Came here as a stop to enjoy our pastries and coffee while watching our grandson play. Love that there is a lot of shaded areas. Looks like there is a hiking/walk path nearby. Love the area and we relaxed and enjoyed the calmness. read more

Had an amazing day in the park yesterday watching taming of the shrew. The park is always so gorgeous with such beautiful trees and well maintained. The event was well organized and everything went very smoothly. The actors were incredible and our family had such a great time being outdoors in the amphitheater watching a show. read more

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What a lovely park. We came here weekends ago for a birthday party. It was our first time here and we absolutely loved it. The park is gorgeous and has picnic tables and ample places to sit throughout the amphitheater. The playground is neat with cool slides and swings. Kids can also go up the hill for short hikes. It's gorgeous. The only drawback is there is no real toilet but only 1 Porta potty unfortunately. Otherwise we totally enjoyed this experience. read more

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** The following review reflects my experience DURING the COVID-19 pandemic. ** As I've come to discover in this part of the Berkeley Hills, there are a lot of little nook-and-cranny parks that fit into seemingly inconvenient spaces that usually involve a steep hill to scale. Of all of those parks, this one could be the nookiest or maybe the cranniest because you can tell it was designed with a purpose in mind, and sure enough, I later found out John Hinkel was an early 20th-century philanthropist who bequeathed the area to the city. Passionate about theater and architecture, he decided to build an arts-focused clubhouse and an amphitheater in the middle of the four-acre space. The clubhouse was demolished just a few years ago, but the amphitheater is still here as well as an elevated picnic table area and a playground that's been closed due to the pandemic. Otherwise there's a strong "Swiss Family Robinson" vibe with all the wooden guardrails and hillside staircases. Cute spot if you're in the 'hood. RELATED - Exploring Berkeley? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2CbVh8u read more

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Incredible event at the Hinkle Park, The Tempest, a welcoming event at the park with the great performers of Gia!!!!! read more

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Review for Sept 2022: - we don't live in Berkeley so we don't know how this park was before the renovation - checked out the playground and walking trails with our 5.5 year old daughter - newly renovated playground area as of Spring or Summer 2022 - lots of natural logs for the swings, climbing area - extremely small parking lot (maybe 4 spaces?). If you can't get a parking space infront of the playground, drive a block or 2 to find street parking. - port-o-potty was there, no other bathrooms - one water fountain up the hill from the new playground - nice amphitheater; I heard they may do plays there? Not sure. - would go there again if we are in the neighborhood. read more

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This park has been undergoing major improvements for over five years and it is ready for prime time. Come for a short walk in among the oaks, redwoods, and laurel trees, to let your kids play in the brand new playground, picnic, or be entertained in the ancient amphitheater. The neighborhood is quiet and parking is almost always easy with few restrictions. read more

John Hinkel Park - John Hinkel Park amphitheater. - Parks Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Beautiful park in a very affluent part of town. Cute little picnic spot where a group of people were celebrating a child's birthday. The little playground was nice but not necessarily built with toddlers in mind. Not even a toddler swing. My main thought was why wasn't a bathroom built there? The city can obviously afford one. But instead there was only a tiny little out-house. read more

A very cool unique hillside park with that is hidden from most non-locals. My friend and I walked through it on our way to another park. Pros: Unique, neighborhood park, small, hidden, amphitheater, water fountains (even for dogs), waterfall after rains, great for meditation, benches, and lots of stairs for stair training. Cons: Not much parking, not the greatest for wheel chairs, no bathrooms, no grass, and no playground equipment. read more

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After the city forgot about the park for decades leaving it to decay and slowly become more and more dilapidated, the city has finally re-done it. Why is the play ground in the line of sight for the amphitheater? It does not seem like the city really wants the amphitheater to be used for theater anymore. It would be very distracting to see children on the play ground in one's line of sight while watching a play. It's also disappointing the city did not replace the club house that burned down because it was empty because the city had left it to disrepair. The area needs a community gathering place, though I guess climate change might mean the outside park might be warm enough to gather in the summer, something that never used to be possible. read more

John Hinkel Park - The day the club house burned down, 1/16/2015. As you can see from the graffiti on the inside of door, the city was not maintaining it. - Parks Near Me - Berkeley, California

I love this hidden jewel of a park. SF Shakes was holding its yearly summer camp there and it is a shady, cool, beautiful place to cultivate creativity. http://sfshakes.org/camp/index.html read more

John Hinkel Park - Yes it's hard to find! - Parks Near Me - Berkeley, California

The new playground is really beautiful. Good for a broad range of kids ages. Plus hilly little trails through the woods that are fun to wander through. read more

