1920 Cumbre Dr, San Pedro, CA 90732
Hours: Monday-Sunday (Dusk to Dawn)
Restrooms? Yes. Located behind the small office building
Playground Surface: Rubber and sand
Parking Lot? Yes. There is a big dedicated parking lot at the bottom of the playground
Gated/Fenced? Partially fenced
Overview
Bogdanovich Recreation Center is an amazing 20 acre park that offers sprawling views of the Port of Los Angeles below. Located in San Pedro, the park is home to a fantastic, nautical themed playground with the focal point being a spectacular lighthouse that kids can climb up the winding staircase to access the main slide.
The playground is equipped with tons of different equipment, as well as a pirate ship area for toddlers. A grassy picnic area is close to the playground and multiple sports fields are available. Additionally, there are a few family friendly hiking trails within the park. A recreation center is also on sight, with basketball courts among other recreational tools inside. A quick ten minute drive leads to the awesome and free admission, Cabrillo Aquarium that families will love as well.
Features
2 separate playground structures including a lighthouse play structure (ages 5-12 years old) and a pirate ship play structure (ages 2-5 years old)
Nautical Themed Playground (Kids Ages 5-12 Years Old)
- Nautical themed playground with a lighthouse
- Lighthouse structure with waves carved into the bottom along with carved animals for the kids to find when they are exploring the structure
- 4 slides including a race slide
- Ramps and walkways, ring climbing ladder, arch climbing ladder and many other climbing ladders as well
- Tons of climbing apparatuses, climbing nets, monkey bars and swinging bridge
- Rock caves and floating pedestal step climbers
- Circle swing, 4 bench swings and 2 baby (bucket) swings
Pirate Ship Play Structure (Kids Ages 2-5 Years Old)
- Pirate ship with cannons and 2 slides
- Giant Whale with climbing holds on it
Other Amenities
- Deane Dana Nature Center is a 3 minute walk from the playground and worth checking out. Younger kids will love it (I would have taken my daughter but I was unaware of its existence when I visited.
- Hiking trails (all very easy)
- Soccer and Baseball Fields and basketball courts inside the rec center
- Small grassy picnic area adjacent to the playground
- Recreation Center on site as well
Scout’s Story
As Christmas and the new year had just passed, my wife and I were still processing the events from the past few months and looking forward to brighter days in the new year. Our daughter, Scout, was now nearing her fifth month of her current fight with stage 4 cancer. It has become a constant struggle to find the balance between getting her outside to play, while at the same time preventing her from getting sick. Scout was not currently receiving chemotherapy treatments and we were awaiting scans on her tumors to decide our next steps in treatment. We were presently at a bit of a standstill.
Surprisingly, my cousin had informed me that she would be in town and we decided to make the drive towards San Pedro to meet up with her and spend the day doing some fun things for Scout. The plan was to stop at a few parks before heading to the amazing Cabrillo Aquarium. Bogdanovich Recreation Center was our second stop of the day. Scout ran around for almost an hour while we simultaneously played with her and chatted with my cousin. The winding staircase to the top of the lighthouse was a huge hit with Scout.
She climbed inside time and time again and loved feeling the textured animals that were carved into the structures.
As the older kids ran around, Scout ran after them, as if they were chasing her, having no idea that they obviously wanted nothing to do with a 20 month old.
One of the many struggles of battling this disease has been watching Scout not be able to play with other kids. This has been something that we subsequently have had to do in order to keep her safe and prevent her from catching an illness that her body would not be able to fight off. However, on this day there were two other toddlers that were attempting to play with her and we decided to let her go.
Something so basic, had become overall foreign to us. We watched as Scout ran, chased and played with the other two toddlers. It was indeed a delight to see her smiling, giggling and playing with other kids.
Our Minds had previously been in such a state of fear and worry, that this was a nice opportunity for us to just enjoy the moment of happiness. We had a tremendous time at the park and this was undeniably a day that we greatly needed. We will forever be grateful for these moments and memories and we look forward to the many more that we will undoubtedly create moving forward.
January 13, 2023
