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Rio San Gabriel Park

3.4 (81 reviews)
Closed 6:00 am - 10:00 pm
Updated 2 months ago

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Crystal G.

How have I lived in Downey and I've never seen this park my whole life. My man said this is a park used to have his Little League practice at. Specifically remember when he was small walking up to his mom asking did the Dodgers win and very quickly she replied they lost. He recalls walking away looking at the bright green grass super sad. Dodger fans are so hard-core! Lol ! The place is Enormous . I'm super exciting about the dog park ! That's a win for me always! The grass is a little dead but I'm sure that's because of Covid. Plenty of space here!. They still have a working payphone that's amazing ! #RioSanGabrielPark #DowneyParkLife

Rio San Gabriel Park in Downey... Dog park is in the distance. (10/18/14)
Jenni M.

Rio San Gabriel Park is a small park on the east side of Downey, close to the I-605. On a Saturday morning at around 11, the parking lot and the park itself was filled at probably only 5% capacity. When we were there some guy was changing his oil in the parking lot which I thought was hilarious, but also lame. There is parking for maybe 100 cars on one side directly from Ardine St. off of Firestone Blvd. Or... there is another smaller lot for maybe at most 50 cars on the back side which is accessible from Cecilia St. Restrooms are located near the larger parking lot. I didn't check them out, though. The dog park is also on the opposite end of the larger parking lot, but you could easily get to it from any direction. Chances are your dog would appreciate the extra walk. There is a basketball court near the restrooms. There are two "ball diamonds" - or at least that's what the City of Downey refers to them as. I always thought the actual term "ball diamonds" was a bit more synonymous with baseball, however, these infields are mostly dirt with no inclined pitcher's mound which says to me that adult slow-pitch and youth fast-pitch softball is more likely played here. My family and I were really there for the playgrounds. There are two of them directly in front of the restrooms. They were okay. The sand could've been just a little nicer and cleaner. With a dog park nearby I was just hoping our daughter wouldn't find any "surprises" in the sand, and she didn't. The sun has really faded out the colors on the playground equipment, but it's still sturdy. Not as many trees for shade at this park as I had hoped for. There was only one "picnic shelter" that I saw, closer to the dog park. "The picnic shelters and ball diamonds are available for rent on Saturday and Sunday," but you must be a Downey resident as this park is maintained by the City. For more info, go to http://www.downeyca.org/services/cs/park_locations/rio.asp. PROS - decent playground for smaller kids - restrooms are available - fenced in dog park (everyone I saw with dogs had theirs on leashes at least until they reached the dog park) - not as clean as it should be, but they do try to tidy it up here - the San Gabriel River & the San Gabriel River Mid Trail (bike path) are close - parking & entry are FREE! CONS - small park - parking could potentially be tight if crowded - homeless people sleep here (this doesn't necessarily bother me...) Review #303

Omar F.

First time visiting the dog park area and definitely not my last time. I like that there are two sections fenced off for small dogs and big dogs so you don't have to worry about your small dog being attacked by a bigger dog. I came later in the evening so there was only a few small dogs but the dog owners did tell me that lots of dogs usually are here in the early evening hours. The dog park does need a little tlc, some areas did have missing grass. I do wish the lamp post would be on at night to better aluminate the area. Overall excellent dog park visit and will definitely be back with my puppy.

Andrew W.

This place is great! seeing that i come from a city where dogs are banished from all public parks, it is nice to see a park that not only allows dogs onto the premises, but also encourages them to use the designated fenced off area that the dogs can run around in without their leashes. if you have a small or big dog, bring him/her to this great dog park and let them enjoy the outdoors!

Entrance signage.
John S.

