New Lake Skinner Water Park Set to Open

A newly built water playground at the Lake Skinner Recreation Area is scheduled to open just in time for summer.

The Splash Zone is expected to open sometime this month, according to Lake Skinner park rangers.

They turned on the water for an hour during the weekend for a test run. They are still working on some final maintenance issues, but they are shooting for an opening date with a ribbon-cutting ceremony sometime this month, they said.

The Splash Zone includes a large spray ground area with numerous water spouts in the form of a flower garden, and a separate, smaller water play area where water pours out of a faucet and comes up from spouts in the ground.

The Splash Zone is part of the new and improved Lake Skinner Recreation Area, which underwent a $7 million renovation in 2009 and 2010, courtesy of Riverside County, which owns the property. A new nature area and walking trails were among the improvements added over the past two years.

There is no extra fee for visitors to use the Splash Zone after they pay the day-use fee of $5 per vehicle or pay for a camping site. Lake Skinner is east of Temecula and Murrieta, at 37701 Warren Road in Winchester, 10 miles east of Temecula on Rancho California Road.

The park hosts the annual Temecula Balloon & Wine Festival, which is June 3-5 this year. Among the other improvements made to the park is a new outdoor concert stage for the festival. The amphitheater's outdoor area capacity is between 10,000 to 11,850 people, according to the Riverside County Regional Park and Open Space District.

The park also features three campgrounds; paved and unpaved roads for bike riding and hiking; fishing; and boat rentals year-round. The equestrian trail is closed each year from December through May and is expected to open again this month, according to the district.