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.