Walking or bicycling to a community park provides double the opportunity for physical activity – on the way to the park and within it! We’re working to improve the safety and security of active travel to parks through an effort called Safe Routes to Parks. From 2017 to 2024, the Safe Routes Partnership led the Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program providing in-depth technical assistance and grant funding to local communities working to improve safe, secure park access for people of all ages and abilities in low-income communities and communities of color. The Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program builds on the Safe Routes to Parks Action Framework and Safe Routes to Parks Pilot Site program, developed in collaboration with the National Recreation and Parks Association.
In 2023, the Safe Routes Partnership launched a concurrent program, the Safe Routes to Parks Accelerator. This program brought together cross-agency staff from a state’s departments of transportation, health, and natural resources to improve safe, convenient, and equitable walking and biking routes to parks and open spaces and implement projects and programs that better support local communities’ park access needs.
About Safe Routes to Parks
Why Safe Routes to Parks?
Too often, communities that have experienced historical disinvestment, high levels of traffic incidences, crime and public safety challenges, and high rates of weight-related chronic disease have the least safe access to local public parks. Over the long term, with increased safety and accessibility, Safe Routes to Parks seeks to increase park usage and improve health for people of all ages, races, abilities, and income levels.
What are Safe Routes to Parks?
Safe Routes to Parks are approximately ten-minute walks or bike rides to parks that are:
- Accessible via multiple modes of transportation for people of all ages and abilities
- Conveniently located within approximately one half mile (10 minute walk) from where people live
- Safe from traffic and personal danger
- Comfortable and appealing places to walk or bicycle
- End at parks that are well-maintained and programmed
We all do! But Safe Routes to Parks are of particular concern in communities lacking infrastructure to support safe walking and bicycling and where violence and crime and high rates of weight-related chronic disease are prevalent. Safe Routes to Parks are important for kids, who are not old enough to drive themselves to parks, seniors, who may not wish to drive, and for people without cars, who rely on walking or bicycling to get around.
Creating Safe Routes to Parks is about more than just adding a sidewalk or hosting a single community meeting. It’s about understanding the bigger picture and changing the systems that have made access to parks inequitable in the first place. True transformation happens when we tackle the root causes of these inequities and work to create solutions that address the underlying systems that have hindered safe park access. Since 2017, the Safe Routes Partnership has partnered with local organizations and state agencies to make sure everyone can safely walk or bike to parks. Our goal is to shift the systems that have created barriers to park access, ensuring that all communities, regardless of their history or location, have safe and easy access to green spaces. This collection of factsheets highlights seven years of Safe Routes to Parks, featuring case studies, best practices, and strategies we’ve used to drive lasting, sustainable change in communities across the country. These resources will help guide your community in creating effective solutions that improve park access for everyone.
- Safe Routes to Parks: Seven Years of Impact
- The Safe Routes Partnership’s Approach to Coaching Communities for Sustainable Park Access
- Five Actions to Get Started on Safe Routes to Parks
- A Systems Approach to Safe Routes and Long-Term Change
- Connecting State and Local Safe Routes to Parks Work: A Colorado Case Study
Safe Routes to Parks Resources
These fact sheets, toolkits, infographics, and videos can help your community create safer, more accessible parks in communities across the country.
General
Safe Routes to Parks Action Framework and Resource Guide
Guide from the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) and Safe Routes Partnership provides strategies and resources to support the development and implementation of plans that improve safe, equitable, convenient access to local parks and green spaces.
Safe Routes to Parks Action Framework Training
Recorded training that provides in-depth instruction on each stage of the framework and examples from pilot sites across the country that worked on Safe Routes to Parks.
Four Tips to Advance Safe Routes to Parks
In fall 2023, four communities in Pennsylvania wrapped up participation in our Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program. We asked if they could impart practical advice to any community interested in advancing Safe Routes to Parks. Here are some of the key takeaways and lessons learned from their projects.
Sample Safe Routes to Parks Plans
View action plans from past Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program grantees.
- Blue Zones Project Hawaii (Honolulu, HI)
- United Neighborhood Association of South Wenatchee (Wenatchee, WA)
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Safe Routes to Parks Action Plan (Primos Park - Boulder, Colorado)
Safe Routes to School Meets Safe Routes to Parks
Factsheet overviewing alignment between Safe Routes to Parks and Safe Routes to School efforts.
Aligning Safe Routes to Parks with Safe Routes to School
This fact sheet outlines how Safe Routes to School and Safe Routes to Parks programming and advocacy can align to achieve shared goals and accomplish even more than each could do separately.
Safe Routes to Parks Infographic
Infographic highlighting the process of creating Safe Routes to Parks
This toolkit includes step-by-step guidance through the Safe Routes to Parks framework to increase safe and equitable access to parks and green spaces.
