This started as many things do- with a conversation I had with a young woman scanning my groceries at Trader Joe’s.

She casually asked if I had plans for the weekend, and I mentioned that it was my birthday and I was planning to take my son to the splash park at the rec center off Margarita Road. We’ve been to Temecula’s other splash park, but we hadn’t tried that one yet.

I told her I was bringing my bathing suit this time because, if I have to pay to get in, I at least want to do more than stand there and watch him have all the fun.

That’s when she told me that the splash park in Menifee was free.

I knew there had to be at least a few around here that were free like other parts of most parks.

I hadn’t even thought to look in Menifee.

So today, when it was still unbearably hot outside at 4:30 in the afternoon, I figured we were probably too late to make it to RCR rec center before it closed. Instead, I pulled up Google Maps to see what we could find in Menifee.

Except there was one small problem:

I couldn’t find the splash park.

All I could find was a Stater Bros. that, for some reason, had a picture of a splash park attached to it.

I couldn’t tell if there was a splash park behind Stater Bros.? Next to Stater Bros.? Did Stater Bros sponsor a local park (these are actual things I considered but thinking about it now seems highly unlikely, lol). Maybe the picture was attached to the wrong place? I had no idea.

Rather than spend the rest of the afternoon chasing my tail trying to figure it out, I picked the next splash park I saw on the map.

And that’s how we ended up at Canyon Hills Community Park in Lake Elsinore.

Oddly enough, it’s almost exactly the same distance from my house as RCR rec center in Temecula- just in the opposite direction.

I knew from the reviews that this was a big park, but it really is enormous.

It’s a beautiful park with plenty of parking, picnic tables, BBQs and space for cookouts. There are full-size sports fields, playgrounds and all kinds of room to spread out.

The splash pad definitely isn’t the main attraction here- and I completely understand why. This is a huge community park that happens to have a splash pad, rather than a splash park and community pool with a field, etc around it.

And I actually think it’s incredibly cool that the City of Lake Elsinore chose to include one, because of how ridiculously hot it gets here in the summer.

The splash area itself is pretty simple, but I liked the way it was set up. There’s cement seating surrounding it, and quite a bit of that seating is shaded. I had forgotten my hat, which normally would have been a problem on an afternoon this hot, but I was perfectly comfortable sitting there without it.

Unfortunately, we did have one issue.

There was a group of kids there who were a little rougher than what we're used to, and they weren't particularly nice to my son.

Maybe I misread the situation. Maybe we just happened to visit at the wrong time with the wrong group of kids. Either way, it put a little bit of a damper on the experience for me as his mom, and for that reason I don't think this particular splash pad will become one of our regular spots.

But we still had fun.

And I’m glad we went. The park itself is beautiful, the splash pad is a really nice addition, and I can absolutely see why families who live nearby would love having a place like this.

As for us?

I think we're going to keep looking for that mysterious splash park in Menifee- I wish Murrieta had a splash park, but what can you do.

Anyway, this is where I need your help:

Does anyone know what the deal is with the splash park that shows up in the photos for Stater Bros.?

If you know where it actually is- or know of another free splash park (that doesn’t close at 5:00pm) nearby please, please leave a comment.

There is apparently a splash park out there that Google and I are incapable of finding, and now I'm determined.

Once we find it, we'll add it to The Hot Springs How-To Stay Cool Guide.

Thanks for reading!