John Hinkel Park is located on a steep wooded hillside off Arlington Avenue in north Berkeley. A small creek cascades through it, and paths meander under native oak, bay, and buckeye trees. The land, comprising 4.9 acres, was given to the city in 1918 by John Hinkel, a downtown property owner. The park area was used by the Boy Scouts, and a Boy Scout clubhouse still stands in the park. Before giving the property to the city, Hinkel made some notable improvements: he built a rustic redwood clubhouse, a stone fireplace and playground, and also created the network of pathways. The outdoor amphitheater was built later and is located on a steep slope of the canyon overlooking the outdoor fireplace, which has served as a backdrop for the stage. The theater was built by the Civil Works Administration (Project Number 5) and was dedicated on 22 April 1934. I have lived in the Berkeley area for years and places like John Hinkel park remind me that there's always a surprise here. It's a wonderful park and I have many pleasant memories of hiking around and watching my stepdaughter perform as part of a local theater activity. And various performances continue to this day. read more

A gem.....like straight from out of some old Greek tragedy.....remnants of an amphitheater; and is that door for...the lions?! Gulp:) Wonderful hidden local secrets up in the hills read more

Oh wow. This is a terrible park. Perhaps it was once a jewel nestled in the North Berkeley hills, but today it is a turd nestled in the North Berkeley hills. I admit, having a 2-year-old, I am looking for some specific park features. According to the City of Berkeley website, John Hinkel Park has "play area featuring swings, slides, teeter-totters". This is a stretch as the only feature this park has is a slide (singular) that appears to have been constructed during the Industrial Revolution then subjected to several severe hailstorms. Honestly, I suppose if you've never seen a park before, you might marvel at the "range of recreational opportunities". But even then, I imagine the luster would fade upon the briefest of moment conceptualizing what a park could be. If you're headed there, I'd suggest taking the extra two minutes to go to Dorothy Bolte Park, up the hill. It skews a little on the anitseptic side, but has the benefit of attracting more than teenage pot-smokers (not a metaphor - that was the only other person at John Hinkel). read more

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Low key park in the north Berkeley area. Has a small amphitheater that makes the perfect venue for summer theater in the park. Saw "hamlet" as part of the free play series put up by the "Actors ensemble of Berkeley". Lovely Saturday afternoon spent watching this classic. read more

John Hinkel Park - Hamlet in the park :) - Parks Near Me - Berkeley, California

GREAT park. Lots of trails, wooded stairways, and plenty of room for roaming around & under a lovely canopy of native Oaks. Just down the way, maybe a 5 minute walk, from Indian Rock. 1st time we went, my kids couldn't get enough of the old school see-saw. What a delight! Hadn't seen one of those in years. However, when we went back with friends recently, it was gone. Hope it was just taken down for repair and will be back soon... We'll be visiting again. This place is a find. Don't forget to pack a table cloth for the picnic tables ;) read more

John Hinkel Park - Native Oaks. - Parks Near Me - Berkeley, California

Berkeley is filled with little unexpected, charming places like this tucked into corners. i went with a group for an opera in the park that we had heard about, and this place was perfect for that. there is stadium-like seating creating a little theater set in between trees, and it was perfect picnic outing for the day! a professional group performed a mozart opera, yet in the park setting, it remained a surprisingly casual event. bring your blanket and enjoy watching a live performance for the day next time this comes around. ** a fairly large venue yet limited seating for such a popular event so come early so you dont have to sit in the bushes! read more

Now that it's cold and rainy, I am nostalgic for visiting parks like John Hinkel Park when the weather is nicer. The park portion of John Hinkel is nice, as its smallish space is full of rolling hills and areas to relax. What really makes John Hinkel Park stand out, though, is the fabulous outdoor amphitheater. I don' t know why I didn't review this six months ago when I went to see The Taming of the Shrew at this location, as it deserves major accolades! The amphitheater is somewhat intimate and casual, with plenty of room to bring folding chairs and blankets to the performance. The majority of the seating area is covered by trees and shade, making it easy to avoid getting burnt while sitting outside on a sunny day. The area is really quiet and secluded, thanks to being in quiet North Berkeley, making performances feel very intimate despite being in the city. I would definitely come back here again for another performance next summer! read more

City of Berkeley, you suck in so many ways! This park was given to you and you couldnt even keep the swing and see-saw operating. The swing was so amazing, having been built on a hill, as you would ascend the ground below you would disappear at an amazing rate. Perhaps the muppets in charge of this fair city are trying to figure out how to make these two rides ADA compliant. Anyway, the paths through here are amazing. Its like Ewok villiage. At dusk, I've been fortunate enough to see about ten or so deer roaming through. And the little amphitheater is adorable. But once again, the municipal muppets have failed and can't seem to operate a weed whacker. Way to much overgrowth! Think of the movie "Secret Garden" when the kids first found the garden. Maybe they can get they're busy metermaids to pause from writing bogus parking tickets and start helping out with the yard work. read more