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Outside for Memorial Day? These are the country's top cities for parks

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Published  May 23, 2025 3:48pm EDT
Travel
FOX Local

FILE - The sun rises over the Washington Monument and blooming cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin on March 27, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

The Brief

    • The Trust for Public Land ranked the top 100 cities for their parks.
    • Washington, D.C., Irvine, California, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, topped the list.
    • The ranking was based on five factors, including accessibility and how much is invested in those parks.

Memorial Day is on May 26 and for those who get to enjoy the long weekend, a day at the park may be just the way to spend it.

The Trust for Public Land created a list of the top 100 cities to explore for their parks. 

Top cities for parks

  1. Washington, DC
  2. Irvine, CA
  3. Minneapolis, MN
  4. Cincinnati, OH
  5. St. Paul, MN
  6. San Francisco, CA
  7. Arlington, VA
  8. Seattle, WA
  9. Portland, OR
  10. Denver, CO
  11. Chicago, IL
  12. Boston, MA
  13. New York, NY
  14. St. Petersburg, FL
  15. Pittsburgh, PA

Dig deeper:

TPL based its ranking on five park categories which included equity, access, investment, amenities and acreage.

Washington, D.C., snagged the top spot because it got top marks for accessibility and the investment put into its parks.

About 99% of D.C. residents are within a 10-minute walking distance from a park, according to TPL.

The D.C. area has 693 parks, according to TPL.

To see the entire list rankings, click here. 

What is Memorial Day? 

Memorial Day is a federal holiday celebrated on the fourth Monday of each May.

The backstory:

Though the holiday was established through the Uniforms Holiday Bill in 1968, its origins date as far back as the Civil War. In the 1860s, American civilians began to visit and decorate the gravesites of Union and Confederate soldiers. The springtime act of remembrance was eventually coined Decoration Day.

In 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic proclaimed Decoration Day to be a national holiday that should be observed on May 30, which fell in line with the blooming of most flowers.

Congress officially recognized Decoration Day as a federal holiday in 1938.The holiday got a name change in 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed the city of Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day. Five years later, the holiday moved to the last Monday in May through the Uniforms Holiday Bill.

Memorial Day is still celebrated with civilian, state-run and federal decoration initiatives where flowers and American flags are planted on gravesites for veterans who lost their lives in the line of duty. Parades and military events are also held to commemorate these fallen soldiers.

The Source: Information for this article was taken from the Trust for Public Land website and previous reporting by FOX Local. This story was reported from Los Angeles.

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