A handful of urban sanctuaries well worth a visit
A foray into the heart of a city can be made all the more memorable and enjoyable with a visit to a public park. In addition to providing restful green spaces for a picnic or a stroll, most of the nation’s metropolitan parks offer an extraordinary array of recreational opportunities and cultural sites. In many instances they stand out among the city’s top attractions.
Here’s 10 U.S. urban sanctuaries that are well worth a visit next time you’re in town.
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Often cited as the “Central Park of the West,” Golden Gate is considerably larger than its Big Apple counterpart. Straddling 1,017 acres, it is one of the world’s largest man-made public parks — and with 13 million visitors a year, it ranks among the most visited public parks in America.
Carved from a windswept expanse of sand dunes in the 1870s, Golden Gate Park is heralded today as an urban oasis, a verdant, horticulturally diverse and picturesque public space where visitors can relax, play and reconnect with the natural world. Among its many features are gardens, lakes, picnic groves, playgrounds, multi-use trails, sporting facilities and monuments, plus an array of cultural venues, events and activities. Museums here include the de Young Museum with its fine arts collections, and the California Academy of Sciences, one of the largest natural history museums in the world.
Best of the many gardens are the 55-acre San Francisco Botanical Gardens & Arboretum — showcasing more than 8,000 plants from around the world — and the Japanese Tea Garden with its classic pagodas and koi ponds. Recent celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love remind us that Golden Gate Park was the setting for the 1967 Human Be-In that kickstarted one of the most momentous cultural movements of our time.
Balboa Park, San Diego
San Diego’s tourism officials say that Balboa Park is where culture and nature meet — and with 17 museums and 17 gardens, it is an outstanding park by either measure.
Named for Spanish maritime explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the park hosted the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition and the 193536 California Pacific International Exposition and both of these world fairs left behind a treasure trove of architectural landmarks. It is these flamboyant SpanishRenaissance and Pueblo Revival-style buildings that today house the many museums lining the park’s famous El Prado pedestrian walkway.
Among them are the San Diego Natural History Museum, the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Air & Space Museum, the Fleet Science Center and the internationally acclaimed Tony Award-wining theater, the Old Globe. In addition to its museums and gardens, the 1,200-acre park is home to the world famous San Diego Zoo.
Boston Common, Boston
Be it for protesting or picnicking, Boston Common has been an important gathering spot throughout the nation’s history. Founded in 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States. Revolutionary War and Civil War troops paraded on its grounds and Pope John Paul II and Martin Luther King Jr. delivered speeches there.
The shining gem in the “Emerald Necklace” — a network of parks and parkways that string through many of Boston’s neighborhoods — the Common features monuments, bandstands, sports fields, fountains and the Frog Pond that hosts ice skating during the winter.
Audubon Park, New Orleans
A couple of famous names are associated with this beautiful urban oasis of 350 acres nestled along the Mississippi River in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. It was named after the 19th century artist and naturalist John James Audubon, who lived in the city during the 1820s, and the park’s plan was drafted by Frederick Law Olmstead’s nephew and adopted son, John Charles Olmstead.
Audubon Park greets visitors with a lush expanse of lawns, gardens, stately oak trees, lagoons, sports fields, picnic areas, the Audubon Zoo, and an exquisitely landscaped 18-hole, 4,220-yard golf course.