> Take a tour of Parks 
We touch approximately 25 million people per year, who use our parks, attend our events and participate in our programs.
A three-time winner of the National Gold Medal for excellence in park and recreation administration and the only municipal park system its size to be awarded National Accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Park & Recreation Agencies, the Miami-Dade Park and Recreation Department is one of the busiest and largest leisure service agencies in the United States.
The Department manages more than 12,000 acres, roughly half of which are environmentally sensitive or threatened natural areas requiring protection and conservation. The Department maintains and programs more than 250 parks, recreation facilities and greenway areas; and it provides park and recreation services to a resident population of nearly two million.
South Florida's subtropical climate allows year-round outdoor recreation possibilities, and the Department's parks provide a multitude of opportunities. From swimming at one of the 15 County pools, to tennis at one of the more than 7 multi-court tennis centers, to playing sand volleyball on our beaches, Miami-Dade Parks offers a diversified selection of programs and facilities to match almost any taste.
Scenic and historical parks are the cornerstone of the Department's foundation, from the woodsy Greynolds Park with its bird rookery to Matheson Hammock, comprised mainly of hardwood forest, mangroves and winding trails.
Six full-service marinas offer more than 979 wet slips to the boating public, and the beachfront parks, such as Crandon and Haulover, have long sweeps of white sand and boardwalks.
Sports enthusiasts will have their appetites whet with more than 175 ballfields that accommodate baseball, soccer, softball or football. Running clubs can be caught practicing for a meet at one of the running tracks. The lakes, rivers and ocean fronts that sculpt the landscape offer fishing, swimming, boating and other water sports. There is no end to the possibilities: camping, nature studies, arts and crafts classes, agricultural and archaeological excursions, outdoor concerts and horse shows.
International sporting events such as The Sony Ericsson at the state-of-the-art Crandon Park Tennis Center draws thousands of sport celebrities and fans to Miami and introduces Miami-Dade County Park facilities to international audiences.
Miami-Dade Parks is renowned for its outstanding attractions. Fruit and Spice Park is the only tropical botanical garden of its kind in the United States. The 35-acre park boasts more than 500 varieties of exotic and tropical fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices and herbs. Metrozoo is a 740-acre cageless zoo that showcases more than 900 animals belonging to more than 250 species. It has excelled in the successful breeding of rare and endangered animals. Deering Estate at Cutler is a historic 444-acre bayfront park with nature preserves, archaeological sites, off shore island, and a education center and museum on South Florida Ecology. House tours of restored 1922 Stone Mansion.
Culture--as well as cultural diversity--is celebrated in Miami-Dade Parks facilities. Annual special events such as Black Music Month, Cornucopia of the Arts, The Redland Festival, the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair, Women's History Month, Kwanzaa Fest, and African American History Month have become highly anticipated dates on the Miami events calendar. Metropolitan opera stars, national and local celebrities and community figures find the spotlight at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium, Joseph Caleb Auditorium and the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center.
 Wi-Fi at Tropical Park!
Miami-Dade County is offering free Wi-Fi service at Tropical Park as part of Mayor Carlos Alvarez's Wireless Miami-Dade Initiative. Check out the video to find out more!
For all ages, for all times, for all people, for all possibilities, the Miami-Dade Park and Recreation Department offers something for everyone. So, "Come Play With Us!"
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