DeForest Park — Attraction in Long Beach

This is a weirdly shaped park. You might think this is small but, if you walk it completely, you will see this is a long park with a hidden gem. The park is near the LA River with a few footpaths to walk on the riverbed. On the north side of the park, there is a parking lot, a restroom, pickleball courts, a pair of baseball field, and if you keep walking south you will find a fence of natural reserve (similar to a small swamp grass land) with a disabled walking paths. I did see bunnies, so don't know what other animals could be in there. Some wheelchairs may have a hard time on different walk paths and your dogs are also welcomed, if leashed and you pick up after them. Since it is close to the riverbed, you can find transients camping near and it may get flooded with heavy rain, there is a small lake (pond) with a wooden bridge that crosses the small river, that can show up with the rain. This is a nice park with a nice walk path (if you can continue into the fenced area). The big area is nice for kids to run and play but you should have adult supervision with kids in the natural reserve, although it is peaceful...

From 1966 I grew up in the second house from the corner, on the south side of Poppy st. My first experience with nature was at DeForest. Of course there was no park then. It was wetlands with ducks and skunks and tadpoles. In the early 60's my mom witnessed frogs in biblical proportions! She said there were so many frogs that you could NOT see the ground beneath them. 1978 I wrote my name in the wet concrete behind the south bathrooms on the east side of the base of the light pole. Billy, a friend of mine was so impressed that he wrote his name in the almost dry sidewalk above the tennis courts on the handball court side. Well, he got scared when someone pointed out he was the only 'Billy' around these parts. He quickly found a nail and scratched a couple of more lines in the cement, effectively camouflaging his real name. Now, whenever some one looks down and sees 'BALLY', with a long tailed 'Y,' etched into the concrete they have no reason what so ever to suspect my friend BILLY (with a long...

We had to travel to Deforest on business, our business completed it was lunch time. Where to eat ? We were driving east on Cty. V and the parking lot at DeForest Family Restaurant was full. So we made a quick turn around and stopped. We found a place to park and went inside. Even though they were very busy we were seated right away. Our smiling waitress was right their with our drinks and gave us some time to look over the menu. They have a GREAT selection plus Sr. specials every day. We both chose the pork ribs, potatoes, peas, soup. In no time our meals were their and they were delicious. Both meals were very generous and we were both full when we were finished. The waitress returned several times to make sure all was well with our meals. Convenient parking, lots of seating, friendly staff, quick service, delicious food and plenty of time to relax after our meal. All these will bring...