Lummus Park - The Front Lawn of South Beach

Photo: P. Hughes, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Miami Beach: Art Deco District Walk, a free self-guided tour.

You are now in Lummus Park, the 74-acre strip of palms, lawns and sand along Ocean Drive from 5th to 15th Street. It is named for the brothers J.E. and J.N. Lummus, pioneers of early Miami Beach, and it was redesigned in the mid-1980s as the district came back to life. The wavy promenade between the grass and the beach takes its cue from Roberto Burle Marx's famous walkway at Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro.

Head toward the sand and look for the lifeguard towers. When Hurricane Andrew wrecked many of the old stands in 1992, architect William Lane designed bright, playful replacements, first built in 1995. They became a South Beach symbol, and Lane returned years later to design a new generation.

Now turn around for the best view on the walk: the long, low row of pastel hotels facing the sea, just as their architects intended. In summer this open stretch is the hottest part of the route, so drink water and keep to the shade of the palms.

Getting here: Cross the lawn and walk south through the park, toward the sand, to about 9th Street.

Did you know?: Miami Beach was mostly mangrove swamp and scrub until developers in the 1910s cleared the land and pumped in sand dredged from Biscayne Bay to build up the island.

Photo op: From the sand, frame a lifeguard tower against the ocean, or turn west to catch the hotel row behind the palms.

More on Wikipedia: Lummus Park, Miami Beach · Hurricane Andrew · Roberto Burle Marx

Lummus Park - The Front Lawn of South Beach

Stops on this tour