via flickr/PaulSableman
Concert-goers on Art Hill in Forest Park.
Remember last month when we told you Forest Park and the Missouri Botanical Garden needed your vote to win a travel award? Your votes worked, and now Forest Park is No. 1 in the country.
Forest Park is the winner in the Best City Park category of USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice travel awards. Missouri Botanical Garden won third place in the Best Botanical Garden category behind No. 1 Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania and New York Botanical Garden.
Forest Park beat out many famous parks to take the No. 1 spot, including Central Park, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Zilker Park in Austin, Boston Common, and Klyde Warren Park in Dallas.
The national contest pits 20 top attractions, selected by panels of experts, against each other for an online poll. The winner gets more than just bragging rights. The lists rank among the top ten most-visited travel information sites in North America, according to USA Today, giving the St. Louis attractions a fresh round of exposure to travelers planning their next trips.
Here’s how USA Today described Forest Park:
Located in the heart of St. Louis, Forest Park encompasses nearly 1,400 acres of land. It is one of the largest urban parks in the United States, nearly a third larger than New York City's Central Park. The St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis Science Center and Planetarium, History Museum, Zoo, Jewel Box and Muny Theater are a few of the many attractions located on the grounds. The park is widely used for outdoor recreation and features bicycle paths, jogging trails, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, boating and skating.
And here’s what the contest had to say about Missouri Botanical Garden:
Founded in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Garden is the nation's oldest botanical garden in continuous operation and a registered National Historic Landmark. Its 79 acres of garden spaces include a 14-acre Japanese strolling garden, one of the world's most extensive collections of rare and endangered orchids and a scented garden for the visually impaired.
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
