Tuesday, September 14, 2010

What are the biggest city parks in the US?


Search: parks in city limits; central park; urban parks

Why: I don't know who planted this seed in my head, but for some reason, I thought Shelby Farms in Memphis was #2, right after Central Park. But I already cheated and read this:
At a size of 4,500 acres (18 km2), it covers more than five times the area of Central Park in New York City with 843 acres (3.41 km2).
So beautiful.

Answer: Here are some:
  1. El Paso, TX - Franklin Mountains State Park (23,909 acres / 96.76 km2)
  2. New Orleans, LA - Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge (22,770 acres / 92.1 km2)
  3. Phoenix, AZ - State Mountain Park (16,094 acres / 65.13 km2)
  4. Scottsdale, AZ - McDowell Sonoran Preserve (11, 250 acres / 45.5 km2)
  5. Houston, TX - Cullen Park (9,270 acres / 37. 5 km2)
  6. Los Angeles, CA - Topanga State Park (8,960 acres / 36.3 km2)
  7. Jacksonville, FL - Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve (7,870 acres)
  8. Houston, TX - George Bush Park (7,800 acres / 32 km2)
  9. Phoenix, AZ - North Mountain Preserve (7,500 acres / 30 km2)
  10. New York, NY - Gateway National Recreation Area (7,138 acres / 28.89 km2)
  11. San Jose, CA - Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (6,800 / 28 km2)
  12. Louisville, KY - Jefferson Memorial Forest (6,011 acres / 24.33 km2)
  13. Eufaula, AL - Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge (6,000 acres / 24 km2)
  14. San Diego, CA - Mission Trails Regional Park (5,840 acres / 23.6 km2)
  15. Raleigh, NC - William B. Umstead State Park (5,579 acres / 22.58 km2)
  16. Honolulu, HI - Ahupua'a O Kahana State Park (5,229 acres / 21.16 km2)
  17. Portland, OR - Forest Park (5,157 acres / 20.87 km2)
  18. Indianapolis, IN - Eagle Creek Park and Golf Course (4,766 acres / 19.29 km2)
  19. Memphis, TN - Shelby Farms (4,500 acres / 18 km2)
  20. Anchorage, AK - Far North Bicentennial Park (4,500 acres / 18 km2)
  21. Los Angeles, CA - Griffith Park (4,217 acres / 17.07 km2)
Should a "state park" really count? A "wildlife refuge"? A "preserve"? I don't know if Wikipedia and I are thinking of the same thing.

But 1/10th of New Orleans (907 km2) is taken up by a wildlife refuge. FYI!
Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: Maybe it's time to take your kids to see the buffalo.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 14, 2010 at 5:03 PM

    Gateway National Recreation Area (www.nps.gov/gate) is over 26,000 acres - much more than the little over 7,000 acres noted here. Over 9,000 acres alone come from Jamaica Bay. However, a few thousand acres are admittedly in New Jersey in the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area. Nevertheless, the vast majority of acreage is in New York, and within the boundaries of New York City.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 14, 2010 at 5:12 PM

    Yes, the list said "(part)," but I left that out. Thanks!

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  3. Lee FletcherOctober 30, 2013 at 6:07 AM

    Central Park is tiny. It has 80 acres. Umstead State Park-almost completely with in the City of Raleigh has over 54,000 acres. Perhaps some of it is in the county, but I do not think so. It has several parks bigger than Central Park. (80 acres is a small farm at best, Umstead in Raleigh has 25 miles of actually hiking trails and 13 for bikes and walking. All are within the park. It has 4 o4 5 lakes and is mostly wooded. Who compiles this information!

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