Cesar Chavez Park

Very cool park with tons of birds. Even saw a pelican hanging out. Fished here once with no action, probably ok right after stocking.

Great park to take the family for a nice picnic and watch the lake. There’s a library right next to it as well as a skate park. I like to skateboard on occasion and the skate park is perfect for us non pros. There are high schoolers that like to just hang out there and do «extra curricular activities» at times, but overall, a great park.

This place is so amazing. I love walking around and it seems to peaceful. U can study here without any distraction (in my opionion) good for family and kids. they have kids playground. it’s an amazing place over all… u can even fish here lol… hope u don’t mind the smell of fish lol

Park is wonderful. It’s always clean and inviting. Whether you see families at BBQ grills or little ones on the equipment, you feel comfortable.
I like to bring dried bread-​things for the geese and ducks. They are always happy I did… hahah.
I also like to walk the lake and get in a mile around (marked on the ground).

Best place here in baseline for:
Running
Walking
Bbq
Fishing
Biking
Skating
Reviewing
Or just chillin
The place has a library near it. Grab a nice book and read it in the park overlooking the lake where ducks are floating all over it. Theres plenty of shades, places for kids to play, alot of spot to fish, a huge parking spot. Theres nothing more to add. This place is one of the scenic park here in phx. Hands down:)
P.S
When you go walking bring something to drink the whole place is almost 2 miles. It also have a island where it goes full circle. Other than that come and enjoy this great park!

Cesar Chavez Park is located a quick 20 minute drive from downtown Phoenix (up the I-​10 exit 35^th Ave). It is a point of pride for South Phoenix as the home of the largest flat-​land park in the City of Phoenix. It has a 22-​acre Lake stocked by Arizona Game and Fish four + times a year with Catfish, Trout, and other.
It’s an awesome location to host a party — with shaded pavilions, may shade trees, lots of open space, and a playground for little children.
The lake has a 1 mile jogging path around the interior (1 ½ mile if you also included the path around the island). On weekends, you can find me walking my two dogs (leashed) around the park. There is also a boat ramp and I’ve seen many take their kayaks and mini-​sunfish sailboats in.
The park is also home to Aguila Golf course — one of the top municipal golf-​courses in the country as rated by Golf Digest Magazine. As a matter of fact, an online search yielded the same rating 4 as The Boulders, Legacy, and the JW Marriott Desert Ridge.
Some reviews talk about it being trashed or that it is dangerous at night. I will say, that after main occasions — Mother’s Day and Easter and Community Events — the park is a mess. But otherwise, I don’t see huge issues with trash — especially since most parks I visit throughout Phoenix seem to have the same issues with timely trash pickup. If I see anything out of the ordinary (i.e. graffiti or trash) I report it to the City of Phoenix and by the next day it is taken care of.
Visit this gem. It’s awesome! We are lucky to live close enough to use the park a lot!

This park is huge, beautiful and full of stuff to do. My son loves the skate park and the sunsets are incredible!

Great park and lake area to hang out with friends. Not many activities provided, but it’s a great open space. And the library associated with it is one of the best libraries I’ve been to. They have a lot of computers for public use and a great DVD collection. You can even borrow nooks! All in all, a great location.

Great sunsets happening here daily! I highly recommend it.

This is actually a pretty nice park. I was here recently for a birthday party on a Sunday and was impressed to see the expansive park, plenty of close parking, a nice water feature in the center, and plenty of shaded areas both for sitting or for laying down in the ‘arizona’ grass.
I think this is a nice addition and nice feature to the S Phx/​Laveen area and I hope they continue the maintenance of this place because it is an attractive place to get together with family and enjoy the few cool months we have left.

I like to take my dog here for a walk on the weekends. It is a very nice walk around the lake. I was surprised the first time I went because the lake is HUGE, definitely bigger than I was expecting. The lake is stocked and you can fish and take home certain amounts of each type of fish. I saw someone’s catfish they caught and it was huge! As someone mentioned there is often people fishing with there equipment and lines blocking the walkways. Also, most people are nice and friendly but there does seem to be some of the shadier variety of people at this park and certain parts of the lake have trash floating (but only a small portion). Just be sure to clean up after yourselves people!
It is definitely a nice change to just walking your dog around your neighborhood!

