10350 Fern Ave, Stanton, CA 90680
Hours: Monday-Sunday (6 AM-6:30 PM)
- Splash pad opened Memorial Day-Labor Day (12 PM-5 PM)
Restrooms? Yes. Restrooms are located adjacent to basketball court
Playground Surface: Rubber and mulch
Parking Lot? Yes, but only five parking spaces. Street parking is incredibly limited as well.
Gated/Fenced? Yes. The entire park is fenced with a gate that closes upon entering
Overview
Harry M. Dotson Park is one of our favorite parks to bring our daughter to, being partially due to the fact that it is located relatively close to our house. It is located in the city of Stanton, less than ten minutes from Knotts Berry Farm. The Adventure City theme park (geared towards younger kids) is just down the street as well and Disneyland is only about 15 minutes away. At only 1.3 acres it is a rather small park but offers a lot in the space that it does encompass.
The main attraction is the amazing pirate ship with its abundance of slides and different play areas.
In addition, it is a rather accessible playground with lots of ramps and walkways. There is also a neat fort themed playground structure adjacent to the pirate ship, which kids can run back and forth from. While the lawn area is not very expansive visitors will find lots of shaded spots under trees where they can rest or read a book. The park also features a popular splash pad that is open from Memorial Day to Labor day from 12 PM-5 PM. A half basketball court and a picnic shelter with tables are also on site. Families will love this park and it doesn’t get nearly the amount of traffic as other nearby parks.
Features
2 separate play structures, including a Pirate ship play structure (Kids Ages 5-12 Years Old) and a fort play structure (Kids Ages 2-5 Years Old) and a season splash pad
Pirate Ship Play Structure (Kids Ages 5-12 Years Old)
- Pirate ship with cannons and treasure chest
- Accessible ramps and walkways
- 6 slides including 2 spiral slides
- Small rock wall, snake ladder climber and chain cargo net
- Built in chairs underneath the pirate ship along with a chess board. Tons of space to run around beneath the ship
- Western themed (‘Wet Saloon”) splash pad with wagon that sprays water, cactus sprayer and a bucket that drops water.
- Opened 12 PM-5 PM Memorial Day to Labor Day
Other Amenities
- Covered picnic shelter with picnic tables and barbecue
- 1/2 basketball court and walking path. Some green lawn area and lots of trees providing shade
- Beach showers by the restrooms
Drawbacks
- No swings
- Very limited amount of parking (although, this does keep the park less crowded)
Scout’s Story
Harry M. Dotson Park is one of our favorite parks in close proximity to our house. I have brought our daughter, Scout, here numerous times since before she could walk. Scout loves the splash pad here and one of the biggest upsides to it is that during the super hot summer months it doesn’t typically get as crowded as other splash pads.
The one thing we always have to watch for is the big bucket that drops water and could cause an issue for small kids. At eleven months old our daughter was able to safely navigate the rest of the splash pad. Being so little and still testing out her new walking skills, swinging in the baby swings has always been one of Scouts favorite things, unfortunately there are no swings here for the little ones. All things considered this is a great park with multiple areas kids can concentrate on or bounce back and forth from one area to the next.
