Lakefront beaches in Chicago and the North Shore

This guide is for anyone planning a day on Lake Michigan between the Indiana line and Lake Forest: Chicagoans who only know the beach closest to home, visitors who want sand without a car, and families weighing whether a North Shore day pass is worth the money. It covers the city’s public beaches, then heads up the shore through Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park and Lake Forest.

Each entry says what the beach is good for, how to get there and what it costs. City beaches are free. The suburbs charge non-residents, sometimes a lot, and the rules on parking are stricter than most people expect. The last sections cover swim flags, water testing and what changed after the 2026 season.

Downtown beaches

The Chicago Park District runs 27 beach facilities, including an inland beach at Humboldt Park, and admission to every one is free. Lifeguards work from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the season, which runs from the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day. Outside those hours and dates, swimming is prohibited.

12th Street Beach

Just south of the Adler Planetarium on the Museum Campus, 12th Street Beach is the quiet downtown option and pairs well with a museum morning. There is a food concession in the beach house and a launch for kayaks and other non-motorized boats. Parking is a gated pay lot plus a little street parking; the CTA 146 bus gets you close.

Ohio Street Beach

Ohio Street Beach in Streeterville faces north, not east, which makes it the city’s open-water training spot. Swimmers can go about half a mile north toward the Oak Street curve while staying close to the seawall. Take the Red Line to Grand and walk east. Street parking is scarce.

Oak Street Beach

At the foot of the Gold Coast, Oak Street Beach is the one with the skyline right behind your towel. Expect volleyball tournaments, chair rentals and crowds on hot weekends. The Red Line stop at Clark/Division is the easiest approach, then the underpass by the long Jeff Zimmermann mural. Parking is limited to the street, so don’t drive.

North Avenue Beach

North Avenue Beach is the busiest stretch of sand in the city, with a blue-and-white beach house built to look like an ocean liner. Up top, Castaways Beach Club runs a rooftop bar and ground-level walk-up stands for burgers and ice cream; the place is fully cashless and rents cabanas. Kayak Chicago rents single kayaks here for $30 an hour, and Chicago SUP runs paddleboard lessons and 90-minute sunset and sunrise group paddles for $75 from the same beach. The paid lot fills early. The 72 North Avenue and 151 Sheridan buses stop nearby, and biking in on the Lakefront Trail is faster on a summer Saturday.

North Side beaches

Montrose Beach

Montrose Beach in Uptown is the best all-around North Side pick: wide sand, a dog-friendly beach at the north end, a protected dune natural area to the south that draws migrating birds in spring and fall, and one of only two city beaches where surfing is allowed in season (57th Street is the other). The Dock at Montrose Beach is the sand-floor bar and grill at 200 W. Montrose Harbor Drive, with live music nightly in season; the restaurant takes no reservations for regular dining and adds an optional 3% staff-benefit surcharge to checks. Kayak Chicago’s Montrose stand sits just south of it, in front of the volleyball nets, and rents paddleboards as well as kayaks. Parking is pay-and-display in lots plus street spaces. On transit, take the Red Line to Lawrence or Wilson and catch the 78 or 81 bus east.

Foster and Osterman beaches

Foster Beach, at Foster Avenue, has a beach house with food and bike rentals and a pay-and-display lot; the Red Line stop is Berwyn. A little north, Kathy Osterman Beach at Hollywood and Ardmore avenues is quieter, with a small LEED-certified beach house and a natural area next door. Parking there is street only, and the closest Red Line stop is Bryn Mawr.

Rogers Park street-end beaches

Along the lake in Rogers Park, a string of small beaches sits at the ends of east-west streets: Loyola, Hartigan, Leone, Marion Mahony Griffin (still called Jarvis by most neighbors), Howard, Juneway, Rogers and others. These are neighborhood beaches with few amenities. Leone, at Touhy, is where the Junior Lifeguard program works and has the area’s distance-swimming lane, from Lunt to Farwell. Loyola Beach has a walking trail of about two-thirds of a mile. The Red Line stops at Loyola, Morse and Jarvis are each a few blocks west. Fargo Beach is listed as closed.

South Side beaches

Margaret T. Burroughs Beach

Still called 31st Street Beach by most people, Margaret T. Burroughs Beach has one of the better skyline views from the south, a concession in the beach house, a playground next to 31st Street Harbor and a pay lot. The 3, 4 and 35 buses serve it. The Park District is planning improvements here, so expect some changes.

57th Street and 63rd Street beaches

Both sit in Jackson Park near the Museum of Science and Industry. 57th Street Beach allows surfing in season and has a grill stand; parking is limited street parking west of Lake Shore Drive, so the Metra Electric stop at 55th-56th-57th Street is the smarter move. 63rd Street Beach has the historic beach house with showers and spray fountains, a boat launch, bike rentals and a pay-and-display lot. It is the better choice for families who need facilities.

