Parque Lenin, on the southern edge of Havana's metropolitan area, is one of the largest urban parks in Cuba. Created in the early 1970s on the site of former sugar plantations, the park covers around 740 hectares and contains lakes, riding stables, an open-air amphitheatre, a narrow-gauge steam railway, and a rodeo ground. It was designed as a recreational space for working-class Havana families and still serves that purpose, most visibly on weekend afternoons when families arrive by bicycle, horse cart, and the occasional camello bus.
The park is a 20–30 minute drive south from central Havana and not easy to reach without a taxi or bicycle. The steam train operates on weekends. A monument to Lenin — a large granite relief carved by Soviet sculptor Lev Kerbel — stands near the main entrance on Calle 100, giving the park its name and making clear the ideological ambitions of its creators. The surrounding reservoirs and forest provide a genuine contrast to the urban density of Havana proper.