On a recent spring day along the parkway, no beavers were visible, but plenty of ducks quacked in the sunshine. Some of the surrounding mountains still had white snowcaps. All looked near enough for folks to stretch out and touch in the clear mountain air. She likes to play with the kids. The centerpiece of the park is a gazebo bandstand where kids play whenever it isn't in use for a community concert or a speaker, a wedding or other nonprofit event.
Spectators recline on the lush lawn or sit at nearby picnic tables.
Members of the Community Integrated Work Program use the park as a stopover on daily walks. It's also close to the library, group leader Wendy Fonville of Coarse-gold said. Oakhurst Community Park Committee leader David Linn estimates that as many as 100 people per hour visit the park in good weather. But the real community payoff is the visitors, many speaking foreign languages, who park their rental cars near the library, grab their cameras and set out along the parkway. Indicators this year at the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau in Oakhurst show increased interest in mountain attractions.