A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of grassy areas, rocks, soil and trees, but may also contain buildings and other artifacts such as monuments, fountains or playground structures. In North America, many parks have fields for playing sports such as association football, baseball and football, and paved areas for games such as basketball. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities. Some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Often, the smallest parks are in urban areas, where a park may take up only a city block or less and is ideally within a 10-Minute Walk of its residents. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables and barbecue grills. Parks have differing rules regarding whether dogs can be brought into the park: some parks prohibit dogs; some parks allow them with restrictions (e.g., use of a leash ); and some parks, which may be called " dog parks", permit dogs to run off- leash.
The largest parks can be vast natural areas of hundreds of thousands of seventy meters (thousands of square miles), with abundant wildlife and natural features such as mountains and rivers. There are also amusement parks which have live shows, fairground rides, refreshments, and games of chance/ skill.
