Best Parks in Ormond Beach, FL

Updated July 2026 · Reviewed by Adams, Cameron & Co.

Ormond Beach is best known for its stretch of Atlantic coastline, but its park system is genuinely bigger than the beach itself, running from oceanfront family parks to riverfront gardens to a 60-plus acre athletic complex on the mainland. Here's an honest look at the ones worth knowing.

Andy Romano Beachfront Park

A four-acre park directly on the beach at 839 S. Atlantic Avenue, with a splash pad, a shaded playground, a pavilion for parties and gatherings, restrooms and showers, a concession stand, and free off-beach parking. It's the most family-friendly oceanfront option in the city, built for a full day at the beach rather than just sand access.

Central Park

At 187.7 acres, Central Park is the spine of the city, a series of five lakes, ponds, canals, and walkways running through the middle of Ormond Beach. It has gazebos, picnic pavilions, grills, basketball and tennis courts, the G.F. Althouse walking trail, a labyrinth, and the Joyce Ebbets pier for fishing and kayak access. The city's Environmental Discovery Center, a free, self-guided nature center with live turtles, snakes, and a honeybee hive, sits inside the park.

Rockefeller Gardens and The Casements

Overlooking the Halifax River, Rockefeller Gardens is the riverfront setting for community events like Movies on the Halifax and Art in the Park. It sits alongside The Casements, the actual winter home John D. Rockefeller lived in from 1918 until his death in 1937. The City of Ormond Beach bought the property in 1974 and restored it as a cultural and community center, and it's been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.

Fortunato Park

A 2.6-acre riverfront park just east of the Granada Bridge, directly across from Rockefeller Gardens. It has a fishing pier, paved walking paths, a playground, and the historic Ormond Hotel Cupola, a remnant of the hotel that once stood on the site. It's free and open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., a genuinely quiet spot for sunset views over the river.

Nova Community Park

A more than 60-acre athletic complex on the west side of Nova Road, with five baseball fields, six tennis courts, two basketball courts, four handball courts, a fitness trail, the Magic Forest Playground, and the city's skatepark. The attached Nova Community Center adds an 11,440-square-foot gymnasium, a game room, and a weight room. This is the park for organized sports and league play, not a quiet walk.

Ormond Beach Sports Complex

A 143-acre facility at 700 Hull Road built specifically for athletic events, serving as a hub for organized sports across the area. It's less a neighborhood park and more a dedicated athletics venue, the kind of facility that shows up in tournament schedules well beyond city limits.

Tomoka State Park

Just north of the city on N. Beach Street, technically a state park rather than a city one, but close enough that it carries an Ormond Beach mailing address and functions as part of the local park landscape. It covers 2,000 acres along the Tomoka River, with canoeing, camping, a half-mile nature trail through a hardwood hammock, and enough bird activity, more than 160 species recorded, to draw serious birdwatchers. Admission is $5 per vehicle.

Smaller, community-adopted parks

Beyond the larger parks above, the city maintains a number of smaller pocket parks through its Adopt-A-Park program, cared for by local civic groups and residents. These include Riviera Park, Rosewood Park, Sanchez Park, Vadner Park, Riverbend Nature Park, Bailey Riverbridge Gardens, and additional sections of Central Park itself. They're smaller and less amenity-heavy than the parks above, but they add up to a real, distributed park presence across the city's neighborhoods, not just the beach and the river.

Why this matters beyond just a nice afternoon

For anyone evaluating Ormond Beach as a place to live, work, or invest, a city's park system is a real, tangible quality-of-life signal, not a minor detail. A nearly 188-acre central park, a genuine piece of Gilded Age history preserved as public land, a 143-acre sports complex, and a state park at the city's doorstep say something concrete about how this city invests in its neighborhoods beyond the tourist-facing beachfront. That's worth knowing whether you're a prospective resident, a buyer, or an agent building genuine local expertise in this market.

Park amenities and hours can change. Confirm current details directly with the City of Ormond Beach Parks and Recreation department before visiting.