Nice park… the clientele leaves something to be desired though…
Skate park is 5 star, designed by Dyrdek, it’s part of his safe spot foundation, which is reassuring.

Great place to take the dogs and get some exercise!

Just moved to this area, We knew there was a nice park next to the high school. I just figured it was «just a park» we went there on a father’s day night to walk the dogs.
We both wore flips flops. As we walked over the small grassy hill from the car we shocked to see the «pond» we started to walk around the «pond» and realized it was a full on LAKE! What a nice addition to area!
It took us about 40 min or so and we walked to entire lake. every step the lake seemed to grow larger and larger. We where shocked about the amount of people fishing. We even saw a few fish being caught
The dogs loved it — everyone had their dogs on leashes.
If I was pressed for ANY criticism: I found that many people had all their fishing gear scattered across the walk way rather then keeping it to the side or in the grass. People seemed friendly but not the type to strike a convo up with

Cesar Chavez park is the best that the SW Valley has to offer! Located at 35^th Ave & Baseline at the base of South Mountain, it’s a great location for the residents of South Phoenix and Laveen. I’ve seen it very busy, but it also seems to be one of the best kept secrets in SW Phoenix!
There is ample seating throughout the park, including ramadas and benches. A 1.1 mile trail wraps around the lakes in the center of the park, making it perfect for runners and walkers. There is a small tot lot and playground on the east side of the park that families will enjoy. No matter what time of day you visit the park, you will find people around the lakes fishing. Be careful– a friend once tripped on a fishing line that a careless fisherman didn’t remove from the sidewalk and broke his elbow!
Drawbacks: this park is always dirty, as no one seems to clean up their trash after visiting and it is not safe in early morning or evening hours. Otherwise, enjoy one of the better city parks!

I love this park for the views (trees water ducks etc.) there is a track around the whole lake which is shared by both fishers, runners, walkers and bikers. lots of benches and tables for a picnic or gathering. there is a playground for the kids which could be bigger but the kids still love it.
The park has a few thing around it which makes it nice. The libery, a golf coarse and some baseball fields are really close.
If you are having one of those days take some time for yourself walk around the lake and unwind!
Oh yea about the fishing been there a few time to fish and must say not the best fishing but what the heck. well hope this helped.

I visited Cesar Chavez Park early in 2011 for a company picnic. We had our picnic on the south side of the park. I walked around the lake and took some photos of the park. As long as the weather is cool, I would recommend this park. If you love the heat, then you can visit the park at any time of the year. There is fishing at the lake inside the park. I will upload some photos to give a better idea of what the park has to offer.

This park is always packed. This is a very active type of park because there’s so many things to do here. Every type of outdoor sport can be found here. Also has a beautiful huge lake.
This is also a great place for fishing and you’ll find it packed with people fishing at times. One of my favorite places to go urban fishing. Friendly people to talk to and get tips. I’ve always caught at least one fish here! Maybe I’m just lucky though? Ha I say you go visit this park. Something for everyone. Unless your looking for peace and quite type of park…

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Thought I’d update w/​newer pics. Weekends pack in the multi-​cultural families that live in the area. Love how it’s a lot emptier during the week. Nightfall brings shadier-​looking individuals, however, and I’m less-​likely to stay past dusk :(
BTW, there is an area w/​in the park that I believe was poorly-​planned. I hope that city/​park officials see to its amendment soon.

Now that the weather is getting cooler I have been looking for an alternative to South Mountain to take my dog to at night. I Unilocaled Chavez park and only saw one review (thanks Kristin C.) but also noticed that it was very close to my house. I was amazed at how big this park is… It is larger than Kiwanis, which I thought had a huge man made lake. It took us about 25 minutes to circle the park and that was practically speed walking. As Kristin noted the amount of people at the park, for a weekday around 7 was overwhelming. I also could not believe how many people were fishing in the lake (Are the fish that swim around in a man made, stagnant, polluted filled lake really ok to eat)?
Overall this is a great outdoor park and there are plenty of sports and activities to partake in, every one I passed was booked solid with people. This is not the place to go if you are looking peace and quiet, but a family filled atmosphere and a frenzy of activity are sure to be found any time of the day.