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Buena Park is a city in Orange County in Southern California.

Understand

European settlement of the area dates to the Spanish "ranchos", huge land grants in the late 1700s. A rail connection to Los Angeles was established in 1875. Buena Park was established as a community in 1877 (in conjunction with the railway development) and formally incorporated as a city in 1953. While there has historically been some industrial activity in the area (such as a Nabisco factory which closed in 2006), Buena Park is the closest city in Orange County to Los Angeles and operates largely in that city's shadow; various attractions (which formerly included a wax museum, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum and a deer park) have come and gone over the years, but the city is best known for an amusement park on what used to be Walter and Cordelia Knott's farm.

Get in

By car

  • I-5 (Santa Ana Freeway) or CA-91 (Riverside Freeway) takes you directly to Buena Park. Take the Knott Ave, Beach Blvd, or any of the other Buena Park exits. Anaheim is just south of Buena Park, with Fullerton to the east, so both of those cities can serve as an entry as well.

By plane

  • Fullerton Municipal Airport only accepts private airplanes and is 3 miles (4.8 km) from Buena Park.
  • Long Beach Airport is about 15 miles (24 km) from Buena Park. JetBlue Airways serves it nonstop from 14 destinations. It is also served by Alaska Airlines, American, and Delta.
  • Orange County/John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, is about 16 miles (25 km)/24 minutes from Buena Park. It is served by Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Virgin America
  • Los Angeles International Airport is served by a wide array of foreign carriers as well as most US airlines.

By rail

  • Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner runs from Paso Robles to San Diego; the closest station is Fullerton.
  • 1 Buena Park (Metrolink), 8400 Lakeknoll Dr.. Metrolink's Orange County Line runs from Los Angeles to Oceanside, with stops in Buena Park and Fullerton Buena Park station (Q4985402) on Wikidata Buena Park station on Wikipedia (updated Sep 2018)

Get around

By foot

  • The main tourism corridor in Buena Park is located along Beach Boulevard. Most of the main attractions, including Knott's Berry Farm, are located here and are within walking distance of each other.

By transit

  • Many Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) lines come together in Buena Park. Route 29 (Beach Blvd.) runs north-south, from the Brea Mall to downtown Huntington Beach and the Pacific Coast Highway, straight through downtown BP. Route 38 (La Palma Ave.) runs east-west, from Lakewood to the Anaheim Shopping Center, serving the Buena Park Promenade. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority Route 460 connects BP with downtown Los Angeles, Norwalk, Fullerton, and Disneyland. All three routes serve Knott's Berry Farm.
  • The Knott's Berry Farm Resort Hotel and other hotels in Buena Park provide a shuttle to Disneyland.

By car

  • Buena Park is small enough for driving, but most attractions are on Beach Boulevard.

See

  • 1 Independence Hall at Knott's Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd (across the street from the theme park), ☏ +1 714 220-5200. Daily, except Christmas Day. A recreation of Independence Hall (site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence) is so accurate that the original structure in Philadelphia used Knott's blueprints for its own restoration. The replica also stood in for the actual Independence Hall in the film National Treasure. Free. 

Do

Dinner theatre

Knotts Berry Farm

Timber Mountain Log Ride, one of the classic attractions installed by Walter Knott.

Knott's bills itself as America's oldest theme park. In 1920, this was a working farm selling berries; its restaurant served its first chicken dinners in 1934. Once the restaurant started drawing a crowd, Walter Knott began constructing a replica Ghost Town in 1940; the park's first ride attraction (the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad) opened in 1952. Knott's Berry Farm remained family-owned until late 1997; the park is now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company and the food brand was acquired by The J. M. Smucker Company.

The park made many claims to have had the first, largest or only version of various amusements: the Calico Mine Ride (1960) as the world's first themed amusement park attraction, Timber Mountain Log Ride (1969) as the first log flume with thematic elements, Corkscrew (1975) as the first modern roller coaster to successfully turn riders upside-down, Xcelerator (2002) as the world's first hydraulically-launched roller coaster. The Ghost Town & Calico Railroad (1952) claimed the only remaining narrow-gauge steam engines still in operation at one point; many other heritage railways have since restored historic engines to service. Supreme Scream (1998) was briefly the tallest turbo drop–type amusement ride in the world (312-feet tall), Perilous Plunge (2000) was once the world's tallest and steepest water chute ride (at 121‘ tall and 77.8°; permanently closed in 2012).

