Las Vegas not ranked as high as you might think for parks and rec

July is National Park and Recreation Month — no, not the Amy Poelher-starring comedy — and a new study celebrated by ranking Las Vegas 16th (below Reno) on a list of the best and worst cities for recreation.

A team of experts using a set of 27 criteria at WalletHub ranked the 100 largest cities in the U.S. The criteria included park facilities, museums, food festivals or anything else that would contribute to the well-being of a city.

Las Vegas was ranked 48th for people with walkable park access, 49th for swimming pools and 20th for spending on parks. In a better light, the city was 11th for bike rentals, 9th for food prices, 6th for coffee and tea shops and first for music venues.

Also ranked above Las Vegas is Scottsdale, Ariz.; Boise, Idaho; St. Louis, Mo. and Omaha, Neb.

Henderson ranked No. 20 on the list, and North Las Vegas ranked No. 94. WalletHub ranked North Las Vegas dead last for parkland and second to last for coffee shops. The City of Las Vegas is comprised of about 3.5 percent parkland.

However, it isn’t always quantity as it is quality.

Despite being ranked lower in this report for parks and recreation, Las Vegas was previously ranked one of the most livable cities.

Henderson was ranked fairly high earlier this year on a national park survey which came shortly after the smaller city south of Las Vegas won an award from the National Recreation and Park Association.

In the same report, Las Vegas was ranked higher in “access” to the parks, with 58 percent of Las Vegas residents living within a half-mile of a park.

While Las Vegas might not be ranked by WalletHub this year as the top for parks, there is way more to do in the city and in the surrounding areas.

Of course, there’s the Vegas checklist, will all the quintessential things you have to do. This includes everything from visiting the Mob Museum to checking out Hoover Dam in the Lake Mead Recreation Area.

The city also has lots of family friendly things to do, including watching desert bighorn sheep at Hemenway Park and the Pinball Hall of Fame, as well as a business that’s completely filled with trampolines.

Not to mention that little “Entertainment Capital of the World” thing.

Determining the best is, ultimately, subjective.

Contact Kristen DeSilva at 702-477-3895 or kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kristendesilva