McKinley Square

Very small, nice park at the top of the hill in a cute neighborhood! It’s a nice climb to get up here, and you have views of the financial district and so much more. During the weekdays it’s almost empty. There is an area of green grass and a separate play area for kids. Dogs are welcome on a leash. I will visit here often!

Great parking, clean and fenced in, excellent view of the city atop the hill. Can’t recommend enough for tots and kids!

Home of the famous Bring Your Own Big Wheel (BYOBW). Other than that, it is still a great park! Here are my takes:
Feels | Small yet intimate. Great place to just simply relax and hang out. While there are conventional parks such as Dolores or Alamo Square park. I think it’s a great hidden gem because you get a pretty good view of the SF skyline. Good for kids, great to run hills, and nice for a date night.
Parking | Depending on the day since it could get packed since it is in a residential area however I don’t see it crowded unless major events are here.
Overall
4 stars. A great charming place but there are better places. If this place would be more proximal to food places then that would be just SUPER! Regardless it’s a great place to be.
TL;DR Tips:
* Home of BYOBW. For further information about that. Checkout my review:

Best views of the city, great garden next door and a nice dog park… what more could you ask for? People know each other here and making friends is just that much easier now… I even see other relaxed moms sipping beer on sunny Friday afternoons… come on by. You will love it. Super close to SFGH, 10 minutes uphill… you can come here for your lunch, relax from that crazy day of yours and enjoy some sun, cute kids running around and your lunch… can’t get much better than that…

This is a lil cool spot that we found after I came across some info on the internet about another crooked street besides Lombard St. McKinley Sq is right on 20^th and Vermont St in the Mission District. Vermont St is where you’ll find the other crooked st in SF which is not as nice or as touristy as Lombard but I think it’s a lil longer and more crooked. Nothing really special about the park except that it had a decent view of the city and a local garden that you can go in and see what the surrounding neighbors are growing. Still a pretty cool spot to check out and if you wanna drive down a crooked st without having to deal with all the crowds and cars waiting in line to drive down Lombard St.

What a beautiful, sun-​drenched park that’s also fully fenced-​in, all the better to keep track of your active little children.
New play structures and swing set (the latter set in the shade) and small redwood tables and benches to decamp with snacks or lunch, McKinley Square is a little oasis in the heart of Potrero Hill.
Plentiful (unmetered) parking all around the park, enjoy the majestic vistas from McKinley Square and then go visit the community garden a half block away (don’t pick the flowers or vegetables).
And for a last bit of fun when you leave, drive down the steep switchbacks of Vermont Street to the happy shrieks from your child.
McKinley Square is a sweet little gem.

I love this park! On a clear day you can see the entire city, including the tip of Golden Gate Bridge. With hiking paths on the back side, it makes for a great morning walk with the pups.

Ok. not fenced in so you have to trust your dog not to make a sudden run for the street. has some hidden trails and lovely views.

Awesome view from here. Also, it is a dog park so there are a ton of cool dogs running around. There are children too, but they keep them caged in the playground so the dogs don’t get bothered.
Also, on Easter there is the Bring Your Own Big Wheel tricycle race.
Only downside is there is a violent hobo mob living in the bushes along the 101 freeway. I live on 22^nd, and in one week they attacked 3 people on the 22^nd st. bridge, and broke into 2 of our cars. A while back they also tried to rob a woman and slit her throat open. But that is to be expected across the freeway from the mental hospital.
I’ve seen Norteno gangsters at this park too and they’re super chill and friendly. Just watch out for the deranged hobos and crackheads lurking in the bushes.

My sister and I took our dogs for a walk one lovely day, and while the views were great, the used condom I almost stepped on was not. No more new discoveries for my dogs at this park.

Great little park in a nice neighborhood with outstanding views. Windy area.

Clean, well maintained park with friendly dogs and people. I live in the neighborhood and walk here with my dog once or twice a week. Great views of the Mission and Twin Peaks. There are two picnic tables and a few benches but the place is generally too windy for a comfortable picnic. As others have mentioned, it can get cold so bring a sweater.

It’s a small park, but the views are unparalleled. During the day, you can see all the way to Bernal Heights. At night, the outline of hundreds of illuminated buildings greet you.
There’s an off-​leash dog area, and although there are better dog parks in the city: There is no dog park with better views.

I am in love with Potrero Hill, the views, the sun, the restaurants. I walk the trails at this park on my lunch since I work closeby, and the community garden next door is always nice. The views are amazing.
Also, this park is home of the REAL crookedest street in SF, Vermont St

The space is very lovely and I think that had I had a better first experience going there, I would consider returning. There was a rowdy party on the street that resulted in my car getting doused in water and one slightly unfriendly woman who was «protecting» her rescue dog from my dog. As an owner of a rescue dog that had serious issues as a puppy all i can say is… come on lady, if your dog can’t socialize with other dogs (in the ways that dogs socialize), maybe she shouldn’t be at a park. Big thanks to the man with the pit bull who gave me a poop bag. He was very friendly and knowledgeable about the park.

This is one of my favorite parks in the city. It’s near where I work, and when I happen to drive to work, I sometimes come up here to decompress right after my twelve-​hour shift ends.
The view is pretty good, but I actually like this park because of its compactness and the neighborhood around it. It can get really windy. If you plan on spending any time in the park itself, make sure you bring a sweatshirt or jacket.
It gets a bonus sixth star for being so close to the curvy part of Vermont Street. Screw Lombard; Vermont is the crookedest street in San Francisco, and its curves actually serve a purpose. Lombard used to be straight until the curves were added as a tourist attraction.

McKinley DOES have a very nice playground. It is also the brown patch of hill that one sees when looking towards Potrero Hill from the West. Hill-​wise, it lacks 360 views, but its proximity to 101 somehow makes one feel like an angsty rural teenager peering out at the world driving by. Nice little paths wind through rather cultivated landscaping, trees block the view in most places. A community garden is next door. While you’re here, check out Vermont St just North of the park – the ACTUAL crookedest street in the world.

This park was rated a Top Playground by the SF Chronicle and boats majestic views of the city as well as play structures for big and little kids.
There’s a grassy area near the playground often frequented by dogs and their owners.