After a long 9 hours walking around Mexico City, I went from one end of Mexico City (the east) to the other end (the west) to check out a park that is well-reviewed online: Park Bicentenario.
It’s located right next to Metro Refineria.
As I wrote about here, I started a long walk yesterday of about 9 hours checking out a museum, a zoo and various parks.
And, right before heading towards Metro Refineria, I got onto Metro Bosque de Aragon.
From there, I got off on Metro Oceania.
Then I took the ride to Metro Instituto del Petroleo.
Which then I rode all the way to Metro El Rosario.
At El Rosario, there was some technical issue with the first train I got on and we all had to get off for another train.
It was 4:20 PM at this point.
Initially, I thought I might miss Park Bicentenario because I thought it would close at 5 PM.
Anyway, I carried along and eventually got to Metro Refineria by 4:30 PM.
And, thankfully, the park is literally just outside Metro Refineria.
On top of that, I was even luckier to learn that the park technically closes at 5:30 PM.
So I got a full hour instead of just 30 minutes.
Anyway, what was the park like?
Arriving to Park Bicentenario
Here a photo of the entrance to the park.
There was some security guard checking the bags of everyone coming in.
Right away, I noticed how popular this park was with so many people around.
All of them seemingly Mexican.
Didn’t see a single other foreigner here.
Similar to Bosque de San Juan de Aragon as I wrote here, the park seemed a tiny bit underrated among foreigners for whatever reason.
Likely because it’s located in an area that foreigners haven’t popularized as much.
Anyway, I kept walking and noticed some group of young men doing some dance competition in this area here.
And here’s more photos of what I saw going forward.
Eventually, I found myself at my favorite part of the park.
The Lake
While I’m not really the type of person to go to the beach, I do miss water sometimes.
Growing up in a small town next to the Mississippi River, I miss seeing the water every so often.
Here in Mexico City, despite being founded on a lake, you don’t see much water in this city obviously since that lake is long gone.
And we’re not anywhere close to the beach.
So one of the reasons why I like this park and also Bosque de Aragon is because of the amount of water each has.
Though, between the two, I think the lake at Park Bicentenario is a little bit better because it looks bluer and a little bit less dirty overall.
Plus, you have more comfortable park benches around the area to enjoy the lake with.
Anyway, here’s photos of the lake, including some birds I saw around the area.
Given that Day of the Dead was only recently (an important Mexican holiday), you have these skulls too.
I’m not sure if these skulls are a permanent feature to the park since it’s my first time here but they definitely should be kept!
I feel like it adds a nice touch to the area.
Also, as a side point, you have this paintball gun place right next to it as you can see here.
That’s pretty cool.
Another point to mention is that this park has plenty of food options.
Smart!
Anyway, I enjoyed sitting down at the lake for a tiny bit before carrying onwards.
The Rest of the Park
As I kept walking, I soon found this spot here for people to ride their bikes or whatever.
Funny enough, they were playingorn.
A band I used to listen to in Middle School.
Specifically this song here.
Made me think I was 13 again.
Anyway, here’s plenty of other photos of this park before I reached the end of it.
Checking Out a Few More Spots
There were a few spots I skipped at the park initially because, as I said, I thought I only had 30 minutes to enjoy this place when I soon found out that I had a whole hour.
Actually more than an hour because I left at around 5:30 PM and the security wasn’t super stressed about kicking people out just yet.
But, as I said, there were a few spots I skipped initially that I made sure to check out given the time I had.
First, you have this little space here with all of the fish swimming around.
Then there’s this building here and the green space around it.
What’s the inside look like?
Here's some photos.
It’s small but looks pretty cool.
Then I walked around the building taking more photos that you can see here.
At any rate, what else is there to say?
Final Verdict: Worth it?
There’s a few things to mention.
First, it seemed family friendly.
Second, I didn’t see too many street hustlers asking for money.
I think the security guard at the front was checking the bags of everyone to make sure we aren’t here to sell shit.
