Among the unfortunate impacts of the pandemic in 2020 were government restrictions on visiting local parks. The onerous mandate prevented urban dwellers from enjoying a bucolic escape from the concrete and steel environs of city living.
While restrictions have generally eased since the early days of the pandemic, Americans were recently reminded of the ongoing public health crisis with the recent surge in cases and omicron variant. Just this week, organizers of a New Year’s Eve party planned at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles said there will be no in-person celebration. Instead, the event will be livestreamed.
Stil, this year, thanks in part to increasing numbers of vaccinations, many restrictions were lifted and people have returned to the parks, an encouraging sign that life was beginning to return to normal.
To identify the 37 most-visited local parks in the U.S., 24/7 Tempo reviewed and aggregated data from The Trust For Public Land. Parks were ranked by the number of annual visits.
Seven of the most visited local parks are in California, the most of any state. Among them are Griffith Park in Los Angeles, which boasts a mixture of natural wonders like Bronson Canyon as well as other attractions like the Los Angeles Zoo and the Griffith Observatory. Virginia has the second-most visited local parks on the list with three: Chesapeake City Park, First Landing State Park, and James River Park. (This is the most underrated national park.)
You’ll find some of the nation’s most famous local parks on the list: Golden Gate in San Francisco, Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia, Boston Common, and Lincoln Park in Chicago. (This is the most visited state park in every state and U.S. territory.)
New York’s 843-acre Central Park, the nation’s first landscaped public park, also graces the most-visited parks list. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux who won a landscape design contest in 1857. That year, the New York legislature authorized the city to buy more than 700 acres in the middle of Manhattan. The park opened in 1859, and by 1865, the park had 7 million annual visitors.
Click here to see the most visited local parks
37. Central Park
> Annual visitation: 1,000,000
> Location: Fremont, California
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37. Overton Park
> Annual visitation: 1,000,000
> Location: Memphis, Tennessee
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37. Veterans Park
> Annual visitation: 1,000,000
> Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
37. Bayshore Boulevard Linear Park
> Annual visitation: 1,000,000
> Location: Tampa, Florida
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36. Woodward Park
> Annual visitation: 1,010,958
> Location: Fresno, California
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35. Swope Park
> Annual visitation: 1,136,523
> Location: Kansas City, Missouri
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34. El Dorado Park
> Annual visitation: 1,158,171
> Location: Long Beach, California
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33. First Landing State Park
> Annual visitation: 1,161,668
> Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
32. Country/Jaycee Park
> Annual visitation: 1,178,916
> Location: Greensboro, North Carolina
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31. River Parks
> Annual visitation: 1,250,000
> Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
30. Balloon Fiesta Park
> Annual visitation: 1,300,000
> Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
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29. Chesapeake City Park
> Annual visitation: 1,500,000
> Location: Chesapeake, Virginia
28. Mecklenburg County Sportsplex
> Annual visitation: 1,527,988
> Location: Charlotte/Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
27. Gray’s Lake Park
> Annual visitation: 1,750,000
> Location: Des Moines, Iowa
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25. City Park
> Annual visitation: 2,000,000
> Location: Denver, Ohio
25. James River Park
> Annual visitation: 2,000,000
> Location: Richmond, Virginia
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24. Louisville Waterfront Park
> Annual visitation: 2,200,000
> Location: Louisville, Kentucky
23. Schenley Park & Plaza
> Annual visitation: 2,250,000
> Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
22. Boston Common
> Annual visitation: 2,500,000
> Location: Boston, Massachusetts
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21. Belle Isle Park
> Annual visitation: 2,600,000
> Location: Detroit, Michigan
20. Julia Davis Park
> Annual visitation: 2,737,500
> Location: Boise, Idaho
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18. Lake Eola
> Annual visitation: 3,000,000
> Location: Orlando, Florida
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18. Riverfront Park
> Annual visitation: 3,000,000
> Location: Spokane, Washington
17. Rocky River Reservation
> Annual visitation: 3,145,203
> Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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16. Washington Park
> Annual visitation: 3,200,000
> Location: Portland, Oregon
15. Como Regional Park
> Annual visitation: 3,800,000
> Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
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14. Independence National Historic Park
> Annual visitation: 4,500,000
> Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
12. Griffith Park
> Annual visitation: 5,000,000
> Location: Los Angeles, California
12. Lakeside Park
> Annual visitation: 5,000,000
> Location: Oakland, California
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11. Garden of the Gods Park
> Annual visitation: 5,800,000
> Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
10. Hermann Park
> Annual visitation: 6,000,000
> Location: Houston, Texas
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8. San Antonio Riverwalk
> Annual visitation: 7,000,000
> Location: San Antonio, Texas
8. Lincoln Memorial
> Annual visitation: 7,000,000
> Location: Washington, District of Columbia
7. Chain of Lakes Regional Park
> Annual visitation: 8,000,000
> Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
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6. Forest Park
> Annual visitation: 10,000,000
> Location: St. Louis, Missouri
5. City Park
> Annual visitation: 12,000,000
> Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
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4. Mission Bay Park
> Annual visitation: 18,000,000
> Location: San Diego, California
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3. Lincoln Park
> Annual visitation: 20,000,000
> Location: Chicago, Illinois
2. Golden Gate Park
> Annual visitation: 24,000,000
> Location: San Francisco, California
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1. Central Park
> Annual visitation: 42,000,000
> Location: New York, New York
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