Eisenhower Park

This is a beautiful small park nestled in the city of Orange just by the Lincoln exit of the 55 freeway. It’s an oasis both for residents and employees of all the businesses, retailers, and restaurants nearby.
Step in here on a coffee break with a cappicino from the Bucks located in the Vons across the street, or make your hoagie from the Subway in the shopping mall into a picnic. It’s a little slice of zen relaxation here. Love it.

Nice park :)
It’s peaceful, relaxing, and has a wonderful breeze. The only negative is that some areas are full of duck poop and the ducks scare me when they stare haha.

This a is a cool park! Was out to get breakfast with my son and as I drove on Lincoln, the park caught my attention. Headed on over and was able to let my 1yr old son run around with no problems. I didn’t notice any homeless and felt safe. It’s a nice little park to walk around or if you want to few the ducks. Going to go back soon.

Watch out for homeless people. Luckily, they like to wonder off the park during the day I think. Other than that, it’s a pretty nice place. Lots of open space. No place to do pull-​ups though :(

I first visited Eisenhower Park (a.k.a. The Ike) as a lunchtime spot — whenever I needed to clear my head from office crap — more than 26 years ago. Since then, it’s remained as one of my favorite places in northeastern Orange County. Why? It’s hard to think of a better spot in the area to enjoy the beauty of VERY mature trees — please note the link about Olive’s history at the end of my review — as well as the sheer pleasure of ducks, Canada geese and red-​shouldered hawks cavorting about.
Husband and I enjoyed our take-​out lunch from China Wok amidst the trees here, at a picnic bench right in the middle of Ike. Yes, it was great to see relatively new and well-​kept benches at this park — but it was even better to take some time away from suburban bustle to take in the sound of the light breeze whistling through the trees.
(Worth noting: The City of Orange is apparently right in step with going green, and the benches here proclaim proudly that they’re MADE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS. Cool beans, huh?)
To answer a few prescient questions cited in earlier Unilocal comments about The Ike:
* It’s kept obsessively clean by city parks and recreation employees. Locals, apparently taking considerable pride in their large green area, do their part in tossing their trash in the numerous trash cans throughout the facility.
* Years ago, I spotted a homeless individual snoozing soundly near the inner part of the park. I haven’t seen him/​her since.
* Parking can be tight on weekends, I suppose, but it’s never been an issue on weekdays.
* Finally, make sure to keep your distance from the occasional swan geese (those huge white buggers) strolling about: Those guys get seriously ornery if you get within 20 feet of them.
Here’s that history of the City of Olive, the former city-​let that borders The Ike:

I went here yesterday for a Easter picnic with the Sons Of Italy. It was a great place to have something like this. It’s a beautiful park and would come back!

Ok, to be truly honest, here’s the deal…
It’s an OK park. Don’t go there the day after major holiday if you expect a trash free park. Also, based on the times I’ve been there with my son, there was a heavy police presence which gives me a conflicted feeling (is it a good thing or a bad thing to see a constant police presence?)
The park itself has some interesting historical links and there are some very old trees located on the property. There is a manmade stream that runs through the center of the park to the lake located in the southern part of the park. However, the stream is questionable in its cleanliness and I’ve seen locals splashing around in these waters (which is discouraged from many posted signs).
My biggest concern is the presence of transiets at the south end of the park near Lincoln. In fact, they just pulled a dead body of a transiet out of the lake at the south end of the park (
). Definately not a «warm and fuzzy» feeling for this park.
If you take your kids here, my advice is to keep close watch on them.

Large park near our old house that we would go to. Two playgrounds for kids and a little pond with stream that leads to a small lake where people can fish. Nice for walking around but it can be very very crowded. Large family get-​togethers can take up most of the park especially on holidays.

For a non-​local person, this place may be considered an unsafe area for a park, but my friend who lives locally said that they are very comfortable with this park with adult supervision for their kids.
I came to Eisenhower Park to meet some friends for a photo shoot.
There is a lake, small waterfall, bridge, fishing, playgrounds for the kids, picnic areas with grills, shade and plenty of grassy area for whatever you want to do at a park.
Eisenhower Park can suit the locals of the area and is not very crowded at all.