Great park with some of the best views in Milwaukee! You can see St. Mary's and the Water Tower straight east down North Avenue, and the southern view of Downtown is not to be missed. We like grabbing carryout dinner nearby, bringing it up the big stairs, and hopefully get a bench. We've seen a few picnickers up here, but not many- this park is aptly adored by those in the know, without being as popular as it deserves to be. There are some kid playground areas, a basketball hoop (it deserves a few more of those, honestly), there's a great walking loop, running up the stairs, and wildlife (we heard and saw a redtailed hawk recently), and lots of green space! I think the bottom of the hill to the north deserves a bandshell, as the slope up the hill would make a perfect "Chill on the Hill 2" space for music and neighborhood gatherings. Top notch views with lots of park potential. read more

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Milwaukee already has some seriously stunning views scattered throughout the city. My first experience of seeing the city in all its glory though was the view from the Edelweiss sunset cruise. Just when you think you've seen MKE at its finest along comes another breathtaking spot to view the place from. The latest spot has one the most spectacular views I've experienced to date. You can see all of downtown and even as far out as Lake Michigan when it's clear. The place is Kilbourn Park! Reading fellow Yelpers reviews I am floored that this was once a closed off area and you couldn't even get around up top to experience it. Either way it is what it is now a beautiful park for all to enjoy! It is what I would call the edge of Riverwest proper. If you look back to the North you will see the tallest site in Riverwest, Our Lady Divine Providence church, with its stunning green roof standing there all alone in all its glory. Love walking through this city and taking all the sites in! read more

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Does anyone remember when this place wasn't really a park? When it had a vaguely menacing barbed wire fence around it and weird antennas and signs that said keep out, but then also these flowers beds on the eastern side of it? I think there might have been some weird mystique around it, like maybe there were aliens or nuclear experiments gone awry being hidden up there. (Then again, it was back in the 90s and I was watching a lot of X-files [man, that was good TV] so that might explain where I'm getting this idea from.) Sort of kidding here, but I remember never understanding what was going on up there & why it was off limits to the public. I strictly identified it to people as "you know that big hill on North Avenue you have to go around to get to my apartment?" Anyhow...back in 2014.... So, today I turned down some street in Riverwest and came upon the park by happenstance. I stopped in my tracks, turned and looked around--because it occurred to me I had NEVER been on that street near the park in all the nearly two decades I lived here. Crazy! Now, because I'm a big nerd I googled the history of it and found out that it used to be a reservoir (so giant body of water atop the hill.) Then it was filled in sometime after the 1940s and briefly was a park with tennis courts etc until that park was closed and it was rendered off limits in the 1990s (the X-File years, I'll call them.) And today its a park again. With a playground and basketball courts and paved paths leading you up to a truly spectacular 360 degree view. From the top of that hill, North Avenue to the lake looks like a street in San Francisco. But in doing my very important internet historical research on the park, I also learned that it is, after all, a somewhat secluded park in the middle of the city...so daylight hours are probably the best (and safest) times to check it out. Still, an unparalleled view of the city in a place with quite a bit of historical significance. read more

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If you are seeking some of the best cityscape/skyline views of the city, look no further than Kilbourn Park (also known by some local Milwaukeeans as Reservoir Park). After climbing a solid set up stairs you will feel on top of the world! There is a paved pathway at the top along with a grassy knoll and number of park benches. There are always at least a few people walking around at the top when we visit but, it is never terribly congested. This is an ideal spot for tossing a frisbee or a sunset picnic. The only drawback is parking. You will have to try to find street parking below the park and trek up. Parking is more difficult to locate on the weekends. Also - we have not worn our masks while walking around the park and snapping photos. No one has ever given us any grief for not wearing masks but we do socially distance and have masks on hand in case we need to put on while in the park. read more

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We never quite know what to call this park, I hadn't heard the name Kilbourn Park until I looked it up on yelp. Whatever you call it (Reservoir park, the North Ave U, that big hill), you know it is the best view in the city. The walking path loop and skyline view make for a lovely stroll any time of the day, my favorite is around sunset. It has two great sets of stairs on the east and west ends for my occasional and short lived stair climbing workouts. There's a small baseball diamond, a playground with swings, and an okay half-court basketball hoop, this is a well utilized park. My main concern with Kilbourn is the dog situation. There are signs that say 'no dogs allowed' for some reason but no one listens to them, that's not the problem and frankly I have no idea why those signs are there..? My problem is off-leash dogs, specifically off-leash dogs who the owner does not have voice control of. For some reason I have run into this a LOT in Kilbourn park. I know I'm getting into a touchy internet debate here but my two cents: If your dog won't come when called, leave it on a leash. For the sake of your fellow dog walkers and those who aren't interested in being approached by a strange dog, no matter how friendly. Anyways, dog rant over, this is a great park! Check it out, maybe I'll see you there! read more

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This is the best sight of the skyline in the city, excluding coming over the Hoan where you can't exactly stop and take in the sights. I've been a fan of this place since I moved to Milwaukee a few years ago. It's the first city park I "discovered" and it's been an important part of my experience here. It's where I would take visitors from out-of-town before I had enough experience to know what to do and where to go. When I lived on the East Side and Later in Riverwest, I'd come down here to watch the fireworks in July. The place was always a mess; police everywhere, the occasional crazy person hollering at everyone around him/her, but I remember nonetheless this being the site of the first real sense of "community" I had in Milwaukee. See, when I moved here, at first I hated it. I had some extremely bad landlords and have been a victim of criminals at well above the average rate. I found that Milwaukee was a tough nut to crack in terms of making new friends. There was a time in which I didn't blame a single white-flighty suburbanite for leaving town, because my experience here had been singularly in the bad direction. I was pretty jaded about Milwaukee. I still am in some respects--to the chagrin of the most blinded members of this city's cheerleading squad--but my opinion has shifted to be more positive than negative as I've been able to make friends, move to a quieter neighborhood, and really experience the city. My first time watching the fireworks here was a start to that transformation. It's the first time I felt myself actually participating in the community here. It's the first time I've felt Milwaukee invited me to just "hang out" with others from my neighborhood. Future events would come--Rockerbox (when it was on Center Street, at least), Locust Street Fest, Chill on the Hill--but fireworks at Kilbourn Park was the first. I was here last night again, and the magic of the place is a bit duller these days but I still feel a tinge of happiness when I look over downtown from way up here. I imagine if I ever move away and then come back to visit, this place will be on my list of destinations. read more

This is one of my favorite parks in the city for views. It also seems like a hiding-in-plain-sight gem. I feel like nobody comes up here! It's a great spot to spend some relatively quiet time, especially during daylight when you see the farthest. I haven't checked it out after dark, but I bet the view of the city lights is also pretty spectacular. read more