Getting to American Family Field

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American Family Field is a drive-and-tailgate park. It sits at 1 Brewers Way in the Menomonee Valley off I-94, 3 to 4 miles west of downtown Milwaukee, ringed by one of the largest surface-lot footprints in the majors. No train reaches it, and the Hop, Milwaukee’s downtown streetcar, does not come near it. Most fans drive, the lots open 2.5 to 3 hours before first pitch, and the tailgate is the pre-game scene.

How you get there depends on your day:

• Tailgating, or hauling a group: drive, and buy advance parking through the Brewers’ parking page. The advance rate is meaningfully below the day-of one.
• Drinking, or carless downtown: a rideshare, or a bar’s game-day shuttle. If you drink, get to the bar by rideshare too, because the shuttle brings you back to the bar at the end of the night.
• On a budget: the city bus works. The CONNECT 1 bus on Wisconsin Avenue stops at 45th Street, which the Brewers put within a 15-minute walk of the park, and a ride is as low as $2.75.

Before you settle on one, map the trip from your hotel to American Family Field and see how driving, rideshare, and the bus compare.

The Brewers can change parking rates and gate times from one season to the next, and bus fares move too, so check anything time-sensitive below against mlb.com/brewers before you commit to it.

Rideshare

Rideshare drop-off and pickup use a designated Rideshare Lot at the south end of the Molitor Lot, reached from Bluemound Road and Yount Drive. If your night includes drinking and the tailgate is not the point, this is the simplest no-drive way in from downtown.

Plan the ride home before you need it. After the game, exit through the Home Plate Gate and walk north to the Molitor Lot for pickup. A park ringed by lots can take a while to empty, and, as at most stadiums, fares tend to run highest in the first stretch after the final out, so build some waiting time into the end of your night.

Taxis drop off and pick up at the transit area outside Helfaer Field, the youth ballpark next to American Family Field.

Bar and hotel shuttles

A lot of Milwaukee bars run game-day shuttles to the park and back for their customers. You eat and drink at the bar, ride to the park, and ride back after the game, so you don’t have to drive out of the lots yourself. Many bars ask you to buy food or a drink before you board, and some set a minimum or hand out wristbands. Bars drop off in different spots, some in areas the Brewers set aside for approved shuttles, so ask the driver where to meet for the ride back.

If you plan to drink, get to the bar by rideshare or bring a sober driver, because the shuttle takes you back to the bar at the end of the night. Schedules vary by bar and by date, and a bar that runs a shuttle during the regular season may not run one in the postseason, so call ahead and confirm the last ride back. You can find more about the shuttle bars in our Around the Park section.

At the Brewhouse Inn & Suites, On Tap, the bar and restaurant there, also runs a game-day shuttle when it is open, so call ahead to check that it is running for your game. If you are staying anywhere else, ask the front desk when you book.

Driving and parking

If you are tailgating, driving a group, or staying out by the freeway, driving is the plan, and the park is built around it. The rhythm of a Brewers game day, the early arrival, the grill, the walk to the gate, runs through the lots.

The I-94 East-West construction project runs right past the park, so check the Brewers’ alternate-routes planner on their parking page before you drive.

• You activate or buy your parking after you park. The lots use License Plate Recognition, and there are no cashiers or scanners at the entrance. Once you are parked, scan the QR code on the nearest light pole and enter your plate to buy a pass or activate the one you bought ahead. You can also activate a prepaid pass in the MLB Ballpark app. Do it before you walk into the ballpark, or you can get a parking violation.
• The lots are cashless. They take a credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, and no cash.

One of the easiest ways to save money is buying your spot in advance through the Brewers’ parking page, then activating it once you park. Advance prepaid parking is meaningfully cheaper than paying day-of. For postseason games, the Brewers offer advance parking when you buy your ticket, and they encourage fans to buy it ahead of time.

• Three tiers: Preferred, General, and Bus-RV. Preferred is the premium tier, General is the standard tier, and Bus-RV handles oversized vehicles and the RV tailgate crowd.
• The named lots are Molitor, Cooper, Uecker, Gantner, and American Family. Where you land depends on your pass and your approach. Motorcycles park in the Cooper Lot, and oversized vehicles pay for two stalls.
• Lots open 2.5 to 3 hours before first pitch: 3 hours on weekends and for day games, 2.5 for weekday evening games. That is your tailgate window.
• Lots close about an hour after the game, so do not plan on leaving a car behind.
• Ground rules: ticket-holders only, one vehicle per space, no saving spaces, and no game-day parking on Milwaukee Road or Wheelhouse Road.

For accessible parking, buy a General pass in advance; the accessible areas are first-come on game day.

