10 Best Parks in Chicago

Lincoln Park is the biggest in the city, stretching nearly 7 miles along the Lake Michigan shore. It boasts landscaped grounds, lagoons, lily ponds, a zoo, beaches, a lakefront trail, and multiple museums. The size of this park is nothing to sneeze at, either. It's even bigger than Central Park in New York City. 

Founded in 1868, Lincoln Park Zoo is among the oldest in the country. Home to over 200 species, including lions, monkeys, and bears, it’s a free attraction to ensure its mission: connecting people with nature. After exploring the zoo, head over to the conservatory, which houses exquisite exotic plants and rare orchids in its hothouse. 

Grant Park is in the central business district but it’s not just the ‘suits’ heading to the park, where facilities include the skate park, baseball diamonds, and pickleball courts. Visitors are drawn to the culture of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Adler Planetarium. 

The centerpiece of the park is the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain, performing water displays every 20 minutes from May to October, with a spectacular light display between 9 pm and 10 pm. Annual events held in the Petrillo Music Shell include the civilized Chicago Jazz Festival, the delicious Taste of Chicago food festival, and the annual musical extravaganza, Lollapalooza. 

Millennium Park is home to one of the most iconic (and Instagrammable) symbols of Chicago, Cloud Gate, Anish Kapoor’s humungous silver jellybean. Weighing over 110 tons, the shiny sculpture reflects the Windy City’s skyline and invites visitors to pass underneath the 33 feet high structure. 

Cool off at the interactive Crown Fountain, featuring a video wall projecting the faces of 1,000 citizens who represent the diverse population of Chicago. Frank Gehry’s BP Pedestrian Bridge is another example of design-led, yet practical, art within the park. It’s an accessible walkway, clad in brushed stainless steel, connecting with Grant Park. Gehry also designed the futuristic Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which hosts free cultural performances on the 10,000-capacity Great Lawn. 

McKinley Park opened in 1901, a month after the assassination of President William McKinley, when forward-thinking officials in Chicago’s park department decided to build a park in his honor. Previous parks were far away from overcrowded tenement neighborhoods and McKinley Park had national significance, paving the way for future green spaces in underprivileged areas. 

Visitors today can take a walk around the natural area, observe birds at the large wetlands, cool off at the kid-friendly water splash park, and pay their respects at the William McKinley memorial statue in the top left corner of the park. The site is wheelchair friendly. 

Named after pioneering explorer, scientist, and ecologist, Alexander Von Humboldt, Humboldt Park is a vibrant 200 acres to the west of the city. It’s home to a large statue in homage to the man himself. Sports fans can visit the historic fieldhouse, which contains a fitness center and 2 gymnasiums, and for family fun head to the boating lake, ball fields, and inland beach. 

The park also proudly hosts the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in the completely renovated former stables. It is the nation’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the history of Puerto Rican arts and cultural traditions.

If you’re looking for a stroll in nature that also takes in lofty skyscraper scenery, head to Northerly Island Park. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, this park’s visitors can enjoy an amble or a bike ride on the accessible concrete trail upon which you will pass lagoons, landscaped wildlife habitats made for bird watching, or fishing and play areas for the kids. 

South of the Adler Planetarium, you will find 12th Street Beach, with parking, access to watersports, refreshments, and restrooms. There is also an accessible beach walk if you don’t feel like sunbathing. 

Located within a perfect rectangle amongst the skyscrapers of Downtown Chicago, Lakeshore East Park feels like a haven within the city, with its perfectly manicured formal gardens. In early spring these gardens showcase thousands of tulip bulbs.  

If you’ve brought your 4-legged friend on vacation, then Lakeshore East is the place to head for dog-friendly fun. Ten dedicated acres along the southern edge of the park allow owners to unleash their pets among tree-shaded landscaped grounds, there’s even a water fountain for the pups to refresh. For the kids, there’s a fun water spray feature and colorful playground. 

To the west of the city and named after a French Jesuit missionary and explorer, Jacques Marquette, Marquette Park is the largest park created for immigrant and under-privileged neighborhoods. This pioneering scheme of the early 20th century aimed to create beautifully landscaped “breathing spaces” for congested and overpopulated areas.

Today the park is home to an outdoor sculpture paying tribute to Martin Luther King, who led a march through Marquette Park protesting against unfair housing practices. With conservation areas and lagoons to explore, there are plenty of activities for nature and sports fans, too, including basketball courts, a driving range, a fishing area, and an accessible fieldhouse.  

Located in the vibrant Pilsen community in West Chicago, Harrison Park serves locals with pickleball courts, soccer and baseball fields, and a popular indoor swimming pool. The area surrounding the park is rich in Latino culture, with street-art murals to explore and Mexican street food to munch. 

Nestled within the park is the free-to-visit Museum of Mexican Art. The museum’s mission is to represent the Mexican community with a permanent collection of art, textiles, prints photos, and performing arts programs.  

Another of Chicago’s parks with a rich history, Henry C. Palmisano Nature Park was formally known as Stearns Quarry, from which rock was used to build the Illinois and Michigan Canal. In the 1970s, it became a landfill site until enterprising city planners took over in 2009, building the lucky residents of Bridgeport one of Chicago’s most interesting parks. 

The quarry walls have been retained to form terraced wetlands leading down to a fishing pond and almost 2 miles of recycled timber boardwalk take visitors on nature walks with incredible views of the city’s skyline in the background. In an even more distant past, the park was a coral reef, so you might just fish for a fossil or 2.