Xcelerator, one of a breed of rides that emphasize big thrills over theme and scenery.
  • 3 Knott's Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd, ☏ +1 714 220-5200. Daily except Christmas Day, hours vary seasonally. Originally a roadside berry farm (boysenberries are a cross between raspberry, blackberry, dewberry and loganberry). Now a large theme park with a long list of amusements and rides, including scream machines like the Silver Bullet rollercoaster and the Supreme Scream Drop Tower . Less themed than the Disney parks, a Peanuts cartoon theme appears on a handful of rides with a Camp Snoopy for the little ones. A store and restaurant still sell the berry products (including juice and jam) and the chicken dinners. $82/day per person at the gate; parking, food, special events cost extra; advance tickets are cheaper online.. Knott's Berry Farm (Q1207585) on Wikidata Knott's Berry Farm on Wikipedia 
  • 4 Knott's Soak City USA, 8039 Beach Blvd, ☏ +1 714 220-5200. Open seasonally from May-Sept.. A water park filled with water slides, a river and a wave pool. $50/day per person, small discount for advance tickets online. Knott's Soak City (Q3198045) on Wikidata Knott's Soak City on Wikipedia 

Events

  • Knott's Scary Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd, ☏ +1 714 220-5200. Select nights, Sept 20-Oct 31. Knott's is transformed into a Halloween Haunt extravaganza for mature audiences, which is not recommended for under-13's. Special event tickets $42-100/person. 

Buy

  • 1 Buena Park Mall, 8308 On the Mall (Accessible via La Palma Avenue, a short distance east of the Beach Boulevard intersection.), ☏ +1 714 503-5000. Basic mall with the usual store names. 
  • 2 Knott's Marketplace, 8039 Beach Blvd. A shopping and dining district adjacent to Knott's Berry Farm. One of the highlights is the Berry Market where Knott's jams and jellies can be purchased. 

Eat

  • 1 Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant, 8039 Beach Blvd, ☏ +1 714 220-5055. 11AM–9PM daily, 8AM–10PM Sa, 8AM–9PM Su, hours vary seasonally to match park closing time. Traditional American fare, the specialties are fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits. A popular place to eat which usually has long lines (so plan to arrive early), this 1934 restaurant is one of the oldest parts of what is now the Knott's Berry Farm theme park. Lines at Cordelia Knott's restaurant lasted for hours, so Walter Knott built a ghost town (and later an amusement park) to entertain the crowds. Under $30 (Sunday brunch $36). 
  • 2 Fuddruckers, 7802 Orangethorpe Ave (Beach Boulevard just north of the 91), ☏ +1 714 739-8801. Great idea choosing and putting your own contents into your burger 
  • 3 In-N-Out Burger, 7926 Valley View St (north of La Palma Ave.), toll-free: +1-800-786-1000. Classic California. Looks like fast-food but you do have to wait for your freshly made burger and fries. (updated Feb 2015)
  • 4 Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, 8650 Beach Blvd. 
  • 5 Pink's Hot Dogs, 8039 Beach Blvd, ☏ +1 714 220-5084. 
  • Porto's Bakery, 7640 Beach Blvd, ☏ +1 714 367-2030. Regional chain of five Cuban-style cafés. 
  • Fast food and diners on Orangethorpe and nearby streets.

Sleep

Connect

Go next

  • Anaheim - the home of the Disneyland Resort - 10 to 20 minutes (travel south on Beach Boulevard then east on Katella Avenue, take LA Metro, Interstate 5, or use the free shuttle from the Knott's Hotel)
  • Long Beach - 20 minutes (travel west on State Route 91 then south on Interstate 710)
  • Los Angeles - 25 minutes (take I-5 or an Amtrak/Metrolink train to LA Union Station)
  • Hollywood - 32 minutes (travel to LA Union Station and transfer to the LACMTA Red Line)
  • Orange County beach cities - 25 to 43 minutes (travel south on Beach Boulevard)
  • Yorba Linda - Richard Nixon's Birthplace, Museum, Library, Burial, and Childhood home - 20 minutes (travel north on Beach Boulevard then east on the Imperial Highway/California State Route 90, or simply take the 91 freeway)
  • San Diego - 2 hours (by train from Fullerton)
Routes through Buena Park
Downtown L.A. / Los Angeles ← La Mirada ←  N  S  → Anaheim → Santa Ana
Long Beach ← Artesia ←  W  E  → Fullerton → Anaheim


This city travel guide to Buena Park is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.
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