914-1918 and is currently under a restoration adaptive resuse plan adopted by the city of Glendale. The site was aquired in 1898 by George Le Mesanger, a French Immigrant who was a wine grower and businessman. He raised grapes and made wine until prohibition. He resumed the wine business after that until a fire gutted the barn and swept through the area in 1933. The barn was then rebuilt and the upper floor was turned into residential quarters. They family lived there until 1960.

The property was purchased by a developer in 1968 who planned to build 250-350 homes on the site, but the city of Glendale obtained an option on the land in 1986. A park concept plan was developed in 1987 and the city bought the land for $5.2 million dollars. The site is 704 acres and is now a popular wilderness area and hiking site. In May 2004 Phase III was implemented and my husband Bob Yousefian, the Mayor of Glendale at the time, was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony along with former Govenor Deukmjian who the park was named for.

As you will see by the photos, the park is a fabulous place to unwind and get away. When I was there, a young family was at the park flying a kite. The facilities are spotless and the park is unpopulated and undiscovered. I encourage you to take a walk in this park at your earliest convenience.

The address is 3429 Markridge Rd. in La Crescenta CA and park hours are 7 am til sunset. I hope you have found this useful and will take a break and visit this park. If you have any real estate questions please call me at (818) 668-4005 or email me at sue@ellertheseller.com. I am very familiar with the Glendale, La Crescenta, La Canada area and would be happy to assist you! Take a look at the pictures below to see what a great place the park is!