A Walk in Hulda Crooks Park

LOMA LINDA >> Hulda Crooks Public Park is the largest park in the City of Loma Linda. It is 19.6 acres of bright green grass and shady trees. The park is enclosed by a tall but not unsightly black-barred fence, and the large hills that form it are perfect for kids to roll and run down. The park includes a playground right next to the restrooms and a drinking fountain. Also included in the park are a sand volleyball court, a basketball court, two tennis courts, BBQ pits, benches and a large grassy area for running around or playing other sports, such as soccer or football. The park itself rests right beside the winding south hills that it shares with its neighboring cities. Surrounded by clean neighborhoods and a wide netting of crisscrossing trails, Hulda Crooks is in the perfect place for a long day out at the park. Hulda Crooks Park got its name from a long-time Loma Linda resident and avid outdoorswoman, Hulda Hoehn Crooks, born May 19, 1896. She was an American mountaineer, and between the ages of 65 and 91, she scaled the 14,505 ft. trail to the top of Mt. Whitney, the highest summit in the contiguous United States, 23 times. To honor the feat, Congress renamed Day Needle, one of the peaks in the area of Mt. Whitney, Crooks Peak in 1990. She became the oldest woman to completely ascend Mt. Fuji in Japan at the age of 91 in 1987 and hiked, in segments over a course of five years, the 212-mile John Muir Trail in the High Sierras. She wrote a book called “Conquering Life’s Mountains,” which can be found and purchased on Amazon. Affectionately known as “Grandma Whitney," Crooks was a Seventh-day Adventist and often spent time out in the community with children, teaching them about nature and encouraging them to stay active. In 1991, the City of Loma Linda dedicated Hulda Crooks Park and forever ingrained her memory into the Loma Linda community, six years before she died at the age of 101 in 1997. Hulda Crooks Park remains one of the best kept parks in the City of Loma Linda and brings in hundreds of visitors each month, including large groups like Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their events and family reunions.