Though I did have some teenage looking girl ask me if I could buy some candy she was selling.
But she wasn’t aggressive about it.
Overall, I didn’t feel overly pressured by anyone wanting money.
Which, for those who live in Mexico City, is a nice touch!
When you can find a park to relax at without being overly pressured, that’s pretty cool and much appreciated.
Third, you had some auditorium in the area. It was closed but I’m sure there’s cool events held there every so often for those curious. Never been inside but I’m sure it’s cool.
Fourth, plenty of physical activity all around!
People dancing, those riding bikes or skateboards, some working out, others playing soccer, etc.
I almost feel like this park needs a gym inside it somewhere near the entrance to add to the “physical education” theme of this park.
Lots of people getting physically active compared to other parks I’ve seen in the city.
Fifth, plenty of young birds in love!
It’s an observation that some gringos have in Latin America upon arrival here.
That parks are full of young birds literally only a few steps away from full on fucking with how much they are making out on the grass.
The first time I noticed that was in a Bolivian city called Cochabamba where this small park between where I lived and worked usually had young couples like that at around the afternoon.
Granted, that’s exaggerated but I’ve had times walking around Latin America where you have the occasional park here and there like that.
At this park, you did have plenty of young folks lying on the grass together…
With their clothes on!
Sixth, I think there’s a lot of value at this park for foreigners!
Similar to Bosque de Aragon, it seems highly underrated among foreigners who would shit their panties at the thought of leaving touristy areas.
In fact, among all of the parks I’ve seen in Mexico, it’s definitely one of my favorites now.
Which goes to the question of the this section – worth visiting?
If you like green spaces, I’d absolutely say so.
My favorite part, as I said, was the lake.
You live in Mexico City long enough and you do miss the water eventually.
And it looked clean!
Plus, the park had plenty of food options.
A lot of comfortable benches.
It looked well maintained.
And it had a certain vibrancy that made it feel alive and active without any overly strong tourism that can encourage too many hustlers to come in to weaken the experience.
And with a free entrance to boot?
It’s definitely worth a visit.
It was nice enough that, similar to Bosque de Aragon, it made me want to live in the area so I can enjoy this park more frequently.
Given how much time I give myself to Mexico City before traveling Latin America, I very well might!
Don’t be surprised if I end up moving by Metro Refineria someday for a brief stay.
Definitely on my radar.
Finally, as I exited the park, I found this tiny bit here.
Seemed more like “suggestions” than actual rules enforced.
I doubt they were actually tracking how many people were inside given how large the park is.
Plus, while I walked in with the face mask since the guard at the front asked for it, I soon took it off as I realized they weren’t enforcing it inside.
I’d say that maybe 30% to 40% of the people inside were not wearing a mask.
It finally felt like a mask free heaven compared to other parts of the city.
No judgement for taking in fresh air nor any enforcement on it.
Then you have other funny things about that sign.
“Only sport activities of individual or couple” despite plenty of people playing soccer as a group.
“No handshaking or kiss greetings” even though plenty of couples were making out on the grass.
“No meetings of more than 2 people” despite plenty of groups in the area of more than 2 people sitting together, dancing, etc.
“Wash the hands.” Where? I didn’t see any sinks.
“Silence.” Even though the dancing group was playing music and the biking group had Korn playing.
Also, silence?
Really?
Let us enjoy our music. Shit.
Thankfully, the rule enforcers were too limp dick to enforce any of that.
Anyway, let’s reiterate the final verdict.
Worth it?
Absolutely.
Definitely an underrated park that is worth a visit.
As I said, was nice enough that it made me even contemplate living in the area for a tiny bit.
It seemed like both a nice area (with a nice lake!) to either relax or take dates too.
Anyway, that’s all I got to say.
After this park visit, I had some street gorditas and took the metro back to El Rosario here.
Before going from there towards my way home and ended the night with some brandy before going to bed.
Enjoy!
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Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt