LA's Top Parks, Ranked

TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.

2 minute read

March 18, 2024, 10:00 AM PDT

By Clement Lau

View from above of swan-shaped paddleboats with lights on around artesian fountain in Echo Park Lake with downtown Los Angeles skylien in background at twilight.

Swan boats dot Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles, California. | nick / Adobe Stock

Parks and recreational facilities are essential to ensuring a community's quality of life. Almost all U.S. adults (90 percent) agree that parks and recreation is an important service provided by their local government, according to a 2022 report from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). Survey respondents placed nearly the same level of importance on parks and recreation as they did on virtually every other major service delivered by their local governments, like fire protection, roads/transportation, water/utilities, police protection, and more. Almost nine in 10 people agree that it is important to fund local park and recreation agencies to ensure every member of the community has equitable access to amenities, infrastructure and programming.

While park poor when compared to most other metropolitan areas, the Los Angeles region is home to numerous high quality parks. In this article, Michael Juliano of TimeOut highlights the following green spaces that are worth visiting:

For urban wilderness:

Griffith Park
Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area
Los Angeles State Historic Park
El Dorado Nature Center and Regional Park

For art aficionados:

Barnsdall Art Park and Hollyhock House
Tongva Park

For reclaimed green space:

Echo Park Lake
Grand Park

For waterfront views:

Palisades Park
Korean Bell of Friendship (and Point Fermin Park)

For Valley dwellers:

Lake Balboa
Brookside Park

For museum lovers:

Exposition Park
Hancock Park (La Brea Tar Pits)
Will Rogers State Historic Park

For four-legged friends:

Lake Hollywood Park
Silver Lake Reservoir
Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park

For quiet neighborhood retreats:

Lacy Park
Garfield Park
Vista Hermosa Natural Park

For kid-friendly afternoons:

Roxbury Community Center and Memorial Park
Polliwog Park
Coldwater Canyon Park

For hidden-in-plain-sight history:

Elysian Park
MacArthur Park

For more information about any of the above parks, please read the source article. For information about additional parks in Los Angeles, readers may visit the following websites:

FULL STORY: The 26 best parks in Los Angeles

Thursday, March 14, 2024 in TimeOut

Environment Infrastructure Landscape Architecture California Los Angeles Parks Parks Access Parks and Recreation Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation View More

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