These Outdoor Sculpture Gardens Inspire Artsy Fun

Fresh-air galleries offer interactive, approachable and wellness-boosting excursions for all ages

View of Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas with dark figures on the stairs

Sculptor Nathan Mabry re-imagines existing sculptures, including classics by artists such as Rodin, by adding adding masks and other dressings. He has a display at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas.

Joyce Marshall/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Amy Brecount White,

AARP

Published February 20, 2026

Gardens are perennially popular as relaxing destinations for travelers of all ages, including those 50 and up. And sculpture-focused gardens are especially enticing for their eye-catching art mingled into the greenery. Travelers will enjoy the featured sculptures of all sizes. A trip to a sculpture garden provides the wellness bonus of fresh air, exercise and green spaces.

AARP research found that 95 percent of travelers 50-plus believe travel is good for their mental health, and 85 percent agree travel is good for their physical health.

An outdoor museum may provide a less intimidating, more accessible experience for grandchildren and open lines of communication among the generations about beauty, art and the landscape. Plan a healthy stroll through these engaging sculpture gardens across the U.S.

“Go with an open mind, a good pair of walking shoes and plan to enjoy yourself,” says Marita Holdaway, curatorial director of the San Juan Islands Sculpture Park in Washington state. “Be prepared to be embraced by nature.… You will find something that you will be attracted to.”

Walking trails dotted with sculptures wind through woodland and wetland settings at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan

This popular 158-acre destination was named the “Best Sculpture Park” in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for the past three years. Take the 30-minute, narrated, wheelchair-accessible tram ride for an overview of the park, which includes a Japanese garden, woodland garden and a Michigan farm garden.

You’ll spy impressive works, such as Nina Akamu’s lively, 24-foot The American Horse, along with more playful pieces by Keith Haring and Louise Bourgeois. Walking trails dotted with sculptures wind through woodland and wetland settings.

“Lena Meijer [one of the founders] was a big fan of flowers and beautiful spaces, but she also loved children and families, so [the children’s garden] is a great place to interact with the art … for children of all ages,” says Amber Oudsema, the park’s curator of art interpretation and engagement.

From May 2 through Nov. 1, the park will host a Dale Chihuly exhibition, with both indoor and outdoor glass sculptures. General admission: $25 for adults; $20 for adults 65-plus; for “Chihuly: Radiant Forms,” $9 for adults.

a person walking near a piece of art in a field

“Fallen Sky” by Sarah Sze is one of the sculptures at Storm King Art Center in New York.

Jeffrey Jenkins

Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York

Walk, ride the tram or pedal a rented bike ($30 for two hours) through the lovely 500 acres in New York’s Hudson Valley. By focusing on large-scale pieces, the park is “reimagining what the display of art can be — beyond four walls and in dialogue with nature,” says Nora Lawrence, the center’s executive director. The commissioned works “are informed by the landscape, in which the land itself becomes part of the art.”

Seasonal elements — including light, temperature and sound — interplay with the sculptures to make each visit different, Lawrence says. One popular work, Storm King Wavefield by Maya Lin, makes you “feel like you are moving through water when you see it — it’s a truly immersive, bodily experience,” she adds.

A free, wheelchair-accessible tram helps visitors enjoy the grounds, which include paved, gravel and grass paths. An accessibility map and low-vision guided touch tours are available. Open April 1 to Nov. 29. Admission: $25 for adults; $22 for adults 65-plus.

An array of 150 sculptures is spread along five walking paths on 20 acres at the San Juan Islands Sculpture Park in Washington state. Here, passersby look at “Young Hawk” by Georgia Gerber.

Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

San Juan Islands Sculpture Park, San Juan Island, Washington

Take the car ferry to San Juan Island, one island in an archipelago off northwestern Washington state, to discover this fanciful array of 150 sculptures spread along five walking paths on 20 acres. Artists apply for their work to be in the park, and some pieces are for sale.

“We try to put things in there that seem to complement the landscape,” says curator Holdaway. “We have abstract, we have realism, we have whimsy.”

Some of the park’s more popular sculptures include ones that you can interact with, including a herd of small sheep by David Halpern. “People love to go out and play with those,” Holdaway says. “Every time I go there, they’re arranged differently.”

