By Ken Striplin
Santa Clarita City Manager
Two of the main reasons why people choose to live and raise their family in Santa Clarita are the proximity to nature and ample opportunities to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. With 35 City parks and seemingly endless miles of trails in the vast open space that surrounds Santa Clarita, you are never far away from your next adventure.
Since the start of the pandemic, many recreational venues have either closed or been limited in what they can offer. This has led to more residents in Santa Clarita visiting their nearby park or exploring trails on the weekends — many for the first time. To encourage families to spend more time together outdoors, and to enhance the experience for the whole family, the City of Santa Clarita launched the Agents of Discovery program.
Agents of Discovery is a free mobile game that combines exercise and nature with education and uses augmented reality to make the world around you come alive. As you challenge yourself with various missions, you have the chance to earn a variety of prizes while also learning more about the great outdoors. Missions in Santa Clarita rotate periodically so there is always something new for you and your family to discover.
Currently, there are two different active missions in the City. The first takes place at Quigley Canyon Open Space, which you can access from Cleardale Street in the Placerita Canyon area. The Quigley Canyon mission focuses on hiking safety and nature, providing lessons and trivia for Agents as you hike your way through the open space.
Also happening now is a mission centered on NFL trivia at Central Park, just in time for this weekend’s big game! You’ll hike portions of the Central Park trail while putting your football knowledge to the test.
The great thing about Agents of Discovery is that the fun continues no matter where you are. Santa Clarita’s missions are part of a larger SoCal Explorer program, which challenges Agents to complete a number of tasks by visiting various locations in Southern California to be entered to win even more.
The Agents of Discovery program is just one way that individuals and families can stay active and involved in Santa Clarita. If you have not joined the fun yet, I encourage you to visit santa-clarita.com/ AgentsOfDiscovery and download the app to your iOS or Android device. You can also connect with the City’s Youth Sports division on Facebook (Santa Clarita Youth Sports) or visit our staff located at Central Park near the softball fields to learn more about these missions and ones planned for the future.
See you out on the trails!
Ken Striplin can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in his column are those of the City and do not necessarily reflect those of The Signal. ï‚›
