Central Park Tops the List of America's Sportiest Recreation Spaces

If you really want to get a feel for a town, go to its park on a Saturday morning. You’ll see the whole mix – kids in matching jerseys chasing fly balls, someone jogging with a coffee, a group doing yoga on the grass. 

We recently asked more than 3,000 people which parks in America best capture that spirit, ranking them from coast to coast. 

But the rankings themselves are just part of the story. The bigger picture is how those spaces reflect what people value – connection, routine, and the joy of moving together.

America's top 10 parks/recreation centers for sport

You can find the full ranked list of 144 parks and recreation centers here.

Methodology

This study surveyed 3,002 U.S. respondents to identify which parks and recreation areas Americans believe offer the best opportunities for sports and exercise.

The sample was carefully structured to represent a balanced mix across age, gender, and geography, ensuring the results reflected the nation’s diversity. To maintain statistical accuracy, a two-step process was applied: stratified sampling captured demographic variation, followed by post-stratification weighting to align responses with national population benchmarks derived from internal data sources.

Conducted in November 2025, the study highlights where Americans see the strongest access to recreation, physical activity, and community sport.

Key Findings

• California parks are among the most popular: Four of the top 15 parks are in California – Murrieta, Lake Forest, Roseville, and Auburn – which says plenty about the state’s devotion to structured sport. The weather helps, of course, but so does the investment. California has turned community fields into professional-grade spaces without losing their neighborhood feel. They are just as much for weekend pickup games as for youth tournaments.

• The Sunshine State’s parks rank highly: Another sunny state, Florida, follows closely behind California. Panama City Beach, Apollo Beach, and Auburndale all featured high, and it’s easy to see why. These are big, bright, purpose-built complexes.

• Small cities, big facilities: Perhaps surprisingly, some of the most popular parks for sports nationwide are in smaller cities like Loveland (Colorado), Westfield (Indiana), and Murrieta (California).  These cities may have small populations, but they have clearly made sport a civic priority. In many cases, the park doubles as the town square – somewhere to meet, not just compete.

• The Midwest model works: Midwest states such as Indiana, Kansas, and Illinois are all well represented in the top 50. Their success appears to come from practicality – accessible, well-planned spaces that serve multiple sports and age groups. You can tell they are designed by people who actually use them.

• Sport meets social in the South: South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia each feature several parks in the rankings. There’s a pattern here: wide lawns, event spaces, and trails woven around the fields. The (sports-mad) South has always blurred the line between sport and social life – and its parks show that better than anywhere else.

• Every corner of the country gets a mention: From Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park to Phoenix’s open-air complexes, recreation looks different but feels the same. The details change – turf versus grass, sea breeze versus mountain air – but the principle doesn’t. Good parks invite people to show up, move, and belong.

Final Thoughts

Our “sportiest parks” list isn’t really about trophies or rankings. It’s about how people use public space. 

Whether it’s a jog in Central Park or a Saturday tournament in suburban Indiana, these parks show that sport is one of the few things still capable of bringing strangers together without screens or schedules getting in the way.