Why Safe Routes to Parks: Stories, Data, and Resources to Illustrate the Mission
This visual storyboard helps explain the Safe Routes to Parks program, and invites you to join us in advocating for equitable parks in your community and everywhere.
Equity
Equity in Safe Routes to Parks
Series of fact sheets with strategies to advance equity in every stage of the Safe Routes to Parks Action Framework.
Incorporating Equity into Safe Routes to Parks Training
Recorded in-depth instruction on how to incorporate equity into Safe Routes to Parks efforts and develop organizational capacity to address equity.
Taking Steps Toward Mobility Justice: An Invitation to Learn More and Take Action
Engage
A Checklist for Facilitating Community Engagement During Safe Routes to Parks Visioning Activities
Fact sheet to help organizations host a thoughtfully facilitated, engaging community visioning activity around Safe Routes to Parks efforts.
Protecting Black Lives in Parks and Public Spaces
As advocates for safe routes and safe public spaces, we must take a holistic view of safety, especially the safety of Black lives. This blog posts explores non-police strategies to improve safety in parks, streets, and public spaces.
Assess
Harnessing Data to Advance Safe Routes to Parks
This fact sheet provides ideas for ways to access and collect data as well as ways to effectively share the information to improve safe, equitable access to parks and green space.
Safe Routes to Parks Walk Audit Toolkit
Toolkit outlines steps to conduct a walk audit that will help improve safe access to parks for people walking and biking.
Health Impact Assessments: A Tool to Focus on Health Assessments of Public Park Access
Factsheet explains what Health Impact Assessments are and how they can support park access.
Plan
Standalone Policies to Support Safe Routes to Parks
Factsheet presents potential standalone policies that can demonstrate a clear commitment to Safe Routes to Parks.
Safe Routes to Parks in Complete Streets Policies
Incorporating Safe Routes to Parks priorities into Complete Streets policies can help shape daily operations and funding decisions, drastically increasing the likelihood of sustainable funding and consistent implementation.
Safety for Safe Routes in Parks - Part 1 & Safety for Safe Routes in Parks - Part 2
In these two recordings, Safe Growth founder, Greg Saville discusses the basics of a Safe Growth approach to community safety and analysis for park safety and crime prevention. Participants from the 2021 Safe Routes to Parks cohort discuss the concepts and concrete ways that they apply to assessing safety for their Safe Routes to Parks work.
Power Mapping 101 Fact Sheet
A Community Power Map is a visual tool to help you identify individuals, organizations, or institutions that may influence the outcome of the positive changes to increase park access in your community. This resource was created to guide you in developing your own community power map to build connections and improve park access.
Implement
Ideas for Implementing Safe Routes to Parks Improvements
People Powered Improvements: How Advocates Can Support the Implementation of Safe Routes to Parks
Prioritize and Partner Up to Pay for Safe Routes to Parks Infrastructure
Actionable Public Health Strategies to Boost Community Well-Being with Safe Routes to Parks
Financing Safe Routes to Parks
- Decoding the Jargon: Local Budget Basics for Funding Safe Routes to Parks
- Playing Matchmaker: Choosing the Right Funding Mechanism for Your Safe Routes to Parks Project
- Ready, Set, GO Bonds for Park Access
State-Level Funding
- Finding and Funding Great Projects: How State Funding Programs Can Prioritize Projects Backed by Strong Public Support
- Incentivizing Local Action for Safe Routes to Parks
- Federal Funding for Local Park Access
- Prioritizing Equity in Trails/Pathways
Sustain
Keep Up the Momentum: Sustaining Safe Routes to Parks Efforts
Safe Routes to Parks Success Stories
Parks + Connections, An Opportunity for Stronger Engagement in Tuscon
Bringing Flashing Stop Signs and a Community Park Celebration to Wenatchee, Washington
Residents 'Lead the Change' and Ignite Collaborative Efforts to Increase Park Safety in Houston
Sustaining Success: Former Crime Magnet is Transformed into a Community Recreational and Green Space
Grassroots Community Residents Lead the Change for a Safer and More Accessible Park in Planada, CA
Making Complete Streets a Reality in Birmingham, AL
Podcast - Park Access Starts with Safety: Two Safe Routes to Parks Efforts in Illinois
Watch: Safe Routes to Parks grantee Zyp BikeShare conducted a tactical urbanism event to build support for better bike connections to a local park in Birmingham, AL.
Watch: Living Cully Walks worked with community residents and artists to create a wayfinding network that helps people get to Cully Park, built on a former landfill in the Cully neighborhood of Portland.