Mckinley Park

I have been coming to this park since I was young and not until this past year have they changed the playground. or shall I say renovated it haha… Based on the size of this park I have to say its the best one in Chicago… Or at least the south side. There is a place to play baseball, soccer, anything!!! Then the pond! Omg goldfish, catfish, turtles, ducks, goose, crayfish… Lol my sons favorite for fishing. Tennis court and bike paths… Pools… omg if i forgot something let me know… love this place…

Yes! The McKinley Park ice rink is open, despite the unseasonably warm weather! I just got back from ice skating a few hours ago and it was pretty fun!
Sure, my boyfriend and I could have gone to the McCormick Tribune Rink downtown, but it’s most likely very crowded on weekends and it’s $ 10 to rent skates. No, thanks. If you have a car, McKinley Park is actually very convenient to the Loop; It’s right off I-​55 and there’s plenty of parking. You can also take the Orange Line to 35^th/​Archer Station and walk a block south.
The ice rink is located on the west side of the park. To rent skates, you have to go up into the trailer and trade in your shoes for skates. The lady there is super sweet. Skate rentals are only $ 6. Once you’re laced up, you’re good to go.
The ice rink is a good size. It got a little crowded with kids in the afternoon, but they were unobtrusive. In fact, everyone was having a good time. I know this sounds cheesy, but I haven’t seen so many smiles in a long time. Anyway, the rink was well-​maintained; he surface was mostly smooth, except for the area near the entrance to the rink. They had rock music playing on the radio, which was nice to skate to. (I sang along to Queen’s «Bohemian Rhapsody».)
After an hour, my boyfriend and I had enough skating. Surprisingly, I did not fall, despite a number of close calls! If you and your SO (or family) need something to do during the winter, definitely go ice skating. It’s inexpensive and it’s seasonal.
Tips:
— Bring cash for your skate rental.
— Wear thick socks.
— Leave your purse and other belongings in your car. There are NO lockers.
— Skate counter-​clockwise (follow the crowd).
— Holding onto someone else will NOT help you balance. In fact, you (and the other person) are most likely to fall.
— For goodness sake, you’re never going to learn how to skate if you cling onto the rink’s border the entire time. Sure, you may fall, but a lot people fall. Who cares The only way to swim is to get wet. Besides, it’s NO FUN at all.
— Take longer strides. Move as fluidly as possible.
— Wear a hat and gloves!
Have a blast!

Beautiful park with lots to do! My 5 year old and I love to walk around the pond and feed the birds. Very serene.

I love taking my daughters here to play and have a picnic. We especially like the pond. They have nice paths for riding bikes, walking, or jogging. I haven’t used much of the park, but the outside structures look well kept. During warm weather, there are always people at the park.
On a (weird) side note: I went there on 2 separate occasions about 2 weeks ago and notice a small black duck on the pond. If you happen to spot it, watch it because it actually swims under water. (No, I’m not hallucinating. I pointed it out to other people and they saw the same thing) It will go under water and then resurface 10 feet away. I’ve seen ducks go under water, but never swim that far under water.

This park has come a long way since I was a kid. The formerly disgusting lagoon is now an attractive bird sanctuary with a walking path. It’s also stocked with fish. The large outdoor pool has an adjacent water play area for small children. On summer weekends, the park is filled with BBQs, soccer games, etc. Vendors with carts roam the park. They have an outdoor ice rink in the winter.

Took the family to the pool/​water park there today. The water playground is pretty small, but you can’t beat the price: free.
Its the first time I’ve been to a pool with rules this strict, apparently you have to bring a swimsuit or they won’t let you in, if you want to wear a shirt it must be white (although the lifeguards wore red shirts). They seem to be really strict about letting kids into the water playground only if they had a parent with them, but they’ll just let kids run out of the water playground without their parents and head to the lap pool, seems a bit backwards.
Didn’t see any food/​snack bar offerings there, but there were some pushcart vendors outside the park field house.
All in all, free beats spending $ 40 to take the family to one of the suburban pool/​water parks.

This is a surprisingly lovely and versatile neighborhood park. There is a sweet lagoon with a pleasant walking path around it, ducks, geese, fish, etc. Whenever I’ve been there, I’ve seen couples, families, people walking their dogs, teams playing sports, and everyone generally having a good time. It is a spacious park with a paved biking/​walking/​running/​rollerblading path, a pool, baseball diamond, and space for other sports – soccer and football, I guess (I’m not too sure what sports exactly ‘cuz I’m not all that into team sports…). In the wintertime there is an ice rink (which I swear I will try next winter!). It’s also easy to get to by public transportation, I would imagine, because it is not too far from the Orange Line or the Archer Ave. bus (one corner of the park is where Archer meets Western). I just wish I lived a little closer to it because I would defintely use it more often. It is one of those lesser-​known, under-​appreciated Chicago resources because it is on the southside.