McKinley Park Trails

McKinley Park is one of the larger parks in Chicago, with over 69 acres of lush fields, a beautiful lake, vibrant and tall trees, and most notably the McKinley Park Trails. Although the park itself has some pretty great features, the trails are some of the most popular in the city and park, which provide plenty of areas to walk and explore for humans and pups. The trails are concrete and loop around the different parts of the park while maintaining a 5-foot width.

There is a parking lot on the southern part of the park, along with off-street parking along the edges of the park. No matter where you park, trails will connect the parking spaces to the main trail, a large path that surrounds the perimeter of the park and the main features of the park. The trail has many starts, but the most notable is along the central-south point of the park, where it forks left and right. Traveling left will take you along a loop that surrounds four baseball fields to the north and the McKinley fieldhouse along the south. At the fieldhouses are restrooms and water fountains to enjoy before continuing.

The main path surrounds the park and traveling along it will provide views of enclosed tennis courts, fields, a soccer field, and views of the lake along the east side of the park. Smaller trails wind off the main trail, where one on the southeast corner of the park follows through a vacant field that is rarely used by park goers. Another side trail begins on the north side of the park, where it loops around more enclosed tennis courts and offers benches to watch tennis players. A third trail that forks off the main trail follows closely along the lake, right along the river's edge along a beach and connects to a fishing pier. Be sure to bring water and clean up bags for your adventure with your pup.

The trails that explore McKinley Park are vast and open, and offer you and Fido plenty of places to run or walk while enjoying the lovely sights of this green space.