When we highlighted eight city parks worth planning a trip around, readers were appreciative. But also, in some cases, outraged.
The comments were full of “I would add …” and “How could you leave out …” and “Should have mentioned …” We agree. There were many more fabulous parks that deserved a mention.
“Please do Parts 2, 3, 4 & 5, etc.,” one commenter wrote.
So we’re back to highlight seven more places that warrant a visit, inspired by recommendations from readers. And we fully expect to hear from more of you.
City Park, New Orleans
Art and kids’ museums, a forest with eight distinct ecosystems, historic live oaks and the descriptively named Big Lake make this 1,300-acre park a must-visit. Looking for one of the city’s famous snacks? The park has a Café Du Monde for cafe au lait and beignets.
“Thus tourists can easily have iconic New Orleans experiences as part of their visit to the park,” reader Teresa Ogden, who has been visiting the park for more than 40 years, wrote in an email.
She highlighted the park’s bike and walking paths, Botanical Garden, fairy tale-inspired Storyland playground and Carousel Gardens Amusement Park.
“I spent many hours watching my children play at the playground and climb on the oak trees,” Ogden wrote. “I now take my grandchildren to play.”
Celebration in the Oaks decks out the park in more than a million lights from late November through Jan. 1.
Don’t miss: The Historic New Orleans Train Garden at the Botanical Garden, which includes replicas of streetcars and trains and local architecture in miniature.
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Yes, you can climb the Rocky Steps outside the Philadelphia Art Museum. But there’s so much more to do at this more than 2,000-acre park split by the Schuylkill River.
On the west side, the Philadelphia Zoo boasts tigers, giraffes, hippos and a history as America’s first zoo. Shofuso Japanese House and Garden includes a pond garden and tea garden with traditional teahouse.
East Fairmount Parkoffers access to the 30-mile Schuylkill River Trail. Find the Philadelphia Art Museum here as well as Boathouse Row, a strip of 19th century boathouses that light up at night. Explore historic mansions including Lemon Hill, where the park was founded.
Don’t miss: The Boxers’ Trail, a 3.8-mile path with river views that famous Philly boxers have used for training.
Boston Common
America’s oldest public park, this 50-acre National Historic Landmark was founded in 1634 and serves as a launching point to the 2.5-mile Freedom Trail marking 16 important historic sites. The adjacent Public Garden, where visitors can paddle around the pond in Swan Boats, calls itself the first public botanical garden in the country.
“Boston Common is a true gem in the city,” wrote Karen Galvin, a Cambridge resident who has lived in the area for 38 years.
Frog Pondis the place for splashing in the summer and ice skating in the winter. In summer, the free Shakespeare on the Common offers productions of the Bard’s work (on tap for next year: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”).
Galvin notes several monuments throughout the park, including the 2023 sculpture called “The Embrace” commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
“But probably my favorite thing in the park is the ‘flag garden’during Memorial Day weekend, when volunteers plant more than 37,000 flags in the Boston Common to honor fallen Massachusetts service members since the Revolutionary War,” Galvin wrote. “It’s truly a sight to see.”
Don’t miss: The bronze sculpture of Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings at Boston Public Garden paying tribute to the children’s book “Make Way for Ducklings.”
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs
This stunning site, gifted to the city by the family of a railroad executive, covers more than 1,300 acres and includes 17 rock formations with such names as Balanced Rock, Kissing Camels and Sleeping Giant.
Visitors can explore almost two dozen trails that range from bite-sized to fairly short; check the official descriptions to see which are best for spotting bighorn sheep, rattlesnakes or Pikes Peak. Segway, electric bike and trolley tours are also available. At the Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site, historical interpreters in era-specific garb provide tours and demonstrations.
The National Park Service has designated a portion of the park as a National Natural Landmark, calling it “an outstanding illustration of the lithologic character of sedimentary rocks, and of the vertical forces that produced the front range of the Rocky Mountains.”
Don’t miss: According to the nonprofit Friends of Garden of the Gods, the roughly mile-and-a-half Central Garden Trail is the park’s most popular walk. “It offers the perfect introduction to the flora, fauna and geology of the Garden, and because it’s paved, it is easily accessible in all seasons,” the site says.
Balboa Park, San Diego
Whatever you’re into, there’s probably a museum dedicated to it at this 1,200-acre park.
Folk art, science, architecture, photography, air and space, automobiles, gems, model railroads are more are represented in the almost 20 museums on the grounds. This being San Diego, there’s also one dedicated to Comic-Con.
The San Diego Zoo is home to giant pandas, a colony of African penguins, polar bears, giraffes and more. Multiple gardens make use of the Southern California climate, including some devoted to palms, roses, cacti and edible and medicinal plants.
Doug Collins, who lives in Hermosa Beach, California, recalled his summer internship at the zoo during college in an email: “BEST! JOB! EVER!”
After reading our initial story about city parks, Collins wrote: “Having been to many of these parks, I have to say that Balboa Park in San Diego tops them all.”
Don’t miss: Free weekly concerts at the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ.
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Travelers may be familiar with the Golden Gate Bridge and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. But they shouldn’t sleep on Golden Gate Park, a 1,017-acre park less than five miles from the National Park Service site.
The California Academy of Sciences combines a planetarium, aquarium, national history museum and rainforest into one site. Rare and tropical plants flourish in the Conservatory of Flowers. Find work by artists Andy Goldsworthyand James Turrellat the de Young Museum.
Literature fans will find something to wax poetic about in the Shakespeare Garden, inspired by the plants and trees mentioned in the playwright’s plays and sonnets.
Don’t miss: The herd of American bison that reside in the western end of the park.
Point Defiance Park, Tacoma, Washington
This 760-acre park that juts into Puget Sound offers multiple gardens, scenic views, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium and the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum.
Former Tacoma resident Brad Ferguson, who now lives in Bothell, Washington, said his favorite spot is the Five Mile Drive, where an outer loop is off-limits to cars.
“It’s a nice getaway when you want some nature and a little peace,” he said in an email.
The 11-acre Dune Peninsula, a former Superfund site, hosts concerts in the summer.
Don’t miss: If you’ve ever walked down a staircase and wished you could slide instead, you’ll love “Tacoma’s Chutes and Ladders.” Stairs leading to a pedestrian bridge have a series of six slides next to them for a quicker way down.
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