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View of the Long Island Sound as seen from Pelham Bay Park.

This year, New York City was recognized as one of American Forests’ 10 Best Cities for Urban Forests. To those in disbelief, the urban jungle flaunts green space galore with all its grit and bricks. More impressively, the Bronx not only has among the greatest number of parks in all the five boroughs, but it is also home to some of the largest parklands within the city.

All in all, our glorious city is dotted with over 1,700 parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities. The Bronx, which is the second smallest borough in size and the second most densely populated, claims a large share of these parks in both numbers and acreage. 

5. Pelham Bay Park

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The Bronx Victory Memorial Column at the Victory Memorial Grove in Pelham Bay Park.

Among the plains of the Bronx, one can find New York City’s largest recreational woodland: Pelham Bay Park. Nestled in the East Bronx and bordered by the neighborhood of the same name, Pelham Bay Park is more than three times the size of Manhattan’s Central Park. Pelham Bay contains multiple attractions from the Bartow-Pell Mansion, to its own riviera containing Orchard Beach. Even more, Pelham Bay Park pampers its visitors with miles of bridle paths and hiking trails, two golf courses and a 13-mile shoreline encircling the Long Island Sound. It gets no better than this for nature lovers in New York City.

The Bartow Pell Mansion