The 2016 Yelp 500 - Review #162: I like this park. My visit was early in the morning. It is simple to get to, yet not on the main drag. Much has been written already about it here. DOG PARK: My experience was OK. I ate my breakfast bar and had a hot vanilla as I walked toward and visited the dog park. Th big dog area is mostly sand and the small dog area is still quite grassy. Where I am from they deliver city generated wood chips and cover the entire park surface with them. This has it so the sand/dirt doesn't generate so much dust when the frolicking begins. I will say that they had both hand sanitizer and poop bags available as you enter. Nice job! THE GROUND THIS SETS ON: The fields were being mowed and I spoke with the man tending to them. He said the small tunnel (about the diameter of a can of soup, maybe smaller) that I looked into and watched dirt being flung out of, was caused by gophers. I have never seen a gopher that was that small. I thought it might have been some sort of ground squirrel, like I watched in Wilderness park run in and out of tunnels there. Keep and eye on your children. The last thing anyone wants is to find out that your child has been bitten due to his or her curiosity. The maintenance man also said that this entire park used to be a dump. He added the lack of levelness of the fields is due to the dump beneath the park continuing to settle. RESTROOMS AND AN ACTIVITY CENTER: I found the rest rooms near a community building for kids activities (a whole set of rules are posted for all to see in the window). This brought back fond summer memories of my childhood... drawing, learning about plants and animals, playing Frisbee, weaving key chains and playing knock-hockey. NOTE: There were some other buildings across the field that I didn't walk over to. I am not sure what they are. Could that be an addition restroom facility? SPIED AROUND THE PARK: Signs and rules were aplenty. From the moment you enter until you leave. There is no shortage of rules to abide. Whihc is good. One of the things I found at the activities center was a list of what you need to to do to reserve a shelter. This looked to be a nice place to have a gathering especially with all the parking available GIMME SHELTER: As just mentioned. There is at least two shelters here that you can rent out (Trying to recall if there were more). I looked at one near the dog park and trail access. There is a BBQ grill there, tried to rotate it without much luck. I didn't see bees flying around (where I live they like to make nests under the roofs of the shelters) but, there were plenty due to the flowers. So if you are allergic take note. HOOPS: I walked over to the basketball court... It seemed to be in good condition. Lines painted backboards and hoops intact. CHILDREN'S PLAY AREA: The children's playground was pretty big. Not being a reviewer of children's playgrounds I will say from my own memories, on the east coast - 35-40 years ago, that this place is HUGE by comparison. TRAIL ACCESS: I only utilized one of what I will guess is two access gates. The one I went through had a steal bar bridging the opening at about shin height. Hmm... What has the parks department learned that now warrants this installation? Perhaps it is to keep bicycles and motor scooters from entering the park and killing off the grass? Small child/toddler deterrent? I am not sure but, do use caution and step over it and not on it (especially when it is wet out), if you are heading to or from the river trail. FLOWERS: There were "planty" here (sorry... I couldn't resist... lol "plenty" Hopefully that wasn't so funny that you wet your plants :-) DOH!). I read other reviews of the park. I want to touch upon one in particular. Jenni M said some guy was changing his oil there (Yes Jenni, I agree lame). I noticed that there were no fewer than 50 cars in the parking lot when I arrived. This was odd because, besides me (for the 45-60 minutes I was there) there was a woman running around the field (left before I did), then came a maintenance man who drove a truck on the field with his lawn mower in tow... A woman with her dog who went to the dog park (arrived after me & left before I did). an older gentleman with a cane who walked in as i was leaving. One guy who came in parked (had breakfast maybe?) and left. A girl on a long board who just passed through and two guys with a football who also transited. If this isn't being used as a park and ride (might be) and the locals aren't using it for overflow parking (seems to be plenty of parking in that neighborhood), then could it be that a automobile servicing facility could be using the lot? If not, why would you change oil in the park? What do you do with the oil? Does the adjacent facility dispose of the oil for people? Lots of questions.

DIRT EVERYWHERE!! This not what it should look like for the dogs.
Helen M.

Checked this park out for the first time today.. I was excited to find one local but I was disappointed when I got there. The small dog section was okay, my little dog liked it. But the larger dog section was horrible and there was no grass! Dirt flies everywhere with the dogs. I don't think my larger dogs enjoyed it much cause they only sniffed around. They liked the walk there more than actually being in the dirt pit. Don't think I'll be returning here..

Peter F.

WORTH A TRIP I really like this park. It's one of the cleaner ones where people clean up after their dogs. It's clean, spacious, and if u go early, pretty empty.

Shana H.

I like this park .. the big tree next to dog park has great energy! We are going to have free meditation classes on tuesdays during august and september

This is a view from the back if the dog park

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Nice and clean, lots of parking. Restrooms are clean. Seems pretty safe. No bums at park. Plenty of lights in the evening.

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Review Highlights - Rio San Gabriel Park

All in all; clean / open / large part for small dogs / grass / not crowded / plenty of parking / inviting / and my dog ran with the pack here so auto 5 stars.

Mentioned in 2 reviews

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4.4(369 reviews)
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Sprawling park has a Paul Revere theme, with several covered bridges, a harbor with a pretend tall…read moremast boat, the north church tower, all on an island surrounded by a moat of water. Water features attract a lot of fowl including Canadian geese, mallard ducks and so many more duck species, plus of course seagulls and crows, pigeons, and a large number of turtles. Very fun for kids to explore. Slides and climbing are built into the structures. Adjacent to neighborhoods so lots of street parking, as well as a separate parking lot. Playground equipment geared for the 3 to 12 year old kids. Lots of covered sheds and picnic tables- those are available for Cerritos residents to rent, but otherwise are free for use. Also has grills if you want to barbecue. Clean bathrooms, onsite toddler pre-K programs offered. Lots of well maintained grassy areas and shady trees.

Came here with the kids and honestly this park is really nice. Super clean, spacious, and a lot to…read moredo. The playground area is great for all ages my kids had a blast and didn't want to leave. The lake area with the little church in the background is a nice touch, makes it feel more relaxing and not just your typical park. Good walking paths, plenty of grass, and nice spots to just sit and chill. Everything felt well kept and safe, which is a big plus when you're bringing kids. Plenty of room so it didn't feel overcrowded either. Only thing watch out for duck poop on the walkways and grass, especially near the water. Overall, great spot for families. Definitely coming back

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Temple Park - Temple Park in Downey 9.17.15

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4.7(3 reviews)
2.9 mi

Temple Park is located in west Downey, just north of Los Amigos Golf Course…read more Accessible via Stewart and Gray Road, it sits in the middle of a nice neighborhood. It's a very small park and playground area with a couple of bbq pits and several picnic tables. The Park was originally dedicated in 1968 (according to http://www.thedowneypatriot.com/) and was said to have had a pretty cool spiral slide... too bad I never had the chance to see it. At any rate, a new playground was put in and the park was re-dedicated in July of this year ('15). There are two swings for older ages. The only way your baby or younger toddler will get to swing is if you hold them in your lap. No baby swings are available. The area with the slide is nice, but I can't imagine kids any older than preschool really wanting to spend much time here unless you brought a frisbee or something. Both of these area have wood chips (bark mulch) instead of sand or rubber mulch, etc. as the surfacing. If the entire area was fenced in, I might like it better when I have both of our girls to myself. It's not a real busy area with traffic, but there were a few cars moving in and out while we were there on 9/17/15. It was around 11:30 a.m. when we went there and not a soul was in sight. Also, I really wish that the City would develop a better way to contain trash that was probably placed into the open barrel trash cans but made its way back onto the playground and lushes grass areas. Fair amount of street parking available. Review #397 Yelp challenge 78/100

I love this park! Small, yet awesome! Very hidden and private, just how I like it! I call it a…read morehidden gem

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Temple Park - Bbq pits & nice picnic tables... Lush grass

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Rio San Gabriel Park - parks - Updated May 2026

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