Discovering North County San Diego’s Best Skateparks with a Kia Soul.

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was time–approximately 15 years or so ago–when San Diego didn’t have the concrete skateparks it has today.

The skate culture was there; it always has been. And in 1999, an unlikely city stepped up. Vista built the first modern day public concrete park in the county. The off-white slab featured light transitions, street elements–handrails, boxes, stairs, etc.–and fairly smooth concrete. While it is a far cry from what can be found in the city today, the park laid the foundation for what was to come. Plus, I had never seen anything like it before.

I grew up skating in the streets of Pennsylvania. The only transition I had ever skated was homemade launch ramps, which may as well have been nothing. I arrived one morning in Vista and watched the other skaters carve lines all through the park. They made rolling-in over the coping ledge look super easy. and I knew I had to go for it…don’t think…just go, dammit. So, I did, and my wheels got hung up on the coping, pitching me to the cement a few feet below. I tried once again…slam…one more time…slam…damn! My introduction to transition skating that day went about as well as a hipster trying to stage dive at a death metal show.

These days, though, North County San Diego boasts some of the best and newest skateparks in the county. And the crazy thing is, there are more on the way, as Carlsbad should be cutting the yellow ribbon on a new park later this year. To explore the skateparks of North County, I traded in the Mitsubishi Outlander we had used for the first part of the project for a Kia Soul.

The Soul has been on my radar for years, pretty much ever since it came onto the scene as a sort-of affordable version of a Mini-Cooper. Except for a period in my late teens when I desperately wanted a muscle car, in particular a Chevy Chevelle, I’ve always been more interested in function over power. (I’m one of the few people who thought the Pontiac Aztek was awesome.) And from what I could see, the Kia Soul fit the bill, at least that’s what I gleamed from all those hamster commercials anyways. How would it stack up in living color? Well, I’d find out soon enough.

Slimmed down and as stylish as ever, the Soul, which Kia classifies as an “Urban Hatchback,” had me at hello. Honestly, I’m glad Kia decided to classify the Soul, because I don’t think I could have. Personally, I feel like the Soul belongs in a class all its own, and that’s a very good thing. One of my favorite things about the Soul is that its style isn’t just regulated to its shimmering exterior. Those who say you can’t judge a book by its cover, obviously haven’t had the pleasure of sitting in a Soul yet. The inferno red paint job sparkled in the sun, and the 18 inch alloy wheels as well as the overall design of the Soul, which really is a cross between a hatchback and crossover, felt hip without being pretentious; a perfect introduction to what you’ll find within its comfortable 4-door frame.

Inside, the Soul felt roomier than I expected, much more so than my Hyundai Accent hatchback, for instance. I’d say the interior space was on par with Mitusubishi Outlander, the SUV crossover that we used during the first leg of the campaign. From the outside, however, the Soul appeared to have a smaller profile, making it ideal for city life, especially with the rear camera display. Just as the Cadillac did for our parent’s generation, the Soul seems to be at the forefront of bringing the latest car interior car tech–once known as bells and whistles–to our generation. Highlights for me included: the 8-inch navigation screen and in-dash infotainment system, Bluetooth connectivity, powered everything, temperature regulated seats and a panoramic sunroof.

The Soul felt great as I bounced from one skatepark to the next, through city streets, up freeways and down dusty back roads. And when it came to packing up our all of our luggage, the Soul handled that like a champ too. I guess my only complaint is with the vehicle’s gas mileage. While it is certainly not awful, 26 mpg city/highway combined, I feel like Kia could do better, especially since the Soul is running on a 4-cylinder engine. After seeing what Kia did with its Optima Hybrid, I feel like they could really shake up the hybrid landscape by bringing this technology into the already-innovative Soul.

For the project, I visited three skateparks with the Kia Soul, and I have laid them out below as a mini-guide. If you’re going to be traveling to San Diego, though, I’d recommend downloading our free Buggl travel guide: Skate Thru San Diego: 48 Hours in America’s Finest City. In it you’ll have offline access to all the San Diego skateparks I visited, plus recommendations for cheap eats and fun bars.

A Mini-Guide to San Diego’s Best Skateparks

Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA | Encinitas

A new street course was recently added to this already stellar North County San Diego skatepark. The street section now has rails, mini ramps, ledges, boxes a four stair-set. Beyond that, the Encinitas park features an 80 foot vert ramp from the 2003 X-Games and two of the county’s best pools. One is a backyard style kidney pool and the other is a multi-tiered clover bowl. Local pros, like Andy Mac and Mike McGill, often session the park.

Hours: Check website for operating times.

Cost: $10 for non-members

Alga Norte Skatepark | Carlsbad

After years having a sub-par park, Carlsbad finally has the skatepark it deserves. After all, it was Carlsbad that birthed the world’s first skatepark in 1976. Alga Norte, which opened on Dec. 31, 2013, is simply gorgeous. The street plaza looks like it was ripped from a city center and the bowl and pool are top notch. It’s reported that Andy McDonald himself gave a lot of input about the pool and large bowl to ensure they were both designed properly.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Cost: Free

Alex Road Skatepark | Oceanside

A few miles east of I-5 in Oceanside sits a small airfield, a defunct four screen drive-in and, now, one of the county’s best concrete skateparks. Designed by Grindline Skateparks and built by California Skateparks, The Alex Road Skatepark, which opened in 2013, features a pool and bowl, a street section consisting of banks, ledges and handrails and two snake runs, one of which leads into a clamshell that goes oververt slightly and features pool coping. There are tons of lines in this place and the transitions and concrete are near perfect. Cops do enforce helmet’s here.

Hours: 8 a.m. to Dusk

Cost: Free

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Disclosure: We had complimentary use of a 2014 Kia Soul with a Sun and Sound package for this project. The MSRP on the vehicle we test drove is $25,400.