You can鈥檛 judge a city solely on its architecture and restaurants. You also have to take into account the green space where you can actually escape the urban jungle. These are my favorite municipally-owned escapes, based on size (they all dwarf 800-acre Central Park), beauty, and recreational offerings. If you want to know more about city parks, The Trust for Public Land publishes a comprehensive annual that makes for an enlightening read.
The Best City Parks: South Mountain Park, Phoenix, Arizona
TIMES BIGGER THAN CENTRAL PARK: 20
Stumble just a couple miles from downtown Phoenix, and you鈥檒l quickly find yourself in a There are ridges to climb, more than 50 miles of trails to conquer by mountain bike or foot, and 15 miles of pavement for road riding.
HIGHLIGHT: Bike the 9.2-mile (one-way) technical, rocky Desert Classic Trail. It鈥檚 like riding a roller coaster on fat tires.聽
The Best City Parks: Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
TIMES BIGGER THAN CENTRAL PARK: 11.5
No matter where you go in Philadelphia, you鈥檙e never more than a mile away from the vast, 160-year-old . Sliced north to south by the Schuylkill River, the park contains 215 miles of paths, from dirt trails to paved walkways, and 34 miles of waterway. You can row, bike, hike, or play Frisbee golf within the park’s green expanse. It also contains the country鈥檚 oldest zoo, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a handful of immaculately maintained historic Colonial mansions.
HIGHLIGHT: The rowing clubs that occupy the 12 boathouses lining the Schuylkill River on . They鈥檙e all part of the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia, the country鈥檚 oldest amateur rowing organization. The offers Learn to Row programs in the summer.
The Best City Parks: Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois
TIMES BIGGER THAN CENTRAL PARK: 1.5
Lincoln Park is a seven-mile stretch of greenery that lines Lake Michigan on Chicago鈥檚 north side. You can鈥檛 exactly get lost in the wilderness within its stringbean-like length, but you can definitely escape the stress of the city there for a while. Laze on a beach, tour the zoo, take archery lessons, go sailing, explore the , or simply run along the waterfront.
HIGHLIGHT: The , which resides in a boathouse in the Lincoln Park Lagoon, leads kayaking and outrigger canoe lessons and trips throughout the summer.
The Best City Parks: Forest Park, Portland, Oregon
TIMES BIGGER THAN CENTRAL PARK: 6.
When people say that there’s more green space than concrete in Portland, they’re thinking of . More than 110 bird and 60 mammal species make their home in this tree-filled expanse west of downtown on the slopes of the Tualatin Mountains. You鈥檒l also find roughly 80 miles of footpaths and fire roads, 28 of which are open to bikes. Unlike so many other city parks, there are no museums, zoos, or observatories inside Forest Park鈥攐nly streams, trails, and moss-covered old pines.
HIGHLIGHT: The 30-mile one-way Wildwood Trail meanders through the park, and can be accessed from many locations. It鈥檚 incorporated into the 40-Mile Loop, a trail system being created by a land trust to form a greenway that encircles Portland. 聽