John McLaren Park

4 stars for the nostalgia factor, having visited many areas of this park as a child. It's cleaned up nice over the years. Parking on nice days can be difficult but street parking a few blocks away is usually okay. Came one weekend to hold a memorial. We did due diligence by looking up table areas that needed reservations. We found an area that did not appear to be reservable, but after setting up for the memorial, we were approached by two different sets of groups saying they had the entire area reserved.

If only SF Park and Recs could make their app/website more user friendly, it would make the picnicking areas more enjoyable and less likely to be "drama" between park guests who reserved and didn't.

Gone are the days of just pulling up, laying out a blanket and firing up the park bbq grills.

Huge park that is only second to Golden Gate park. It is a hidden gem in plain sight here in the city.

This is a great place to take your dog for a walk. Huge areas and trails. Old shady trees and best of all views for days.

This park is on a hilly area. If you are really out of shape you might not like it... because along with the hills are very long distances. Somehow if you look at this place on a map it is easy to dismiss its vast area.

Playground and picnic tables. Many benches in case you get tired and need a break. I try to walk about an hour a day and there is probably nothing better than a walk here. You can escape car exhaust fumes and see lots of green areas.

There is a small garden and nearby some white lily flowers that pop up nearby. I found few trash cans - and the ones there were overflowing. People were good about putting stuff right next to it though.

The grassy areas are mostly weeds. With all the hills I imagine its difficult to mow or really plant something better - nor with the square footage would it be possible.

There are some nice touches here and there. Some mosaic tile work and a fountain that is a nice focal point with the bay and city skyline view behind it. So many photo opportunities.

Its not that far from downtown. If you live and work in the city this might just be a quick escape for you after the small apartment and cubicle life.

Incredibly large park with so much to do! Has anything and everything you need and is not very well known.

Golf, lake with ducks, views of the city and many pups plus tennis courts and basketball courts

Great park to bring your dog and go on a nice walk. Plenty of trails and tons of amazing views. Bring a snack to enjoy at one of the many picnic tables also has a a number of playgrounds and even an amphitheater with shows in the summer.

Ditch the maps and follow the Philosophers Stone to follow an easy/moderate ~3 mile hike with magnificent 360° of San Francisco.

Loved this hike that called out unique spots to stop at and learn more about the City.

Hidden gem.

On the south eastern quadrant of SF.

Accessible for everyone: hikers, walkers, strollers.

Several tennis and basket ball courts and ponds.

The Blue Water Tower is cool too.

Water fountains and bathrooms are scarce: pack plenty of water.

Like any major city: sundown time could be sketchy.

Wonderful huge sprawling park with everything you could want! There is a duck pond with playground and picnic tables, pickle ball/tennis/basketball courts, quiet fields, dog parks, hiking trails, and more! Lots of restrooms scattered throughout. Many off leash dogs play here so be careful if you have a reactive dog. Love hanging out here!

I never knew such a magnificent park existed in SF, comparable to Golden Gate Park. I visited this park to attend SFMOMA's Soapbox Derby!! A festival and show of unique creations racing down the curves of Shelley Drive, with crowds of spectators cheering them on while enjoying, music, food, sunshine, and the occasional crash and tumble along the "cheese grater" (pot holes near the finish line posing a challenge for racers).... See my SFMOMA review for more on the Soapbox Derby.

If not for this event, I wouldn't have discovered this amazing park. So I'm really grateful, because there is so much to love. So much greenery, countless leafy trees creating a forest flowing into hilly fields of grass for kids to run around or couples to picnic along. So many trails winding throughout the park and so much to explore. McLaren seems to be a lot hillier than GGP, some pathways with steeper inclines, which can be a bit tiresome climbing uphill, but more than ideal for hikers who prefer more of a challenge. The walk to the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater from Shelley Drive is one of those uphill challenges, but not too terrible. A clean restroom right next to the amphitheater, but no trash bins in the women's (neither in the stalls nor in the restroom itself), pretty inconvenient IMO to have to exit to find a trash can.

The park is definitely much larger than what the map looks like, so expect to walk a lot while trekking from one point to another at this park. There's quirky detail like sea creature climbing structures for kids, a playground, tennis courts, golf course, paved and dirt pathways, lakes and creeks, gorgeous views of the city on a clear day, and "lover's rock."

I only saw one small parking lot, though there may be another lot somewhere on other sides of the park. There's plenty of street parking within the surrounding neighborhood too.

Great park to get lost in nature, and perfect setting for special events, especially a rarity like the Soapbox Derby :)

Did you know this is the third largest park in the city after Golden Gate Park and the Presidio? And yet, until recently, my only exposure to it was from a speeding MUNI bus that I thought was going to SoMa. I was mistaken, and my transit angst spilled over to an unfair impression I had that the park was overgrown and not well-tended. It took the pandemic for me to return in my constant search for new places to walk in the city.

The park offers the poetically named Philosopher's Walk which circles the park in a 2.7-mile path, half of it paved and the other half either flattened dry gravel or just plain dirt surrounded by plenty of foliage. It's a pleasant enough walk offering panoramic views at certain points like the southern rim where you can see the bay and San Bruno Mountain or from the watertower bluff where you can view downtown in the distance. I have to confess I got confused the first time I followed the path.

I thought some of the stone markers were hard to track or plain confusing when they showed two arrows in different directions. Ugh, don't give me choices. I'm neither Lewis nor Clark in my navigational ineptitude, so I sometimes took wrong turns. I just figured what the hell, it added more steps on my FitBit. I was a pro by my second visit and even managed detours to the duck pond where I shared the path with curious dogs. There are other attractions you would expect at a city park this big like a huge playground if you have restless toddlers.

There are the expected tennis courts and picnic areas. It's also big enough to offer other trails and paved roads to easily accommodate cyclists and walkers concurrently. I agree that the location feels remote if you don't live in the surrounding neighborhoods, but it wasn't difficult if you have a car. Just take the Paul Avenue exit and drive west on Mansell until you see the park. There's a convenient parking lot to the left, and as luck would have it, this is where the Philosopher's Walk begins.

RELATED - Up for a hike? Here's a collection of trails I've walked and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2OrC8nU

I really liked this park! A very diverse collection of areas to explore. A tennis court, a large field of grass, a playground for kids, a pond with a bunch of ducks & turtles, a wooded area for hiking, and beautiful city lookout, picnic tables, and your standard hiking trail. We were only there for an hour and discovered that much. The park looks pretty large! We will go again.

Just a few oddities we found after walking our dog when we got home. She smelled really strange. I'm guessing it's due to the highly populated bird area. Kya had been suspiciously rolling around in a patch of grass near the pond and we suspect it had geese poop smeared all over. She also ran through some tall grass and plants which may have caused the stench on her face. Weird! Also! Beware of the poison ivy in the wooded area. We aren't 100% sure but a few plants look similar. We kept Kya away from the vegetation in those areas.

I'd recommend John McLaren Park!