The Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) operates and maintains the City of Houston's parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, golf courses, skateparks, and recreation centers; as well as, providing recreational programming.
[2][3] HPARD currently oversees 382 developed parks and more than 167 greenspaces, covering over 39,500 acres;[3] and over 125 miles of hike-and-bike trails.
[4] The HPARD consists of seven (7) divisions:[3] The Department of Public Parks was created on March 15, 1916 by a City of Houston ordinance (Chapter 23, Article 1, Section 32-2).
At that time, the department had two parks — Sam Houston Park and Hermann Park.
[1] In 2008, the department received national accreditation from the National Recreation and Park Association's (NRPA) Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA).