The City of Chicago holds the distinction of having more parkland than any other city in the United States.[citation needed] Over 220 facilities in 552 parks covering more than 7,300 acres (30 km²) of land throughout the city are under the management of the Chicago Park District. This extensive network of parks also includes nine lakefront harbors rendering the park district the nation's largest municipal harbor system,[citation needed] along with 33 beaches, nine museums, two conservatories, 16 historic lagoons as well as 10 bird and wildlife gardens. In addition to serving residents a number of these parks also double as tourist destinations, most notably Lincoln Park, Chicago's largest park visited by over 20 million visitors each year making it second only to Central Park in New York City.[1].
The Park District also maintains many special use facilities for activities such as golfing, boating, boxing as well as a number of specialty parks devoted entirely to dogs. In addition to maintaining the parks, the district holds thousands of special events and festivals for city residents every year. The height of these events are during the summer months at the height of the tourist season while children are out of school for summer recess.
Chicago's wealth of greenspace afforded by Chicago's parks is further enhanced by the Cook County Forest Preserves, a network of open spaces containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are set aside as natural areas along the city's periphery.
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List of parks
Notable parks
- Millennium Park - 24.5 acres; Chicago's newest marquee park, opened in 2004, just north of the Art Institute of Chicago and Grant Park.
- Grant Park - 319 acres; located in The Loop; Home to Buckingham Fountain, this downtown park is also a favorite site of major festivals including the Taste of Chicago, Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Lollapolooza and others.
- Lincoln Park - 1200 acres; Chicago's largest city park. Located north of The Loop, this is one of the more distinctive parks in terms of geography, because while it is centrally located in the Lincoln Park community area it spans many different neighborhoods throughout the north side as it is nestled between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.
- Jackson Park - 500 acres; located on the south side of the city on Lake Michigan, this park is famous for its role in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.
- Washington Park - 372 acres; located on the south side, it was the proposed location for the 2016 Summer Olympics Stadium.
Other parks
- Abbott Park
- Ada Park
- Adams Park
- Jane Addams Park
- Almond Park
- Altgeld Park
- Amundsen Park
- Arcade Park
- Archer Park
- Armour Square Park
- Armstrong Park
- Arnita Young Boswell Park
- Arrigo Park
- Auburn Park
- Augusta Park
- Austin Park
- Avalon Park
- Avondale Park
- Bessemer Park
- Blackhawk Park
- Boyce Park
- Bosley Park
- Burnham Park - 598 acres; runs along the Lakefront for much of the South Side connecting Jackson Park with Grant Park
- Promontory Point
- Calumet Park - 200 acres
- Chopin Park
- Columbus Park - 144 acres; considered one of the 150 Great Places in Illinois
- Donovan Park
- Douglas Park
- DuSable Park
- Dunbar Park
- Dvorak Park
- Eckhart Park
- Ellis Park
- Fernwood Park
- Foster Park
- Fuller Park
- Gage Park
- Garfield Park - 185 acres
- Garfield Park Conservatory
- Gompers Park
- Hamilton Park
- Harrison Park
- Hayes Park
- Hoyne Park
- Humboldt Park - 207 acres
- Jefferson Park
- Kenwood Community Park (formerly Shoesmith Field)
- Kosciuszko Park
- Legion Park runs between Peterson Avenue and Foster Avenue
- Marquette Park - 300 acres
- McGuane Park
- McKinley Park - 69 acres
- Midway Plaisance connects Washington Park to Jackson Park, notable for giving its name to carnival midways
- Mozart Park
- Nichols Park
- Northerly Island Park
- Ogden Park
- Olson Park and Waterfall- A privately run park open to the public in the Avondale Community area. Located on the northwest corner of Diversey and Pulaski, the complex was built by Walter E. Olson, the owner of the Olson Rug Company next to his factory and headquarters.
- Oz Park
- Palmer Park
- Peoples Park
- Ping Tom Memorial Park, A 12-acre (49,000 m2) park near Chinatown, unique because of its many Chinese accents, including a riverfront pavilion and bamboo gardens. The park is a popular destination, especially over the summer when the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce organizes a dragon boat race.
- Portage Park- The site of the swimming portion of the 1959 Pan American Games and where Gold Medalist Mark Spitz set new world's records during the 1972 U.S. Olympic swimming trials.
- Pulaski Park
- Rainbow Beach Park
- Revere Park
- River Park borders Foster Avenue on the north and Francisco Avenue on the west
- Rowan Park
- Russell Square Park
- Sherman Park
- Skinner Park
- Smith Park
- South Shore Nature Reserve
- Stanton-Schiller Park
- Strohacker Park
- Union Park
- Vittum Park
- Washington Square Park
- Dinah Washington Park
- Harold Washington Park
- Welles Park
- Wicker Park
- Wilson Park
- Winnemac Park
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Image gallery
 Buckingham Fountain, Grant Park |
 Flagstone steps in Portage Park |
 Osaka Japanese Garden in Jackson Park |
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 Jefferson Park with a view of the fieldhouse designed by Clarence Hatzfeld |
 Lincoln Park in winter |
 Millennium Park |
 Montrose Beach |
See also
References
- Rand McNally "Chicago & Cook County StreetFinder", 1996.
Notes
- ^ "City Park Facts". The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence. June 2006. http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=20531&folder_id=3208. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
External links
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