List Of Beaches In Chicago - Downtown Chicago Beaches

The beaches in Chicago are an extensive network of waterfront recreational areas operated by the Chicago Park District. The Chicago Metropolitan waterfront includes parts of the Lake Michigan shores as well as parts of the banks of the Chicago, Des Plaines, Calumet, Fox, and DuPage Rivers and their tributaries. The waterfront also includes the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Sanitary and Ship Canal. Historically, the waterfront has been used for commerce, industry, and leisure. Leisure, such as fishing, swimming, hunting, walking and boating, was much more prevalent throughout the river sections of the waterfront system early in the 19th century before industrial uses altered the landscape. By midcentury, much leisure shifted to Lake Michigan as a result of industrial influence. The first City of Chicago Public Beach opened in Lincoln Park in 1895. Today, the entire 28 miles (45 km) Chicago lakefront shoreline is man-made, and primarily used as parkland. There are twenty-four beaches in Chicago along the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan.

Typically, Chicago beaches take the name of the east-west street that runs perpendicular to the lake at each beach's location.

History

Early beaches were generally funded by private entities such as hotels and private clubs. Late 19th century city ordinances prohibited public bathing, but popular norms created demand for public beaches. Proponents saw public beaches as an opportunity to accommodate demand for public baths and eliminate the expenditure of enforcement resources on ordinance violations for public bathing. The city responded by opening the first public bathing beach in 1895 in Lincoln Park primarily as a response to the efforts of the Free Bath and Sanitary League (formerly the Municipal Order League). Spaces were designated for public use and the city accepted responsibility for maintaining the beaches. By 1900 the lakefront was divided into zones of recreational, residential, agricultural and industrial uses. Lake Michigan water quality concerns lead to the reversal of the Chicago river with deep cut of the Illinois & Michigan canal in 1871 and the construction of the Sanitary and Ship Canal at the start of the 20th century. The 1909 Burnham Plan led to development of the lakefront. Recreational development on the city lakefront became a priority due to the influence of Aaron Montgomery Ward. His belief that the public's access to the Lake left its impression on the development of Jackson, Burnham, Grant and Lincoln Parks. Continued popular support, led to the opening of several municipal beaches in the second decade of the 20th century.

In 2013, Cisco, Everywhere Wireless and the Chicago Park District began Free Wi-Fi service at North Avenue Beach, Rainbow Beach, Montrose Beach, Foster Beach, and Kathy Osterman (fka Hollywood Beach).

32 Chicago Beaches in 1 Day

Rogers Park Beaches

The far north Rogers Park neighborhood contains a series of small "street-end" beaches that unlike most Chicago beaches are often separated by private property and therefore, unconnected to each other by public parkland. This accounts for the seemingly large number of beaches in this one neighborhood.

Juneway Terrace Beach

Juneway Terrace Beach is the northernmost beach in Chicago. It is located at 7800 north and Lake Michigan. It lies within Rogers Avenue Beach and Park. It is separated from Rogers Beach by a stretch of rip rap protecting three apartment buildings.

Rogers Beach

Rogers Beach lies in Rogers Avenue Beach and Park at 7705 north. Barely one block long, the park also has tennis courts.

Howard Beach

Howard Beach lies in Howard Street Beach and Park at 7600 north, which is just south of Howard Street. It is perhaps 213 feet (65 m) long.

Marion Mahony Griffin (Jarvis Beach)/Fargo Beach

Jarvis beach located at 7400 north and Fargo beach is located at 7432 north. Offshore stretches of riprap act to reduce erosion of this beach, which is about three blocks long.

In 2015, the beach was named in honor of architect Marion Mahony Griffin. The Australian Counsel General, Roger Price, attended the beach's dedication for the woman who was instrumental in the design the Australian capital of Canberra. When she returned to the United States in 1939, after her husbands death, she lived near the beach.

Loyola/Leone Beach

42.009605°N 87.658496°W / 42.009605; -87.658496

Located at 7032 North Sheridan and extending for eight blocks, Leone Beach is Chicago's largest.

Tobey Prinz (Pratt) Beach

Contiguous with Leone/Loyola Beach located at 1050 West Pratt Boulevard. Formerly named Pratt Boulevard Beach, it was renamed for local neighborhood activist Tobey Prinz by the Chicago Park District in 2014.

Hartigan Beach

Also known as Albion Beach, contiguous with North Shore Beach, located at 6600 north, ends just north of Loyola Avenue. Named for former 49th Ward Alderman David L. Hartigan.

Columbia Beach

Columbia Beach is located at 6726 north.

North Shore Beach

North Shore Beach is located at 6700 north.

Hamilton Beach

Hamilton Beach is currently closed due to a dredging project scheduled for completion in late 2014.

Berger Park

41.995545°N 87.654639°W / 41.995545; -87.654639 (Berger Park)

Berger Park Beach is a small beach at the northeast corner of Berger Park in Edgewater. The park also contains a cultural center and lakeside café housed in two large century old lake homes and their carriage houses, as well as a playground.

Lincoln Park Beaches

Lincoln Park is Chicago's largest public park and contains the city's remaining north side lake front beaches, running for seven miles (11 km) through the communities of Edgewater, Uptown, Lake View, Lincoln Park, and Near North.

Lane Beach Park (formerly Thorndale Beach)

Lane Beach Park, more commonly known as Thorndale Beach, is located at 5934 north in Edgewater at the intersection of Sheridan Road and Thorndale Avenue. This was once a standalone beach, as recently as the 1970s, but shifting sand has connected it to Hollywood Beach to the south. More recently, hard frozen waves that formed during the winter of 2015 carried much of the sand away, isolating the beach again.

