Best Chicago Lakefront Spots

For locals and visitors in Chicago, this guide covers the lakefront beaches, parks and points where people swim, stroll and catch skyline sunsets. They run along Lake Michigan from Montrose in Uptown through Lincoln Park, the Gold Coast, Streeterville, the Museum Campus and Burnham Park down to Hyde Park.

North Avenue Beach has volleyball courts, kayak and paddleboard rentals and a ship-shaped beach house. Montrose is the city's biggest beach, with an off-leash dog area and the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary next door. Promontory Point juts into the lake, ringed by stepped limestone blocks that locals use for sunbathing and swimming. Northerly Island, once Meigs Field airport, is now a park of prairie, lagoon and walking paths south of the Adler Planetarium. For the classic skyline view, walk out on the North Avenue breakwater at sunset, or try Milton Lee Olive Park at golden hour.