Joe Sampson Park is an 8-acre park located in Rialto, California. With its two massive playgrounds, shade shelters with picnic tables, 2 basketball courts, a grass field, and workout stations, it is a popular place for locals to spend time. Follow along as we talk about all these things and more!
The video above by Richard Poirier shows the one of the huge playgrounds!
Before we get started, the park was named after Joe Sampson, the Rialto city clerk for two decades. He was a U.S. Air Force serviceman and a city councilman in Rialto. The grand opening was on February 23, 2019, 10 years after he passed away. The plaque dedicated to him reads, “A civic-minded Rialto resident for more than 40 years, Joe Sampson, Jr., began working for the City of Rialto in 1975 as a deputy city clerk, then was elected to the role of city clerk. Mr. Sampson served continuously as the city clerk until 1994 when he won a seat on the city council. This park is dedicated to the memory of Joe Sampson, Jr., and to the heritage brought forth by his service to the City of Rialto."
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The first thing that we will cover is the parking lot. There are entrances on both West Alru Street and West Randall Avenue, but nothing on South Cactus Avenue. In total, 150 spaces and 8 handicapped spots are in the lot. If there are no spaces left, the next best place is the neighborhoods next to West Alru Street; there is a lot of street parking.
The large grass field in the center of Joe Sampson Park takes up about half of the park (3 acres). Although there are usually no painted lines or goalposts, soccer and football games are occasionally played here. Recreational activities, like frisbee or spike ball, will take place here, too. The stadium lights will light up the field most nights for park-goers who are interested. If you want to play baseball, Bud Bender Park has a couple of fields! And if you want to have your dog run around with some obstacles, Andreson Park is only a couple of minutes away!
On the western side of the park (near the playgrounds) are 2 gazebos with 3 shaded picnic tables each. They also have a grill and a garbage can. You are able to rent one of these park shelters for $66.40 a day - you will also need to pay a $100 refundable cleaning deposit. If there is no birthday party or something of the sort happening, you can enjoy a nice lunch with your kids.
In between the two playgrounds are two more picnic shelters, much larger than the other ones. They have 20 tables in total, plus two barbecues each. There are some lights just outside of each shelter so that you can enjoy your time past sunset. Even more picnic tables and grills are on the northern and southern edges of the park if you want a more isolated and quiet area - no shade is available, though.
The 2 basketball courts are 4 half-circle courts. This means that a full-court game won’t be possible, but that also means that you can easily get a hoop to yourself. The courts look brand new; they have three-point lines, free-throw lines, and out-of-bound lines. For those who like to play at night, they have some bright lights shining up each court.
A loop around Joe Sampson Park is 0.30 miles (it’s a rubber track that is soft on the feet). All of the sidewalks and walking trails in and around the park add up to 0.70 miles. Take your dog for a walk, go on a run, or use the exercise stations! There are more lights along the pathway.
4 exercise stations are along the rubber track. There are ellipticals and places to lift or push weights. Kids will play around on them, too.
The restrooms are on the northern side of the park, next to the West Alru Street entrance. Typically, they will be clean - probably because the park is new and they want to keep it that way. Most of the time, they will have hand soap.
There are fences and gates all around the park. I am not sure if they close them after they close at 8 PM. I wouldn’t wait until after that time to find out.
Saturday is the busiest day in Joe Sampson Park, and Sunday or Monday is the least busy day. As for specific times, the most crowded is 7 PM right before the park closes; the best time to go is anytime before 4 PM - the park is mostly used in the evening.
Kenneth Wallen says, “This is one of the best local parks I have ever visited! Neat playground, clean restrooms, a big field for ball games, a track for running, weightlifting machines, and BBQ grills. I hear they even show movies during summer! I can't say enough about this wonderful, clean park!”
Joe Sampson Park Playground
Both of the playgrounds have rubber surfaces, plus a lot of lights, benches, and tables to watch your children from. The rubber is so much better than the wood chips that will give you splinters. Neither playground has much shade, so put some sunscreen on your children to prevent any sunburns.
The larger Joe Sampson Park Playground has some rock climbing walls, slides, a huge wall climber, a fireman pole, a rope ladder, a tightrope, a snake swing (you have to see it for yourself), and more. 6 slides are available next door.
The smaller playground has two slides, a jungle gym course, spinning chairs, a fireman pole, ladders, monkey bars, stairs, a bridge, stairs made out of logs, and a spring rider. There are also 4 bucket swings and a swing that can hold 2 people. People will do some parkour on these playgrounds.
Joe Sampson Park Address: 650 W Randall Ave, Rialto, CA 92376
Hours: 8 AM - 8 PM
Coordinates: 34.085375, -117.383023
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