A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government.
Examples of large regional park systems are the Cleveland Metroparks in Northeast Ohio, Huron-Clinton Metroparks in Southeast Michigan; and the Three Rivers Park District in Minnesota.
In Ohio, under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1545, metroparks such as the Cleveland Metroparks Park District, Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks have their own Police Departments with sworn police officers.
The East Bay Regional Park District and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District have extensive parklands in the San Francisco Bay Area, protecting habitat and offering recreation.
In Scotland, regional parks are defined to co-ordinate the management of areas of attractive countryside that are of importance for recreation due to their proximity to population centres.