Long known as Cerritos Regional Park, the park was renamed Don Knabe Community Regional Park…read moreNovember 30, 2016, in honor of former Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe. The 84-acre park has been serving the community for almost 50 years, providing tennis courts, a skatepark, playgrounds, exercise equipment, public pool, indoor courts, 2 fishing lakes, basketball courts, BBQ/picnic areas & the Cerritos Sports Complex.
For my recollection, my first acquaintance with Don Knabe Park came by way of participating in the Annual Youth Fishing Derby. Kids are given the opportunity to compete with other registrants to catch the largest catfish. Bait is provided, and fishing tackle is first come, first served basis.
As a teenager, I became more interested in fishing, and tried my hand at largemouth bass fishing w/ lures. On my first outing, a caught a decent-sized bass. I've seen much larger sized bass caught, too. The CA Dept. of Fish & Game stocks the lakes with rainbow trout (colder months) & channel catfish (warmer months). For trout, I've been lucky using small spoons, while catfish is simply bait & wait with smelly bait of choice.
For such a large park, the parking is absolutely free! Which, along with proximity, is why I frequent Don Knabe Park over others. One complaint I have, is there can be duck & other waterfowl landmines (aka poop) all over the concrete walkways next to the lakes, if the groundskeepers aren't timely at keeping up with the power washing to clear the walkways out.
Cerritos' own Central Park, Don Knabe Community Regional Park is an out of doors haven, for those looking to increase their daily steps, play their sport of choice, or wet a line and see if the fish are biting. It's a great resource which I take full advantage of, and hope to continue visiting for many more years to come.
Highly recommend!