A sprawling 710-acre park at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains has emerged from a years-long renovation with a restored swimming lagoon, a new pickleball court, upgraded basketball courts, and overhauled campgrounds. Riverside County supervisors authorized a final payment for the Lake Cahuilla modernization project, approving a $497,426 disbursal to Santa Ana-based KYA Services on a 4-0 vote, with Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez absent from the vote.
The renovations at Lake Cahuilla Veterans Regional Park, which began in December 2024, carried a reported cost of $8.9 million and were funded with remaining 2021 American Rescue Plan Act dollars, according to MyNewsLA.com. Riverside County’s total share of that federal relief package was estimated at $479 million, according to a Board of Supervisors submittal, which notes the county received the money in two installments of $239,937,299 — one in May 2021 and the second in June 2022. A separate county document outlines Riverside County’s ARPA plan, per Riverside County’s ARPA project list.
What Changed at the Park
The project list is extensive. Crews replaced campground shade structures, added picnic ground seats, made landscaping enhancements, and replaced fire pits and RV pedestals, per the reporting from MyNewsLA.com. Roads leading into the park were repaired and the parking lots were resurfaced as part of the same push.
The county’s Parks & Open Space District said the project improved campground and playground areas, day-use amenities, and access to clean and safe outdoor recreation, according to a county statement cited in that reporting. KESQ, which has tracked the project’s rollout over the past year, reported separately that the work included a new amphitheater, a repaired swimming pool, a pickleball court, sand volleyball and basketball courts, along with new fishing-area shelters and park beautification, according to KESQ.
Conflicting Price Tags Across Reports
The project’s overall value has been described differently across coverage. KESQ reported in October that the work amounted to a $12 million enhancement project, while the station’s November report described it as a $15 million revitalization — figures that sit apart from the $8.9 million renovation cost and the $10,864,513 allocation cited elsewhere. Those discrepancies have not been reconciled across the available reporting, and this article presents each figure as reported rather than picking one as definitive.
Timing has also varied in prior coverage. Back in December 2024, the station reported that roughly $11 million worth of park improvements had begun that August and were expected to wrap by late summer or early fall of 2025, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. By October, the station said officials were anticipating the park’s first pool and splash pad in nearly a decade to open in early 2026 — the first such amenity at the site in years.
A Park With Deep Local Roots
Lake Cahuilla Veterans Regional Park includes a 135-acre lake stocked with aquatic life, where fishing is permitted, along with hiking, equestrian and biking trails across the property. Riverside County leases the park acreage from the Coachella Valley Water District and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a relationship that stretches back to 1971, according to KESQ’s earlier coverage. The county has leased the recreation facility from those two agencies continuously since then.
That arrangement was extended in 2024, when the park’s lease was renewed for another 30-year term. The county said at the time that new agreements approved by the Board of Supervisors would keep the park operational for three more decades, a move KESQ framed as securing the site’s long-term future even as the renovation work continued on the ground.
