4900 E 7th St, Long Beach, CA 90804
Hours: Monday-Sunday (Dusk to Dawn)
Restrooms? Yes
Playground Surface: Rubber but mostly sand
Parking Lot? Yes. There is a big dedicated parking lot with ample space just in front of the playground
Gated/Fenced? No
Overview
Recreation Park is a massive 211 acre park located in Long Beach. The park boasts multiple baseball fields, a dog park, a casting pond, a tennis center and both an 18 and 9 hole golf course. Additionally, the park features plenty of beautiful lawn space and an amazing, brand new, dinosaur themed playground that was reopened in June of 2022. Kids imaginations will run wild here as they can climb on and play with dinosaur statues or even dig to uncover fossils.
The attention to detail that was put into this playground is phenomenal. While the playground does get quite busy, it will undoubtedly keep kids occupied for hours on end.
Features
Dinosaur themed playground with a play structure for kids ages 2-5 years old and a main play structure for kids 5-12 years old
- 3 dinosaur statues including a T-Rex, Stegosaurus and Triceratops
- “Dino excavation zone” and digging area
- Main play structure (for kids ages 5-12 years old) has 3 slides including 2 tunnel slides and a race slide
- Lots of climbing and balancing apparatuses including a climbing net and spinner
- Smaller play structure (for kids 2-5 years old) has 3 slides
- Musical sensory toys such as bongo drums and xylophones
- 3 bench swings, 2 baby (bucket) swings and 1 accessible swing
Scout’s Story
As February fast approached, our family eagerly awaited news on our daughter, Scouts, most recent scans of her cancer. Finally, we were notified that the results were back. We were informed that very little had changed as far as the size of the tumors. The chemo had not shrunk them and things looked almost identical to the previous scans. The decision was made to move forward with a stronger cycle of chemo drugs. Scouts grandpa (my dad) had just arrived from Iraq, where he works, and we unfortunately had only been given a few days notice from Scouts oncology team that Scout would be being admitted that Monday to start her new regimen of chemo.
I felt particularly horrible that my dad wouldn’t be able to see Scout during his stay after having come all the way from Iraq. Surprisingly enough, after Scout was admitted her liver enzymes were very low and we were sent home for a week to see if they could bounce back before administering the chemo to her. While our overall goal was to push forward with Scouts treatment, we were nonetheless happy to now be able to spend some time with her grandpa.
Scout’s Day at the Park
The next morning, after finally leaving the hospital, we were excited to meet up with my dad. We suggested and my dad agreed upon meeting up at the newly opened dinosaur park in Long Beach. As the majority of the playground is sand and Scout has a central line in her chest, we had to limit the areas where she could play. We spent a good amount of time watching her climb and touch the dinosaur structures, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Meanwhile, the rest of our trip was pretty much spent letting Scout do one of her favorite things, swinging.
Having my dad back in the country and seeing him spend time with his granddaughter was certainly amazing. This would assuredly be our last day at the park, before what would inevitably be a lengthy hospital stay. While I wish I could have let Scout explore more, I am sure that that day will come and I can’t wait to be able to bring her back here when it does.
