Tropical Park is a

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in metropolitan

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The park is located just southwest of the intersection of the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) and Bird Road, just west of

South Miami South Miami is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 12,026 as of the 2020 census. History South Florida had been roamed by Native Americans ( ...

History

The land opened as a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

public park in 1979, on the grounds of the former Tropical Park Race Track, which had used the lands since 1931.

Facilities

It has a boxing center, fields for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, and

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, as well as facilities to play

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and racquetball. Tropical Park has a tennis center with 12 tennis courts that are wheelchair-accessible. There are four lakes within the park, a dog park, as well as paddle boating, and freshwater fishing. Cyclists, joggers, and runners use the miles of paved pathways circulating through the park.

Equestrian Center

Throughout the year, the park hosts horse shows, rodeos, and other special events at the Tropical Park Equestrian Center. The equestrian center hosts over 30 horse shows a year, including international shows. The old racetrack's stables were used as part of the equestrian center.

Stadium

The Tropical Park Stadium is home to the Miami-Dade Track and Field Team. It has also hosted prestigious national track and field meets such as the Junior Olympics, USA National Track and Field Championships, and many local high school football games.

Santa's Enchanted Forest

Annually, from early November through the beginning of January, Santa's Enchanted Forest took over a large part of Tropical Park until 2019. The holiday event featured six million lights, a giant

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

, and carnival rides.

References

{{Greater Miami Parks in Miami-Dade County, Florida 1979 establishments in Florida