Chicago is known for its incredible architecture and towering skyscrapers, but that doesn’t mean the Windy City lacks green space.
In 1837, when the city of Chicago was incorporated, it adopted the Latin motto “Urbs in Horto,” meaning “city in a garden.” With more than 8,000 acres of city-maintained parks, there are plenty of outdoor spaces to explore when you visit.
Here are the best parks in Chicago.
1. Millennium Park
Millennium Park, Chicago’s showpiece, is a treasure trove of free and artistic sights. This includes the Pritzker Pavilion, Frank Gehry’s silver band shell, which hosts free weekly concerts in the summer. Anish Kapoor’s lovely silver sculpture Cloud Gate aka “The Bean”; and Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain, a de facto water park that features gargoyle-style video images of locals spitting water.
The McCormick Tribune Ice Rink fills with skaters in the winter (and alfresco diners in the summer). The Hidden Lowry Garden blooms with prairie flowers and serenity. The Gehry-designed BP Bridge spans Columbus Drive and offers spectacular skyline views, while Nichols Bridgeway Park arches to the roof of the Art Institute of Chicago’s small, third-floor sculpture, which overlooks is free for
Free yoga and pilates classes are held on the Great Lawn on Saturday mornings in the summer, while the Family Fun Tent offers children’s activities daily in the summer.
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2. Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park gives the neighborhood its name, and is the largest park in Chicago. Its 1,200 acres stretch 6 miles from North Avenue to Diversey Parkway, where it narrows along the lake to the end of Lake Shore Drive.
On sunny days, locals head out to take advantage of the pools, ponds, trails and playgrounds or visit the Lincoln Park Zoo, Lincoln Park Conservatory and beaches. It’s a great place to while away the morning or afternoon (or both).
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3. North Island
North Island, a hilly, prairie grassy park, is home to hiking and biking trails, bird watching, fishing and outdoor space for big-name concerts. It’s actually a peninsula, not an island, but the views of the Chicago skyline are awesome no matter what you call it.
Stop by the fieldhouse for tour information, if it’s open. Bicycles are available at the Divvy bike share station at the Adler Planetarium.
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4. Maggie Daly Park
Families love Maggie Daley Park’s wonderful, free playgrounds in all their magical forest and pirate-themed glory. There’s a rock-climbing wall, an 18-hole mini-golf course, a winding, in-line skating track called the Skating Ribbon (used for ice skating in the winter) and tennis courts; These features have different fees. Numerous picnic tables make the park a great place to relax. It is connected to Millennium Park by a pedestrian BP bridge.
5. Garfield Park Conservatory
Built in 1907, the Garfield Park Conservatory, covering two acres under glass, is a lovely place to while away a few hours surrounded by ponds filled with palms, ferns, orchids and koi.
Between May and October, the 10-acre outdoor grounds are open, including a lily pond, a carnivorous plant bog and the Monet Garden, based on the Impressionist painter’s flower patch in Giverny, France.
The demonstration garden shows citizens how to grow vegetables, bees and compost in city plots. Children can get dirty with roots and seeds in the indoor children’s garden. The new halls display seasonal plants that are particularly spectacular in the weeks leading up to Easter.
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6. Jackson Park
The 550-acre, lakefront Jackson Park is a gem. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the famed creator of New York City’s Central Park, it features bird-rich lakes, busy boat harbors, fragrant meadows, a phoenix garden, 63rd Street Beach and a golf course. Included.
It’s where the city hosted the 1893 World’s Expo, when Chicago introduced the world to wonders like the Ferris wheel, moving pictures and the zipper.
The Museum of Science and Industry is located in the northern part of Jackson Park. If you’re looking for a nice walk, Jackson Park connects to Washington Park via a mile-long boulevard called the Midway Place. The Plaisance itself is basically a park, with snow plows and college students kicking around soccer balls on the grass.
7. Humboldt Park
The 207-acre Humboldt Park, which gives its name to the neighborhood around it, comes out of nowhere and inspires you with Mother Nature. The lake, cleared of native vegetation, takes over most of the green space, and birdsong wafts through the air.
The 1907 Prairie School Boathouse is the center of the park, home to a café and free cultural events. Other highlights include a flowered formal garden, the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, and Chicago’s only inland beach.
For more in-depth exploration, including the park’s small waterfall, wind turbine and picnic island, Download free audio tour online.. Street vendors and food trucks sell fried plantains, Meat dishes (meat fritters) and other Puerto Rican specialties around the park’s edges.
8. Palmisano Park
Opened on the site of an old limestone quarry, Palmisano Park offers an urban prairie landscape with spectacular views of the Chicago skyline. Locals come to fish for bluegill in the lake in summer and sled the hills in winter. Winding paths made from recycled construction debris are perfect for a stroll at any time.
9. Promontory Point
Runners, cyclists, swimmers, dog walkers and Hyde Park residents of all stripes rub shoulders at Promontory Point, a 12-acre man-made peninsula jutting into Lake Michigan.
Stone steps and fortified fieldhouses are favorite hangouts. Wedding receptions are often held later because it is so beautiful. Renowned landscape architect Alfred Caldwell designed the green space. The view of the Chicago skyline from here is spectacular.
10. Grant Park
Grant Park hosts Chicago’s mega events, such as Taste of Chicago, Bluesfest and Lollapalooza. Buckingham Fountain is the centerpiece of the park. The skateboard park in the southwest corner draws a cool cat crowd. Other features include a rose garden and several baseball diamonds.
11. 606
Chicago’s 606 is an urban cool elevated route along an old train track. Bike or stroll the 2.7 miles between Wicker Park and Logan Square past factories, smokestacks, clattering L trains and locals’ backyard affairs.
It’s an interesting trek through Chicago’s socioeconomic strata: the east made money, the west became more industrialized and immigrant. The trail parallels Bloomingdale Avenue (the border between Wicker Park and Bucktown), with access points every quarter mile.
The entrance to Churchill Field is an easy, sculpture-laden place to climb. For those interested in cycling, there is a Dewey bike share station a few blocks from the east end of the trail at the corner of Marshfield Avenue and Courtland Street.
12. Ping Tom Memorial Park
Ping Tom Memorial Park stretches along the Chicago River and offers dramatic, bridge-spanning views of the skyline. Rent a kayak from the boathouse, or pack a picnic to eat under the willow trees. in summer, Chicago Water Taxi A groovy boat runs to/from Michigan Avenue. The dock is next to the Wrigley Building on the northwest side of the bridge.
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