2271 Crescent Ave, Anaheim, CA 92801
Hours: Monday-Sunday (5 AM-10:30 PM)
Restrooms? Yes. Located halfway between the ball fields and the playground
Playground Surface: Mulch and concrete
Parking Lot? Yes. Big dedicated parking lot behind ball fields away from the playground.
Gated/Fenced? No
Overview
Opened in 1959, Brookhurst park is a huge, nearly 30 acre park with a super cool and unique playground. Upon walking up to the playground you will feel as though you have arrived on the moon. Imaginations will run wild here and kids will get a bit of a different experience than they would from a typical playground. Moon Craters and rock formations and paths, leading every which way, will await them.
In addition to the phenomenal playground, the park boasts tons of ball fields for sports of all types and a skate park as well as a community center. Furthermore, the park is less than ten minutes from Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm. Although a very neat park, there does seem to be a little bit of an issue here with the homeless hanging out in a lot of areas. However, this is certainly a park worth checking out.
Features
- Very unique moonscape themed playground
- Concrete walkways with caves and bridges that weave around the playground
- 4 Bench swings and 2 baby (bucket) swings
- Monkey bars, rockwall and motorcyle and other spring riders
Other Amenities
- Skate park, baseball/softball and soccer/football fields. Basketball court and tons of green lawn space.
- Community Center on site as well
- Barbecues and picnic areas
Scout’s Story
Brookhurst Park is another park that I came upon by chance. My wife and I along with our daughter Scout happened to be staying at the nearby Hampton Inn and were looking for somewhere for Scout to run around for a bit. I have written so many times about how visiting all the places that we do is so important to us and how we truly cherish all of these opportunities and memories. Some things are very easy for me to write about and some, like this, are unfathomably hard. As we visited Brookhurst Park we noticed that our daughter, Scout, wasn’t wanting to play, which is significantly unusual. A few things seemed to be off recently with Scout and generally speaking, she just wasn’t acting like her normal, exuberant and joyful self.
Scout did run around for a little bit but then just laid down and didn’t want to continue. Upon arriving back at the hotel Scout seemed to perk up a little bit and seemed a little more normal. However, something just didn’t seem right. My wife would take her to the emergency room later that night, which would be the second visit within a few days. They were sent home with no answers and my wife feeling like they were making her seem like an overbearing, new mother. A few days later we would end up back at the emergency room again and this time we would finally receive some answers.
On August 18th, at 15 months old Scout would be diagnosed with stage 4 Cancer (germ cell tumors in her liver and rectum). Looking back on it, I feel horrible not realizing that something more serious was going on, especially knowing that my wife was super concerned. I chalked it up to Scout just being a kid and having a virus or something. Within a matter of days our lives would forever change.
I want our daughter to look back at all these stories one day and to know her whole story. Although it is tough writing this and rehashing these moments, we are energetic and hopeful for the outcome of Scout’s treatment. Once this is behind us, I hope to return here and make better memories and to try to put a band-aid on the old ones.
August 11, 2022
