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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Source: AndreaCopp / iStock via Getty Images
36. Woodward Park
> Annual visitation: 1,010,958
> Location: Fresno, California
#/media/File:Starlight_Theatre_Stage.jpg "Starlight Theatre Stage by Duedate2010")
35. Swope Park
> Annual visitation: 1,136,523
> Location: Kansas City, Missouri
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Source: YoungkKwon / iStock via Getty Images
34. El Dorado Park
> Annual visitation: 1,158,171
> Location: Long Beach, California
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Source: dosecreative / iStock via Getty Images
33. First Landing State Park
> Annual visitation: 1,161,668
> Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Source: Courtesy of Country Park via Yelp
32. Country/Jaycee Park
> Annual visitation: 1,178,916
> Location: Greensboro, North Carolina
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Source: Courtesy of Country Park via Yelp
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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Source: Courtesy of Chesapeake City Park via Yelp
29. Chesapeake City Park
> Annual visitation: 1,500,000
> Location: Chesapeake, Virginia
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28. Mecklenburg County Sportsplex
> Annual visitation: 1,527,988
> Location: Charlotte/Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Source: Christa Boaz / iStock via Getty Images
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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Source: rathyrye / E+ via Getty Images
24. Louisville Waterfront Park
> Annual visitation: 2,200,000
> Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Source: Courtesy of Schenley Plaza via facebook
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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Source: Javier_Art_Photography / iStock via Getty Images
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
Source: Courtesy of Rocky River Reservation via Yelp
17. Rocky River Reservation
> Annual visitation: 3,145,203
> Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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Source: halbergman / E+ via Getty Images
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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Source: Marina Imasheva / iStock via Getty Images
14. Independence National Historic Park
> Annual visitation: 4,500,000
> Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Source: dszc / E+ via Getty Images
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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Source: Sean Pavone / iStock via Getty Images
11. Garden of the Gods Park
> Annual visitation: 5,800,000
> Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Source: LUNAMARINA / iStock via Getty Images
10. Hermann Park
> Annual visitation: 6,000,000
> Location: Houston, Texas
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Source: dszc / iStock via Getty Images
8. San Antonio Riverwalk
> Annual visitation: 7,000,000
> Location: San Antonio, Texas
Source: Sean Pavone / iStock via Getty Images
8. Lincoln Memorial
> Annual visitation: 7,000,000
> Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
7. Chain of Lakes Regional Park
> Annual visitation: 8,000,000
> Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Source: Art Wager / E+ via Getty Images
6. Forest Park
> Annual visitation: 10,000,000
> Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Source: edb3_16 / iStock via Getty Images
5. City Park
> Annual visitation: 12,000,000
> Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
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Source: Vasileios Economou / E+ via Getty Images
4. Mission Bay Park
> Annual visitation: 18,000,000
> Location: San Diego, California
Source: IrisImages / iStock via Getty Images
3. Lincoln Park
> Annual visitation: 20,000,000
> Location: Chicago, Illinois
Source: Medioimages/Photodisc / Photodisc via Getty Images
2. Golden Gate Park
> Annual visitation: 24,000,000
> Location: San Francisco, California
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Source: Ingus Kruklitis / iStock via Getty Images
1. Central Park
> Annual visitation: 42,000,000
> Location: New York, New York
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