America's Best Parks for Picnics (2024)

Where to Picnic: The National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden features installations by Claes Oldenburg and Roxy Paine, whose project "Graft" is a 16,000-pound stainless steel tree. The wildly popular Jazz in the Garden concert series runs Fridays evenings through September 9, 2012 from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

What to Pack: At the historic Eastern Market, restored in 2009 after a fire, Canales' Quality Meats stocks smoked local hams. Even closer, Cowgirl Creamery's shop sells excellent organic-milk cheeses.

Cowgirl Creamery, about a 10-minute walk from the Mall; 919 F Street NW, 202-393-6880. Canales' Quality Meats, about a 20-minute walk from the Mall; 225 7th St. SE, 202-547-0542.

Where to Picnic: Manhattan's ultimate refuge can be found around the 22-acre Central Park Lake, where visitors watch necking swans and couples gliding in rented rowboats.

What to Pack: House-made charcuterie, terrines, and pâtés (plus selections from locally adored Saxelby Cheesemongers) are sold at mega chef Daniel Boulud's first takeout shop, Épicerie Boulud. For an all-American spread, Shake Shack's Upper West Side location serves the same great ShackBurgers (American cheese, tomato, lettuce, and "Shack Sauce") as the Madison Square Park original, minus the long lines.

Épicerie Boulud, about a five-minute walk from the park; 1900 Broadway, 212-595-9606. Shake Shack, about a five-minute walk from the park; 366 Columbus Ave., 646-747-8770.

Where to Picnic: Every day at noon, Millenium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion hosts concerts, including jazz and blues on Mondays and electronica on Saturdays.

What to Pack: Chef Phillip Foss takes liberties with the meatball subs from his truck, Meatyballs Mobile. His signature BBQ Balls are formed with pork shoulder and braised in a cola-bourbon sauce.

About a six-minute walk from the park; intersection of S. Dearborn St. and E. Monroe St., 11 a.m.-1 p.m. daily, 312-315-6127.

Where to Picnic: Towering weeping willows create a canopy over the green banks of the lagoon.

What to Pack: The 70-year-old Wisconsin Cheese Mart stocks local dairy. For a post-picnic espresso, there's an outpost of the city's favorite café and roaster, Alterra at the Lake, in the Milwaukee River Flushing Station.

Wisconsin Cheese Mart, about a seven-minute drive from the park; 215 W. Highland Ave., 414-272-3544. Alterra at the Lake, at the nexus of Veterans Park and McKinley Park; 1701 North Lincoln Memorial Dr., 414-223-4551.

Where to Picnic: What was once the Lincoln reservoir is now a reflecting pool surrounded by neat lawns.

What to Pack: Rain Shadow Meats, eight blocks away, sells house-cured charcuterie, and Baguette Box makes fantastic sandwiches, like grilled lemongrass steak with hoisin sauce, pickled daikon, and cilantro. Post-picnic: Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream uses dairy from western-Washington cows.

Rain Shadow Meats, about a nine-minute walk from the park; 1531 Melrose Ave., 206-467-6328. Baguette Box, about a nine-minute walk from the park; 1203 Pine St., 206-332-0220. Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream, about a one-minute walk from the park; 917 E. Pine St., 206-708-7947.

Where to Picnic: A decade ago, Laurelhurst Park became the first city park to be named to the National Register of Historic Places. Its open meadow is visible from the western entrance, but the field's slight dip — and surrounding fir and plane trees — lend a more secluded feel.

What to Pack: At Laurelhurst Market, partner David Kreifels assembles spectacular sandwiches combining house-made deli meats with breads from local bakery Fleur de Lis (available from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

About a five-minute walk from the park; 3155 E. Burnside, 503-206-3099.

Where to Picnic: There's a sunny stretch of grass just north of Liberty Pond, where rented paddleboats circle families of ducks.

What to Pack: Tony Caputo's Market & Deli employs a salumi-maker for its charcuterie. A favorite: soppressata prepared with organic pork and hand-crushed, wine-soaked garlic.

About a six-minute drive from the park; 1516 S. 1500 E., 801-486-6615.

Where to Picnic: The basin-side picnic tables are a short trek from Hole-in-the-Rock, the famous orange-red sandstone formation.

What to Pack: Legendary Pizzeria Bianco has a take-out offshoot called Pane Bianco, where sandwiches contain exquisite ingredients like house-made mozzarella and Creminelli soppressata. Closer to the park, Honey Bear's Bar-B-Q will pack its famous ribs to go.

Pane Bianco, about a 20-minute drive from the park; 4404 N. Central Ave., 602-234-2100. Honey Bear's Bar-B-Q, about a four-minute drive from the park; 5012 E. Van Buren St., 602-273-9148.

Where to Picnic: The southern perimeter of Jones Lawn is bordered by majestic, 100-year-old oak trees.

What to Pack: At the Lake House, star Texan chef Robert del Grande serves some easy-to-carry options like the Smoke House Burger, prepared with a blend of ground chuck, sirloin, brisket, and smoky bacon.

Adjacent to Jones Lawn; 1600 McKinney, 713-337-7320.

Where to Picnic: By the Lily Pond with its floating pink-and-white lotus flowers, the green lawns on either side of the Balboa Park Botanical Gardens are a good place to sit and admire the structure's molded redwood dome. A plus: The lawns are among the few areas in the park where alcohol can be legally consumed.

What to Pack: The towering sandwiches from Hash House A Go Go include the Kokomo: griddled meatloaf and smoked mozzarella wedged between thick slices of milk bread.

About an eight-minute drive from Balboa Park Botanical Gardens; 3628 5th Ave., 619-298-4646.

Where to Picnic: The secluded Garden of Shakespeare's Flowers grows some 150 species of plants and flowers.

What to Pack: Local chefs Charles Phan and Loretta Keller run a sustainably driven restaurant called Moss Room that's inside the California Academy of Sciences (but doesn't require tickets). The ultra-eclectic, ever-changing menu might feature lamb kefta with hummus and an heirloom-tomato-and-cucumber salad, plus walnut brownies.

Adjacent to the Garden; 55 Music Concourse Dr., 415-876-6121.

Where to Picnic: The park's location on the southernmost tip of South Beach affords prime views of the bay. Gently sloping, man-made hills throughout were renovated two years ago.

What to Pack: Joe's Stone Crab does crab-cake sandwiches and grilled-lobster reubens, but for purists, stone-crab claws are also available for take-away.

About a three-minute walk from the park; 11 Washington Ave., 305-673-0365.