Recreation Today

While Elizabeth Park is most famous for its gardens, it has an equal number of athletic and recreational facilities. Any day of the year, weather permitting, the Park is filled with walkers and runners, young mothers with baby strollers, yoga and tai chi groups, and bike riders. Dogs are most welcome with their owners. There is even a doggie water fountain by the perennial garden.

Elizabeth Park’s nine tennis courts are for the public to use. There are three courts along Asylum Avenue and six courts along the road in the Western Loop. 

East Lawn has a playscape, including Ana Grace’s playground, two basketball courts, and two softball fields. Leagues and routine groups must secure a permit from the City of Hartford. The track on the East Lawn is almost a half mile. It is a gravel track with a slight incline, just perfect for a workout in the morning, after dinner or during lunch break. Four times around is almost two miles.

The entire Park has roadways, paved paths, and trails for walkers and runners of all levels. The Western Loop walk is about 0.6 miles long. The Park Loop, which begins and ends at the Ethel Donaghue stone entrance on Prospect is about one mile. One could start at the entrance, walk around the rose garden, past the Pond House, up the Asylum Avenue trail, and then down Prospect back to the stone entrance.