This is a list of parks in Omaha, Nebraska. It includes cemeteries and golf courses. Most parks in Omaha are governed by the City of Omaha Parks and Recreation Department.[1]
In 1854 Alfred D. Jones drew four parks on the original map of Omaha City. They were called Jefferson Square, which was paved over by I-480; Washington Park, which is where the Paxton Block currently sits at North 16th and Farnam Streets; Capitol Square, where Omaha Central High School is now located, and; an unnamed tract overlooking the river with Davenport Street on the north, Jackson Street on the south, North 8th on the east and North 9th Street on the west.[2] Jefferson Square lasted until 1969, when it was razed to make way for a new interstate in downtown Omaha. The riverfront from the interstate south to the headquarters of ConAgra Foods is now the Heartland of America Park.
Hanscom Park became Omaha's first park. Miller, Fontenelle, Elmwood and Riverview were Omaha's largest parks in 1920. (Riverview Park Zoo eventually became Henry Doorly Zoo.) Levi Carter Park was its largest, at 220acres. Other parks in the system that year were Bemis, Deer, Kountze Park, Curtis Turner, Harold Gifford, Mercer, Jefferson Square, Hixenbaugh, Burt playground, Bluff View, Spring Lake, Highland, McKinley, Clear View and Morton.[3]
Omaha's boulevard system was designed to be part of the parks system in 1889 by renowned landscape architect Horace Cleveland.[4] The Omaha Park and Boulevard System was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.[5]
The Department of Parks, Recreation, and Public Property is the City of Omaha's agency responsible for administering public parks.[6]
| Parks in Omaha (alphabetical) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Location | Notes | |
| Adams Park | 3121 Bedford Avenue | Created in 1960, this park includes a playground, picnic area, an overlook, paths, restrooms, and open space. There are also ball fields, tennis courts and an outdoor tournament-quality basketball complex with glass backboards, scoreboards and fan seating. | |
| 134th and Cottner streets, Millard | |||
| 764 N. 164th Street | |||
| 3434 Cuming Street | Founded in 1891, this park includes 10acres with a playground, tennis courts, walking paths, picnic area and shelter located in the Bemis Park Landmark Heritage District. | ||
| 2005 North 66th Street | 2acres with a playground and ball field | ||
| 7002 Military Avenue | Created in 1931, this 200acres park offers a playground, football and soccer fields, horseshoe pits, basketball and tennis courts, fishing, walking paths, indoor ice rink, lagoon, and a pavilion.[7] | ||
| 7065 Blondo Street | 7acres with a playground, ball field, basketball court, football field and walking trails | ||
| Boyd Park | 4201 North 16th Street | Location of Omaha Central High School's baseball field[8] | |
| 2310 S. 105th Ave. | |||
| Cancer Survivor Park | 1111 S. 105th St. | ||
| Carol Gast Memorial Park | 3501 Ames Avenue | Located next to Butler-Gast YMCA[9] | |
| Levi Carter Park | 3100 Abbott Drive | Carter Lake has opportunities for water skiing, fishing and boating. The park has baseball fields, football fields, and basketball courts, as well as paths, picnic areas, shelters, restrooms, a pavilion and open space. It was founded in 1891. | |
| 50th and C streets | |||
| 728 S. 154th st | Paved walking and biking paths, playground, basketball courts | ||
| Democracy Park | |||
| Dodge Park | 11001 John J. Pershing Drive | This park offers fishing, water skiing and boating on the Missouri River, as well as hiking, Baseball fields, soccer fields, horseshoe pits, tennis courts, a cricket field, a picnic area, pavilions, historical monuments and a campground.[10] It was founded in 1930. | |
| 802 S. 60th Street, adjacent to the University of Nebraska at Omaha | 1889 | ||
| Esther Pilster Park | 4088 North 88th Avenue | The park is named after Esther Pilster, a former Omaha Public Schools principal and philanthropist.[11] It has a playground, a ballfield, a soccer field, trails, shelters, and a picnic area.[12] | |
| Florence Park | 3015 State Street | Located in historic Florence, this park is 2.6acres and includes a playground, walking paths, a historical monument and a shelter area. | |
| Fontenelle Park | 4575 Ames Avenue | Founded in 1893, currently has 108acres with a lagoon, playground and paths, basketball courts, tennis courts, football fields, and a nine-hole golf course.[13] | |
| Freedom Park | 2497 Freedom Park Road | Home of the Nebraska Cricket Club, USS Hazard and the USS Marlin | |
| Gallagher Park | 2936 North 52nd Street | 18acres, including a playground, ball fields, a swimming pool and a historical monument to the former Krug Park | |
| Grace Young Park | 6317 Military Avenue | 2.4acres, including a playground, ball field and basketball court | |
| 1302 Farnam on the Mall | |||
| 8660 Lake Cunningham Road | 1977 | ||
| 1899 South 32nd Avenue | 1889 | ||
| Hawthorne Park | S 177th St | ||
| 2512 D Street | |||
| Hummel Park | 11808 John J. Pershing Drive | Created in 1930, this park is 202acres, including a historical monument for Fort Lisa. | |
| 100 Bancroft Street (next to the Lauritzen Gardens) | |||
| Kellom Park | 2310 Nicholas Street | 6acres | |
| Keystone Park | |||
| Kountze Park | 1920 Pinkney Street | 10acres, including a playground, ball field, basketball courts, tennis courts, a community center, shelter area and restrooms | |
| Lawrence Youngman Lake | 192nd and West Dodge Road | Includes a lake, playground, fishing, and boating | |
| 100 Bancroft Avenue | |||
| 6008 Underwood Avenue | This park was created in 1948 as a memorial for Douglas County's citizens who have served in the armed forces. | ||
| 1700 Country Club Avenue | 3.1 acres, playground, trails, open space, named for former mayor of Omaha, Richard Lee Metcalfe | ||
| Miller Park | 6201 North 30th Street | Founded in 1891, the park includes a lake, artesian well fountain, golf course, trails, picnic areas, pavilion, playground, baseball fields and soccer fields. | |
| Neale Woods | 14323 Edith Marie Avenue | 600-acre nature preserve; prairie and forest hiking trails; Millard Observatory (astronomy); operated by Fontenelle Forest | |
| Omaha Botanical Gardens (aka Lauritzen Gardens) | 2001 South 6th Street | 1982 | |
| Pipal Park | 7802 Hascall St | ||
| Rambleridge Park | 11424 Fort Street | ||
| Raven Oaks Park | 7901 Raven Oaks Drive | ||
| Ruser's Park | 53rd and Center Street | Privately owned German Summer Garden, with shooting range, athletic fields, bowling, picnic area and dance hall. | |
| 6802 Harrison Street | 1962 | ||
| Somerset Park | Wenninghoff Road and North 86th Street | 1994 | |
| 6404 N. 132nd st | 1977 | ||
| Storz Rugby Complex | North 16th and Storz Expressway | ||
| 3377 Lake street | |||
| 411½ N. Elmwood Road | |||
| 163rd and Farnam Streets | |||
| Zorinsky Lake Park | 156th and F streets | Created in 1993, this park includes over seven miles of paved trails, biking, fishing, boating, playgrounds, covered seating, public restrooms, and soccer fields. | |