Mapping the New Orleans Area’s Best Parks & Playgrounds

 

Along the Mississippi River, with entrances at Bartholomew, Piety and Marigny streets. This beautiful, 1.4-mile urban linear park spans 20 acres and offers great views of the city’s skyline. Great for walking, running and biking with the kids, and includes a dog run gardens and greenspace.

 

Carrollton Avenue at S. Claiborne Avenue. This hilly (for New Orleans) park is home to the monthly Arts Market New Orleans and contains a large, shaded play area, with benches for keeping an eye on the kids. Concrete paths weave through the park, which has plenty of greenspace for running free.

 

St. Charles Avenue, between Walnut Street and Exposition Boulevard. Home to the Audubon Zoo and an 18-hole golf course, this park also features a brand-new play structure that children can climb as the streetcars roll by. The park’s endless picnic space, and walking and bicycle track, provide activities that the whole family will enjoy.

St. Charles Avenue at Octavia Street. This park, which runs along the streetcar line, has separate play structures for older and younger kids, as well as a huge open field for Frisbee, football and picnics. Consider the space for your next lemonade stand or bake sale!

 

City Park Avenue at Carrollton Avenue. One of the oldest urban parks in the country, City Park delights the young and young-at-heart. In addition to a wheelchair-accessible playground adjacent to lagoons filled with hungry ducks, the park contains Storyland, Carousel Gardens Amusement Park, The New Orleans Museum of Art, multiple bicycle paths, a location of Morning Call serving beignets and café au lait, and so much more.

 

7820 Redfish St. This playground near the Lakefront Airport is fairly new – it opened in 2015 – and features a great play structure with fun slides, a rope-climbing apparatus and swings, as well as baseball fields and basketball courts.

 

Pelican Avenue at Verret Street. A lovely, small playground in the heart of old Algiers that is suitable for kids of varying ages. It is completely fenced and offers picnic tables complete with painted chess and checkers boards. It’s within walking distance to family-friendly restaurants and is a hot spot for morning playdates and holiday events.

 

Gretna Street at Huey P. Long Avenue. This playground, which opened in 2013, features separate play structures for big and little kids, with swings, a merry-go-round, monkey bars, a seesaw and more. There’s also plenty of green space for picnics and benches for parents.

 

1521 Palm St. This playground features something for everyone, including a running track, baseball fields, tennis courts and an indoor gymnasium. Kids will love the KaBOOM-built play structure, swings, slides and sandbox. The north side of the playground is adjacent to the railroad tracks – perfect for watching the trains go by.

 

Bonnabel Boulevard at Lake Pontchartrain. This fenced playground is topped by a rubberized mat to keep kids safe, while the boat launch, dog park and fishing pier will keep kids of all ages busy.

 

3000 Downs Blvd. This huge park has it all – several playgrounds, sports fields, a lagoon for feeding ducks, a spray park, disc golf, picnic spots, a 2-mile-long walking trail and more. A carousel at the center of the park offers rides for $1, and there’s even a “bark park” for your fur babies.

 

Loyola Drive at Vintage Drive. This well-maintained space is fenced and has a cool climbing apparatus and slippery slides, plus a pavilion, a 1/4-mile walking track, a handicap-accessible playground located on the far side of the park and an enormous man-made lake with lots of ducks to feed.