Enjoy Nature With Your Kids at These 4 Outdoor Spaces in the Compton Area
This story is part of a series of stories and education resources featuring Compton and its surrounding neighborhoods and communities.
With16 parks across the City of Compton — many equipped with community centers, swimming pools and water slides, gyms, a skate park, a par 3 golf course and the largest Dodgers Dreamfield — almost 60% of Compton residents live within half a mile of a park.
That percentage isslightly higher than the L.A. County average of 49%. There are at least six additional parks and green spaces right outside of the Compton city border. These spaces, such as Earvin "Magic" Johnson Park, are considered part of the Compton community because of their proximity and accessibility to Compton neighbors.
Over the past decade, new spaces have been created, and old ones have been renovated, offering a growing number of natural environments families can visit.
Here are four places that I have enjoyed as a parent that offer small and large natural spaces for young children to explore.
1. Earvin "Magic" Johnson Park
905 E. El Segundo Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90059
(323) 942-8457
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Park, or "Magic Johnson Park," is a gem of an outdoor space in the area.
Benefiting from a recent $83 million renovation, Magic Johnson Park is a 126-acre natural preserve, park and recreation space located along the border of Compton in the unincorporated Los Angeles County neighborhood of Willowbrook. The park includes an approximately 12-acre man-made lake separated into a natural preserve area and a general recreation area connected by a stream. The preserve attracts different species of waterfowl, including ducks and geese that naturally populate it. Catch and release fishing is allowed on the recreational side of the lake. There are several walking paths and plenty of green, open lawn space, as well as picnic tables, benches, a dog park, a playground, a small butterfly garden, an amphitheater/ wedding lawn and a splash pad that will be turned on in May. There is also a community center with several meeting rooms that residents can reserve for events.
Along the walking path, aromatic plants and herbs, such as black sage and lavender, and placards with affirmations in English and Spanish, promote calm and relaxation.
The park offers skyline views of downtown Compton, downtown Los Angeles, and nearby snow-capped mountains on clear days.
Through a collaboration with Snapchat and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), families can also see several augmented reality monuments around the park through the Snapchat app, including one that pays tribute to Biddy Mason's spiritual philosophy.
Upcoming Events/Programs
- During the after-school hours of 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the park also hosts the Every Body Plays program, offered throughout the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation system, where staff monitor play and lend recreational equipment for school age children.
- On March 5, 2022, LACMA is hosting a free abstract watercolor event for families and their little ones from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (the workshop will also be held on March 19, 2022, at Roy Campanella Park in Compton). LACMA also hosts similar free Saturday events for families in other L.A. parks. Details are available on the LACMA event calendar.
- The park will also host a free art camp for students 8-13 years old during spring break, from April 11 to 15, 2022. Registration for the limited-capacity art camp opens March 5, 2022, on the L.A. County Parks and Recreation activity registration website.
Magic Johnson Park is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
2. Compton Creek Natural Park
941 W Cressey Street, Compton, CA 90222
(424) 257-5277
The Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority and the Compton Unified School District (CUSD) partnered to turn a vacant lot located along Compton Creek behind Washington Elementary School into a 3-acre natural habitat and park space. Staffed primarily with local young adults, through a partnership between the CUSD and the LA Conservation Corps, Compton Creek Natural Park park offers an ideal quiet space for families with young children to enjoy a short walk or sit amid the sounds of chirping birds.
Families can also find fitness equipment, benches and picnic tables throughout the park, with plenty of parking in the adjacent lot. The short walking trail leads to recently installed raised beds available for community volunteers to garden. The community garden also has picnic tables and benches built from large stones. When the sprinklers run on hot days, you can find children gleefully running through them.
The park is open to volunteers interested in growing plants in the garden beds or offering programs to the community.
Upcoming Events/Programs
- The Compton Health Barand Self Love House host a free guided meditation circle every first Wednesday of the month at 10 a.m. in the park's amphitheater.
Compton Creek Natural Park is open daily from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
3. Washington Ave. Park
15614 S. Washington Avenue, East Rancho Dominguez, CA 90260
(310) 965-8608
Washington Ave. Park is a pocket park tucked between homes in East Rancho Dominguez, an unincorporated L.A. County neighborhood next to Compton. The park was built through a collaboration between the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department.
The small park offers a quiet outdoor space with flowers and plants for families with small children. It stretches from Washington Avenue to a closed gate on Atlantic Avenue. Its design allows adults to watch their little ones from most areas of the park.
Visitors can find toddler-sized play equipment, a reading lawn, a seating area, fitness equipment, a short walking path, an open lawn area, a restroom building and a splash pad that is turned on in the summer.
It's about two blocks east of the East Rancho Dominguez Library, making it ideal for families with little ones to spend time at both. They can visit the library and check out books, then have outdoor play or reading time at the pocket park.
There is no staff at the park, but it is maintained, opened and closed by staff at the nearby East Rancho Dominguez Park. While parking can be a challenge in the residential area on weekends, there is ample parking during weekdays, and the park's toddler-sized features make it worth visiting.
From March 1 to Oct. 31, 2022, the park is open from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
4. Alma Backyard Farms
801 E Redondo Beach Blvd, Compton 90220
Alma Backyard Farms is an urban farm with Compton and San Pedro locations that offers a farmer's market, urban agriculture job training and youth education. Its farm stand is usually open every first and third Sunday of the month from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at its Compton location (updated dates are available on their website or Instagram).
In addition to providing garden education and programming to the neighboring St. Albert The Great Elementary School, the farm offers Peas in a Pod, a hands-on garden education program for children ages 5 to 11, plus an onsite soccer field, benches and picnic tables.
During the hour-long Peas in a Pod sessions, which happen one Sunday per month at 11 a.m. for $5 per child, kids rotate between activity stations that highlight different aspects of farming and gardening. Children listen to garden songs and music, plant seeds or buds in pots, and water plants and vegetables in the garden's raised beds. At the end of the program, children receive square cards with images of different fruits and vegetables that they can exchange for fruits and vegetables from a miniature version of the farm stand.
The farm also regularly features live music from local musicians and youth bands and offers seasonal activities, such as free holiday photos with a professional photographer in the garden. Children can also have fun playing on a wooden swing attached to a tree in the corner of the farm.
Families can park on the street on Redondo Beach Boulevard.
More information is available on the Alma Backyard Farms website and Instagram.