South Shore, Rainbow and Calumet beaches

South Shore Beach sits behind the South Shore Cultural Center, with a round beach house and a nature sanctuary boardwalk. Rainbow Beach is a big park with a dune area and a fieldhouse; both have pay-and-display parking and are served by the 6 Jackson Park Express and 71 buses. Calumet Beach at 9801 S. Avenue G is the city’s southernmost, with restrooms and a concession. Figure on driving to Calumet.

North Shore beaches and parking

Every suburb from Evanston to Lake Forest charges non-residents, and several restrict parking to residents. The Metra Union Pacific North line stops near most of these beaches and is often easier than hunting for a legal spot. The fees below are the 2026 rates from each city or park district.

Evanston

Evanston has five city swimming beaches (Clark Street, Greenwood Street, Lee Street, Lighthouse and South Boulevard) plus Lincoln Street Beach, run by Northwestern University. Residents of 60201 and 60202 get free season passes. Everyone else pays $12 a day ($10 for Skokie residents) by card at the entrance, or buys a season pass, which cost $63 before June 6 and $85 through August 1 this year. The beach offices are at 1811 Sheridan Road (Clark Street) and 1251 Lake Shore Boulevard (Dempster Street). After a day at Lee Street or Greenwood, Sketchbook Brewing Co. is a short walk inland at 821 Chicago Avenue.

Wilmette

Gillson Park has Main Beach, South Beach and Langdon Beach, plus a dog beach and a sailing beach with kayak, paddleboard and sailboat rentals. A 2026 non-resident day pass was $17 for Main or Langdon and $10 for South Beach, and parking is a separate charge: $21 on weekdays, $26 on weekends for non-residents. No cash. The Fat Shallot runs the beach house food stand. For a sit-down meal, Convito Café & Market is at Plaza del Lago, 1515 Sheridan Road.

Winnetka

Winnetka’s swimming beaches are Elder Lane, Maple Street and Tower Road, with boating at Lloyd Beach. Non-resident day admission was $26 on weekdays and $30 on weekends in 2026, paid at the beach in cash or by card. That makes Winnetka the priciest daily swim on the North Shore.

Glencoe

Glencoe Beach closed on September 8, 2026 for a renovation of the beach house, playground, sun shelters and boardwalk, and the park district expects it to reopen in May 2027. In 2026, weekends and holidays were limited to season pass holders and guests, and non-residents could buy a $24 day pass only on weekday afternoons. The district added signs directing overflow beach parking to the Metra commuter lots.

Highland Park

Rosewood Beach is Highland Park’s swimming beach. Non-residents paid $10 a person per day in 2026. Parking is the catch: a lakefront decal costs non-residents $300, and the Rosewood upper lot charges $15 an hour or $40 for four hours. Non-resident parking is at 45 Roger Williams Avenue, the same street as Steep Ravine Brewing Company at 582 Roger Williams Avenue. Moraine Beach is the city’s dog beach.

Lake Forest

Forest Park Beach charges non-residents $25 a person, card only, and has no on-site non-resident parking. Park in the downtown public lots or at the train station and walk about three-quarters of a mile. The beach concession sells beer and wine in a set area; outside alcohol, dogs and large umbrellas are not allowed.

Water quality and swim advisories

The Chicago Park District samples beach water daily in season. Flags go up around 11 a.m. based on weather and waves, then get updated around 1:30 p.m. once water results are in. A yellow flag means a swim advisory: the sample topped 1,000 calibrator cell equivalents of Enterococci bacteria. A red flag means no swimming. Flags can change during the day, and they only apply while lifeguards are on duty.

Suburban beaches post their own conditions. Evanston uses the Statusfy app and a recorded line at 847-448-0034 and closes all its swimming areas for at least 24 hours whenever the Wilmette locks are opened. Winnetka posts closures on the RainoutLine app and at 847-563-3131; Lake Forest’s beach hotline is 847-234-6702, option 8. The Park District also cites studies tying gull droppings to swim bans, so don’t feed the birds.

Good to know

Checked September 28, 2026. The 2026 season is over: Chicago lifeguards left after Labor Day, September 7, and the city says the 2027 season will begin Memorial Day weekend. Evanston, Wilmette and Winnetka also ended on September 7. Glencoe Beach is closed for construction until an expected May 2027 reopening. Wilmette’s lakefront parking pass requirement runs through October 15. The Lakefront Trail is getting section-by-section repairs this fall, starting at the south end and moving north, so watch for work zones on a bike. Castaways, The Dock and Kayak Chicago are seasonal; check their sites before going in shoulder months. North Shore fees reset each year, and 2027 rates were not posted yet.

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