"Spanning more than 2,000 acres across both sides of the Schuylkill, Fairmount Park offers walking paths, gardens, miles of waterfront biking trails, and attractions within it like the Please Touch children’s museum, Boathouse Row, Shofuso Japanese House and Garden, the Philadelphia Zoo, and Smith Memorial Playground with its 100-year-old wooden slide." - Regan Stephens
Regan Stephens
Regan Stephens is an award-winning freelance writer living in Philadelphia. She covers travel, food, and culture for outlets like Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, People, and Fortune.
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"With over 2,000 acres of land and 50 miles of paved trails, Fairmount Park is Philadelphia’s largest, and most popular, municipal park. Visitors experience the park’s natural beauty, which is made up of woods, meadows, and the Schuylkill River waterfront. When the weather cooperates, parkgoers flock to Fairmount to hike, cycle, ride horses, canoe, and fish. Fairmount is always busy, but the park is so vast that it never feels cramped. The park’s also full of man-made attractions, like a wildlife refuge and education center, public art, the Shofuso Japanese House, the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Smith Memorial Playground, which is perfect if you have kids who need to burn off energy." - MATADOR_NETWORK
One of Philly’s largest green spaces. The August 9, 2025 Old School Greek Picnic was held in Fairmount Park, 33rd and Diamond Streets, Philadelphia PA; this annual event drew hundreds of Black professionals, members of the Divine 9 African American Fraternities and Sororities.
Sylvia G.
Google
Beautiful and stunning a must see when in the area. Closed because of government shutdown but was worth the walk from Capitol.
Rossi S.
Google
Such a beautiful place to watch all the crew competitions and Boat House Row is always a gorgeous picture!
Nick L.
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Great visit to the children's playground. The great wooden slide built in the 1890s was the hit, but the other playground features were creative and fun too.
David A.
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Wonderful independence fireworks display. The park is under construction summer 2025. Some of it is not open. The pavilion and playground are open.
Tammy F.
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My family went to the Smith Memorial Playground at Fairmount Park. You have to sign in to use the park, but it is free. It is a well run organization with great playground equipment including a large wooden slide you slide down using a potato sack. There's an indoor air-conditioned area with restrooms and a toddler playland.
Linda H.
Google
Cherry blossoms were beautiful I did not realize: Fairmount Park is the largest landscaped urban park in the world – it's bigger than Central Park in New York City – with more than 2,000 scenic acres
Bernadette R.
Google
Most tourists see the art museum steps and Rocky statue. But do yourself a favor, keep going up Kelly Drive to see Historic Boathouse Row and Fairmount Park. It has some of the most scenic river views in Philadelphia, especially Spring cherry blossoms and Autumn fall foliage. It hosts two of the largest rowing regattas in the nation (Stotesbury Cup and Head of the Schuylkill Regatta.)