Parks of Chicago
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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[edit] List of parks
[edit] Notable parks
- Millennium Park - Chicago's newest marquee park, opened in 2004, just north of the Art Institute of Chicago.
- Grant Park - Home to Buckingham Fountain, this downtown park is also a favorite site of Chicago's biggest festivals including the Taste of Chicago.
- Lincoln Park - 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 city as it is nestled between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.
- The Garfield Park Conservatory - One of the largest conservatories in the United States.
- Ping Tom Memorial Park, A 12-acre 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.
- Jackson Park - Famous for its role in the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition where much of the White City was built.
- Washington Park - Proposed location for the 2016 Summer Olympics Stadium.
[edit] 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 runs along the Lakefront for much of the South Side
- Calumet Park
- Chopin Park
- Columbus Park considered one of the 150 Great Places in Illinois
- Donovan Park
- Douglas Park
- DuSable Park
- Dunbar Park
- Dvorak Park
- Eckhart Park
- Ellis Park
- Fuller Park
- Gage Park
- Gompers Park
- Hamilton Park
- Harrison Park
- Horner Park
- Hoyne Park
- Humboldt Park
- Jefferson Park
- Kenwood Community Park (formerly Shoesmith Field)
- Kosciuszko Park
- Marquette Park
- McGuane Park
- McKinley Park
- Midway Plaisance connects Washington Park to Jackson Park
- Mozart Park
- Nichols Park
- Northerly Island Park
- Ogden Park
- Oz Park
- Peoples Park
- Rainbow Beach Park
- Russell Square
- Sherman Park
- Skinner Park
- Smith Park
- South Shore Nature Reserve
- Stanton-Schiller Park
- Union Park
- Washington Square Park
- Dinah Washington Park
- Harold Washington Park
- Welles Park
- Wicker Park
- Wilson Park
- Winnemac Park
[edit] 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 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Rand McNally "Chicago & Cook County StreetFinder", 1996.
[edit] Notes
- ^ City Park Facts. The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence (June 2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-19.
[edit] External links
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