Enjoy Reno-Sparks Parks and Playing Fields
Northern Nevada's Largest Metro Area Features Variety of Open Spaces
Aug 11, 2009
With more than 120 city and four county parks within the Reno-Sparks city limits – Northern Nevada’s largest metropolitan area boasts more open space than most U. S. cities its size. While many of them are of the city-block others measure their size in acres.
Rocks and the River Add to Parkland Pleasures
Wingfield Park, located on the Truckee River downtown, is the city park most visible to Reno tourists. The setting for the city’s annual Reno River Festival in May and daily Artown events in July, it’s a popular kayaking venue and place to cool off during hot weather.
Another cooling-off oasis in neighboring Sparks, the Marina is the example of an eyesore being converted into a beauty spot. Now surrounded by trees, walking paths and sandy beaches, the 77-acre lake has become a favorite for sailing, windsurfing, fishing and swimming.
Idlewild Park, connected to Wingfield Park by a cement path along the Truckee River, is a Reno old-timer and popular for group picnics. Rose bushes – 2,400 of them – growing in its rose garden represent 560 different varieties. The Crooked Mile, which follow the river to the west, is a popular trail with local residents. A children’s playground, baseball diamonds, a volleyball pit and municipal swimming pool are among the park’s other attractions.
Rancho San Rafael and Bartley Ranch are More than Parks
The Rancho San Rafael park complex, Reno’s largest county-operated park, includes the Wilbur D. May Museum; the Great Basin Adventure (children love it!); an arboretum with gardens, waterfalls and gazebos; trails, and extensive picnic facilities. In the northern part of the city along McCarran Boulevard, it’s the site of big annual events such as The Great Reno Balloon Race.
Another spot that’s popular for community events, Bartley Ranch Park in southwest Reno, is the setting for such celebrations as the annual Celtic Festival. On the park grounds are an amphitheatre, the one-room Huffaker School built in 1867 and a variety of trails.
Dozens of Neighborhood Parks Vary in Size
One of the larger neighborhood open spaces, Manzanita Park (Manzanita Street, east of Lakeside Drive), with a playground for kiddies, two tennis courts, a softball field and covered picnic facilities, is ideal for families. Virginia Lake is popular with people who like to feed the resident population of Canadian geese. Most of the parks with skateboard ramps are in the newer developments of the area’s North Valleys.
Hiking Trails are Incorporated into Subdivisions
As the city has spread out, hiking trails -- including several treks from four to 14 miles in length up to Peavine Peak in northwest Reno – have been developed. West of downtown, Oxbow Nature Area (off West Second Street at the end of Dickerson Road) lets strollers experience the river’s natural environment of decades ago. Although a one-third mile interpretive trail is Oxbow’s main feature, there’s also a two-story observation tower that affords eagle-eye views of the surrounding wilderness. Mule deer, coyotes, raccoons, skunks and several species of waterfowl are among the area’s residents. Fish, turtles and frogs live in the channel where the river formerly flowed, forming the oxbow that gave the preserve its name.
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