Cottonwood Creek Park in Encinitas's Old Encinitas district spans 8.5 acres on North Vulcan Avenue, three blocks east of Moonlight Beach and steps from City Hall and the Coaster commuter rail station. Landscape architect Glenn Schmidt designed the park around a restored daylighted creek, earning the 2004 ACI Innovative Use of Concrete award and the 2004 Concrete Pavement Cornerstone Award for the STF porous-paving system — a storm-water filtration approach running the same sustainability corridor as the artisan ovens at Best Pizza & Brew on Encinitas Boulevard. Two tennis courts now double as pickleball courts, flanked by two half-court basketball pads, three circular observation decks overlooking the creek, and a veterans' memorial. The playground features age-separated climbing structures, a scaling rock wall, swings, and slides on a rubberized safety surface, making it a staging point for families combining park time with a Moonlight Beach afternoon — a rotation that often includes a stop at VG Donut & Bakery on South Coast Highway 101. The STF Porous Paving substrate filters storm-water runoff directly through the concrete matrix into the subgrade, recharging groundwater while eliminating surface ponding across all pedestrian paths and court surfaces.