These islands are also known for whale watching, kayaking and local food and brewing. The free park, which is open from dawn to dusk, appreciates donations.

In Washington state? Check out Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park, a free space on the city’s waterfront along the Salish Sea. It offers 22 sculptures with a mountain backdrop. For more information, download a 20-minute curator-guided tour featuring park highlights.

Brookgreen Gardens has one of the largest sculpture collections, with pieces such as “The Visionaries,” tucked into its Lowcountry setting.

Visit Myrtle Beach

Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Focused on American sculpture, this 9,000-plus-acre nature preserve has one of the largest collections, including thousands of pieces tucked into the Lowcountry setting, complete with lush live oaks elegantly draped with Spanish moss.

Visitors will enjoy large, mythical creatures, such as Pegasus, and other enormous, realistic animal sculptures, including Fighting Stallions by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, the park’s co-founder. Her on-site home, Atalaya, is on the National Register of Historic Places and can be toured. As part of the gardens’ creative education department and their Lowcountry history, there is Gullah Geechee programming. Admission: $25 for adults; $23 for adults 65-plus.

Large and eclectic modern works are on display across the art-rich 33 acres of the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park.

Marcus E Jones/Shutterstock

Sculpture Fields at Montague Park, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Named as North America’s first National Park City by the National Park City Foundation, Chattanooga has striven to create a greener, healthier and more culturally rich environment, according to the foundation.

On the southside of town, visitors can explore 1½ miles of grass and gravel trails across the art-rich 33 acres of the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park. Enjoy views of nearby Lookout Mountain while hearing directly from the artists on a self-guided tour. The large and eclectic modern works and their titles, such as John Clement’s Cinderella or Linda Howard’s Star Center, may lead to lively discussions about the artist’s intent.

While in town, don’t miss the two-acre River Gallery Sculpture Garden on a hill overlooking the Tennessee River. The permanent sculpture collection features artwork by Richard Serra, Frank Stella and Isamu Noguchi. Both gardens are free and open from dawn to dusk.

Nearly five miles of trails wind through 164 acres of park, gardens, a terraced pond and installations at the Ann and Jim Goodnight Park at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

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Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park, Raleigh, North Carolina

Follow nearly five miles of trails that wind through 164 acres of park, gardens, a terraced pond and installations, including Auguste Rodin sculptures. The collection consists of more than 30 works inspired by nature. In addition, the park features sustainable landscapes of restored native plants.

The North Carolina Museum of Art offers guided programs for families and indoor exhibitions. Key artworks to see include Thomas Sayre’s 18-foot Gyre, with its earth-cast rings, and Wind Machine, a 30-foot kinetic sculpture made from salvaged materials by folk artist Vollis Simpson.

The museum’s app has a trail guide and audio descriptions. Separately, the museum hosts outdoor scavenger hunts. The Capital Area Greenway connects to the park’s trails. The free park is open from dawn to dusk.

the exterior of the Nasher Sculpture Center

The Nasher Sculpture Center is located in Dallas's Arts District.

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Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas

An Arts District escape in busy Dallas, this modern and contemporary collection features over 300 masterworks by lauded artists, including Rodin, Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso. Twenty-five sculptures are placed amid the 1½-acre outdoor garden’s cedar elms, live oaks and magnolias. The indoor galleries, with glass walls and a vaulted glass roof, emphasize natural light and blur the indoor and outdoor spaces. Water features, such as small streams and rectangular ponds, contribute to the tranquil mood. Admission: $10 for adults; $7 for adults 65-plus. First Saturdays of the month are free and include family programming.

For more expansive grounds in Texas, check out the paved pathways at the 25-acre McNay Art Museum and sculpture garden in San Antonio. Sculptures include works by Linda Pace and Robert Indiana. There are regular family days, plus free admission monthly on the first Sunday and Thursdays after 4 p.m. Admission: $23 for adults; $18 for adults 65-plus.

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An award-winning writer and local park steward, Amy Brecount White loves to sample local fare and stroll through forests. She has written for National Geographic Travel, Smithsonian, The Washington Post and Sierra magazine.

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