There is a boardwalk ramp, to allow stroller or wheelchair access closer to the shoreline as well as a modern playground for children.

The park and beach was named for George A. Lane (1903-1874), a Chicago lawyer heavily involved in community development and politics. Lane also served as a faculty member at nearby Loyola University.

Kathy Osterman Beach (formerly Hollywood Beach)

Located at the 5800 North block where Lake Shore Drive ends at a curve that feeds into Sheridan Road (near West Hollywood Avenue and North Lake Shore Drive; 41°59′11.51″N 87°39′9.38″W ) in Edgewater, this crescent-shaped beach serves two groups. The northern half is largely a family beach and the southern half is largely a gay and lesbian beach. The northern half of the beach has shallow water which makes it kid-friendly and there is a long boardwalk ramp to allow closer access to the shoreline for strollers and wheelchairs near the Ardmore Avenue entrance. Beach volleyball is popular here. There is a beach house and concession stand, which opened in 2010. Unique among Lincoln Park's northern beaches there is no nearby parking lot.

In the upper beach, north of Ardmore and the boardwalk, near Thorndale beach is a small park district beach grass reserve for migrating birds and butterfly.

Foster Avenue Beach

Foster Avenue Beach is located at 5200 north (41.978826°N 87.649355°W / 41.978826; -87.649355). It is a popular beach in the Edgewater section of the city. It was part of Lincoln Park’s final landfill extension completed in the 1950s between Foster Avenue and Ardmore Avenue. The design and planning for the extension started in 1947, with construction and fill beginning three years later. The work on the beach continued over the rest of the fifties, being concluded in 1958. The original beach house for the site, like the existing ones at Montrose and North Ave., was designed by E.V Buchsbaum. It was constructed sometime in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A new beach house with improved amenities was constructed in the 1990s.

Montrose Avenue Beach

Montrose beach is Chicago's largest beach. It is located in Uptown. It also houses the most parking of any beach in Chicago. It is one of few beaches where patrons may launch non-motorized watercraft, such as kayaks and catamarans, into Lake Michigan. It also has one of only two dog beaches in the Chicago Park District, making it a popular beach for dog lovers. In the fenced-off section at the north end of the beach, leashless dogs are permitted on the sand. Montrose beach hosts the Junior Guard regional championships, the annual Beach Soccer Festival, and numerous runs and walks for various charities. The beach house on the south end of the beach was designed by E.V. Buchsbaum. It was modeled after the North Avenue Beach house and looks like a lake steamer. Unfortunately, in the 1950s, the east wing of the beach house burned in a fire and was not rebuilt. The beach house was remodeled with a 3,000-square-foot (280 m²) patio deck, and it will house only the third full-service restaurant, named "The Dock at Montrose Beach", at a Chicago beach after Oak Street Beachstro and North Avenue's Castaways. It is part of the Park District's plan to add "more upscale concessions to the lakefront". Due to budget constraints Chicago eliminated the traditional July 3 fireworks in Grant Park, instead opting for a down-scaled fireworks displays in three different locations in Chicago on the 4th of July. The north side display is held annually at Montrose Beach.

North Avenue Beach

41.9175°N 87.6275°W / 41.9175; -87.6275 (North Avenue Beach)

The North Avenue Beach, located at 1600 north, is considered by many to be Chicago's premier beach. It has the largest lifeguard staff and is home to the most developed beachhouse. Technically running from North Avenue to Diversey Harbor in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, North Avenue Beach is characterized by its piers which hold the sand in place and create a scalloped shoreline, terminating in a Cape Cod-like hook. The beach hosts international volleyball tournaments as well as millions of sun worshippers every year. Chicago Park District lines the beach with poles for individuals and leagues to hang volleyball nets. These nets and this portion of the lakefront bike/running/blading path attract large numbers of people on weekends and weeknights. North Avenue is also center stage for the Chicago Air & Water Show, which draws over a million people a day from Ohio to Diversey along the lakefront. North Avenue Beach is the site of the annual AVP Chicago Open.

The beach house resembles an ocean liner and contains bike and sports equipment rental, a bar and restaurant (Castaways), concession stand, a lifeguard station, and restrooms.

Oak Street Beach

Oak Street Beach, located at 1000 north, covers the area from the North Avenue 'Hook' Pier south to Ohio Street Beach (Illinois St. Beach, Olive Beach), about 1.5 mi (2 km). Oak Street is home to the largest area of deep water swimming in the city (1/2 mile (800 m) over 10 ft (3 m)). Until 2006 Oak Street Beach was also the only place in the city where SCUBA divers could dive close to the shore. The north ledge was once a hot spot for the city's gay community, and still is a second home to thousands of sunbathers, runners, skaters and bikers. At one point Oak Street was the city's most popular beach with its proximity to downtown and boasted tens of thousands of visitors each day. Oak Street Beach is also home to Chicago's only chess pavilion and an outdoor restaurant called the Oak Street Beachstro that is assembled every summer and dismantled at the end of the season.

Ohio Street Beach

This beach, located in Lincoln Park adjacent to Addams Memorial Park and Olive Park, is just north of Ohio Street (400N) east of Lake Shore Drive. It faces north, rather than the usual east, because it formed on its own in a bay created by the Jardine Water Purification Plant which juts out into the Lake. Due to its unusual orientation, Ohio Street Beach serves as an ideal training site for open water swimming. One can swim north 0.5 miles (800 m) to the Oak Street curve without ever being more than a few feet from the seawall and shallow water.