Tailgating

The tailgate is what makes a Brewers game a Brewers game, and RVs are a normal part of it. If you are driving, arrive when the lots open. Unless you have booked a group tailgate grid, the Brewers do not let you into the lots early to tailgate. These are their rules for the cookout:

• Tailgate in any lot except the employee and rideshare lots, at your own vehicle, with one vehicle per space and ticket-holders only.
• It ends 30 minutes after first pitch. Be inside by then. This is the one hard deadline, so work backward from it when you plan your grilling.
• Grills must be gas or propane with a shutoff valve, or self-contained charcoal. Open flames and wood fires are not allowed.
• Dump charcoal in the coal bins at the light-pole bases. Do not leave it on the asphalt.

If it is your first time, buy the advance pass, arrive when the lots open, and bring the grill. You can find more about what is worth eating inside in our What to Eat section.

The bus

No rail reaches American Family Field. There is no commuter train, no light rail, and the Hop, Milwaukee’s downtown streetcar, runs only between downtown and the lakefront. Older websites still claim a dedicated game-day bus, the “Brewers Line,” Route 90, from MCTS, the Milwaukee County Transit System. It is gone, canceled during the pandemic and not coming back. Do not plan around it.

What works is CONNECT 1, the MCTS bus rapid transit line that runs west from downtown on Wisconsin Avenue and stops at 45th Street. From the south, Route 74 stops at Miller Parkway and National Avenue. Route 18, on National Avenue, stops at National and 43rd Street. The Brewers say all three stops are within a 15-minute walk of the park. Route 18 may detour east of the park during the I-94 construction, so check RideMCTS.com for your route before you ride. A bus ride is as low as $2.75, and you can plan, track, and pay for the ride with WisGo in the Umo app. MCTS runs CONNECT 1 every 10 minutes on weekdays at peak times and midday, and every 15 minutes at weekend peak times, with buses every 20 to 30 minutes at off-peak hours.

The bus is a fine option for a local who knows the line. For most visitors, a bar shuttle, a rideshare, or driving will usually be easier than the bus and the walk from the stop.

Biking and walking

Walking from downtown is not realistic, since it is 3 to 4 miles through the industrial valley and the lot ring.

Biking works. The Hank Aaron State Trail runs east-west right past the park, so if you are staying along it, riding in skips the lot exit and the pickup crowd entirely. A Bublr Bikes bikeshare station sits near the Gantner Lot.

Getting here from the airport

The MCTS GreenLine bus runs from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) to Water and Wisconsin, downtown, in about half an hour on the MCTS timetable.

The GreenLine stop is on the traffic island outside Exit 2, on the baggage claim roadway. MCTS calls it the Airport Baggage Claim stop. A ride is as low as $2.75, and MCTS says one fare lets you ride as many buses as you like within 90 minutes, which covers the change to another bus downtown.

From downtown, the CONNECT 1 bus runs west on Wisconsin Avenue to the stop at 45th Street, which the Brewers put within a 15-minute walk of the park.

Heading back after a night game. Both buses run until after midnight every night of the week on the GreenLine and CONNECT 1 schedules, which leaves time to get back to the airport after a night game. Ride CONNECT 1 east on Wisconsin Avenue to Water and Wisconsin, downtown, and change there to the GreenLine heading south to the airport. MCTS changes its schedules by season, so check both schedules for your game date before you go.

Rideshare and taxi. Uber and Lyft riders follow the signs near Carousel 2, according to the airport. Taxis pick up at the taxi station outside Baggage Claim 3.

If you are coming to tailgate, pick up a rental car at MKE and drive to the lots. You can find more about advance parking and the lots in our Driving and parking section above.

Everyone else should ride the GreenLine downtown, stop at the hotel, and head to the park from there.

Luggage

The Brewers do not allow luggage inside American Family Field. They will not check any bag that breaks their carry-in policy, and they do not offer a place to leave prohibited items.

Backpacks are not allowed at any size. Other bags have to be clear, single-compartment, and no bigger than 12 by 12 by 6 inches, non-clear and no bigger than 9 by 5 by 2 inches, or a one-gallon clear resealable bag, with exceptions for diaper bags and medical items.

If you drove in to tailgate, the suitcase can ride along in the car and stay there through the game. Without a car, the suitcase stays behind at your hotel. If you land early or it is checkout day, have the hotel hang on to it until you are back from the game.

Gates and getting in

Use the gate closest to where you parked, and if you are tailgating, leave any backpack or big bag in the car. After the game, the Home Plate Gate is the one to exit for the rideshare pickup in the Molitor Lot. You can find more about the gates, gate times, and the bag rules in our First-Timer Guide section.

Know American Family Field better than we do? Tell us what we got wrong, or where we should be sending people instead.

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we recommend.