BREC — Baton Rouge's Park System

The Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge — BREC — runs 186 park sites covering over 5,300 acres across East Baton Rouge Parish. It's one of the most comprehensive urban park systems in the South, and largely responsible for the quality of outdoor life in a city that doesn't always get credit for it. The range is the point: neighborhood splash pads, the Baton Rouge Zoo, the 6,700-acre Farr Park equestrian center. Most BREC parks are free and open daily. BREC Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1952, was dedicated in memory of the men and women who fought and served Baton Rouge during the two World Wars and the Korean War — the stadium seats 21,500 and hosts high school football and concerts. For a city built on the bluff, on strategic placement and industrial necessity, BREC is the infrastructure that lets people live here, not just work here.