Ascot Hills derives its name from a former race track — the Legion Ascot Speedway, which operated where the community of Hillside Village stands today from 1924 to 1936 until it was declared too dangerous. Much of the open space is currently owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP). LADWP used the open space as a training facility, and the utility company still operates a reservoir that stores water for Eastside residents on the North side of the public park. The public park opened in 2013 after decades of community organizing led by Wilson High School students and public pressure for the expansive open space to be made publicly accessible for one of the city’s most park-deprived communities of color.

It features an artificial soft-bottom stream (fed by overflow from the Ascot Reservoir), a restored riparian corridor, coastal sage scrub, walnut woodland, and valley grassland plant communities.