Chapman Field Park, Park in Florida, US
Chapman Field Park is a park of nearly 500 acres in the Coconut Grove area of Miami, Florida, bordering the bay with mangroves, small lakes, open fields, and fenced dog runs. It offers nature trails, a kayak launch, and renovated baseball and softball fields spread across a mix of green and coastal land.
The land served as a military airfield during World War I, and the Department of Agriculture later used it to grow rubber and mango trees, among the first planted in the United States. In the 1940s, women pilots from the Women's Airforce Service Pilots group trained Navy and Army cadets there, a role recognized by a Florida Historic Marker installed in April 2024.
The park sits about 40 miles (65 km) south of downtown Miami and is easiest to reach by car, with parking available near the kayak launch area that can fit trailers. Insect repellent is a good idea, especially near the mangroves, and visitors with dogs should bring their own water since there are no water stations inside the park.
The park is named after Victor Chapman, the first American pilot to die in World War I, shot down over Verdun in 1916 while flying with French volunteers. The same land also hosted some of the first mango trees ever cultivated in the United States, grown there by the Department of Agriculture.
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