Things to do nearNew Orleans City Park

New Orleans City Park is one of the oldest and largest urban parks in the United States, covering more than 1,300 acres in the heart of New Orleans, Louisiana. Its history stretches back to the early nineteenth century, when the land was part of a plantation before being set aside for public use. Today the park is anchored by a remarkable collection of southern live oaks, some estimated to be more than six hundred years old, their broad limbs arching over the ground and creating a sense of place found nowhere else in the city.

The New Orleans Museum of Art stands at the park's entrance, housing a permanent collection that spans thousands of years and includes strong holdings in photography, glass, and French and American decorative arts. Behind the museum, the Besthoff Sculpture Garden offers an outdoor experience of large-scale works set among lagoons and mature trees. The park's Botanical Garden, a product of New Deal-era craftsmanship, features Art Deco structures and carefully tended plantings that reflect both formal European garden traditions and the subtropical character of south Louisiana.

Families gather at Storyland and the historic Carousel Gardens amusement area, while golfers use one of the oldest public golf courses in the South. The park's lagoon system supports fishing, birdwatching, and paddleboating, making it genuinely useful to visitors with very different interests. The surrounding Bayou St. John neighborhood adds further character to any visit.

New Orleans City Park is a place where the natural, cultural, and social life of New Orleans converge in a way that no single museum or neighborhood can replicate.