A park is an open area of land that is delegated for public recreation and enjoyment. Parks are usually preserved in a natural state and often have additional amenities, facilities and lodging that the public can use for rest and recreation. They differ from gardens in that parks are much larger.

Parks are usually administered by an association, city, state or nation, but private parks owned by an individual or private association also exist.  The chief advocacy and protection organization for the conservation of public parks in the United States is the National Recreation and Parks association, which represents 3,000 state and local publicly funded park associatons.

The United States government also designates certain areas as national parks or national reserves and protects those areas as well. These areas are usually tracts of land whose flora, fauna and landscape have been well preserved over the centuries. In 1872, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park designated in the US as well as in the rest of the world, These parks are specifically overseen by the National Park Service. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)