Brandywine Park is Wilmington's central park, 178 acres along both banks of the Brandywine River between the city centre and the Brandywine Valley. It was designed in 1886 by Samuel Parsons Jr., a partner of Frederick Law Olmsted, and retains the Olmsted-influenced curving paths, meadows, and naturalistic plantings.
The Brandywine Zoo, a small but well-run urban zoo, sits at the western end of the park. The Josephine Garden — a small Japanese-influenced fountain garden — and the Brandywine River Falls are nearby. The riverside paths are popular with runners and cyclists, and connect to the longer Northern Delaware Greenway.