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. The first City of Chicago Public Beach opened in Lincoln Park in 1895. Today, the entire 28 miles (45 km) Chicago lakefront shoreline is reclaimed land, and primarily used for public parks. In the parks, there are 24 sand beaches along the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan.
History
Chicago's earliest sand beaches resulted naturally from capturing sand moved by the current south along the shoreline toward the Indiana Dunes, but these beaches were dynamic, shifted and eroded. When Chicago began building piers and other structures into the lake, large sandy beaches formed generally to the north of a pier due to sand capture. Early beaches were generally funded by private entities such as hotels and private clubs, screened from the public. 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. 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. Modern beaches are formed from sand deposited by lake current, and occasionally inland sand excavated from nearby sand-pits left by the last ice age, or sand dredged from the lake bottom. Free Wi-Fi service at city beaches began in 2013.
Rogers Park 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.
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. After a January 2020 storm further eroded the shoreline, the Chicago Department of Transportation announced that riprap would replace the beach to stabilize the shoreline.
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. Also to be deprecated as a result of the 2019-2020 lake erosion.
Marion Mahony Griffin Beach (Jarvis)/(Fargo) Jarvis street is located at 7400 North and Fargo 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 Consul 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 husband's death, she lived near the beach.
Loyola/Leone Beach 42.009605°N 87.658496°W / 42.009605; -87.658496 North Sheridan Road 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. There is a fishing pier and during the fall it is possible to catch salmon.
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.
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
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.
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