Closest Beaches

Beaches Near Chicago, IL

Chicago sits directly on Lake Michigan with roughly 26 miles of city-run lakefront, so the closest beach is whichever one you can walk to. Oak Street and North Avenue are minutes from the Loop; Indiana Dunes National Park is about an hour east when you want real dunes instead of a city beach. Mind the swim flags — Lake Michigan rip currents are the chronic hazard here, not water quality.

Plan This Week

This Afternoon looks like the best day across this list.

Strongest single forecast: Ohio Street Beach (Chicago) on Monday (86).

Within 60 mi

Ohio Street Beach (Chicago)

1.3 mi · ~2 min drive · Cook County, IL

Ideal for a beach walk.

78°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

12th Street Beach (Chicago)

1.5 mi · ~2 min drive · Cook County, IL

Great day for a beach walk.

Oak Street Beach (Chicago)

1.7 mi · ~2 min drive · Cook County, IL

Ideal for a beach walk.

78°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

North Avenue Beach (Chicago)

2.8 mi · ~4 min drive · Cook County, IL

Ideal for a beach walk.

78°F air 5 mph wind Best this week: This Afternoon (86)

31st Street Beach (Margaret T. Burroughs Beach)

3.1 mi · ~4 min drive · Cook County, IL

Ideal for a beach walk.

78°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

Montrose Beach (Chicago)

6.1 mi · ~9 min drive · Cook County, IL

Ideal for a beach walk.

78°F air 5 mph wind Best this week: This Afternoon (86)

57th Street Beach (Hyde Park)

6.5 mi · ~9 min drive · Cook County, IL

Ideal for a beach walk.

78°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

Foster Avenue Beach (Chicago)

7.1 mi · ~10 min drive · Cook County, IL

Ideal for a beach walk.

76°F air 5 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

63rd Street Beach (Chicago)

7.2 mi · ~10 min drive · Cook County, IL

Ideal for a beach walk.

77°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

Marquette Park Beach (Gary, Miller Beach)

26 mi · ~38 min drive · Lake County, IN

Ideal for a beach walk.

78°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

Indiana Dunes National Park

34 mi · ~48 min drive · Porter County, IN

Ideal for a beach walk.

78°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

Washington Park Beach (Michigan City)

39 mi · ~56 min drive · LaPorte County, IN

Ideal for a beach walk.

85°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: This Afternoon (84)

Warren Dunes State Park

53 mi · ~1 hr 16 min drive · Berrien County, MI

Ideal for a beach walk.

83°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: This Afternoon (85)

Bradford Beach (Milwaukee)

83 mi · ~1 hr 59 min drive · Milwaukee County, WI

Ideal for a beach walk.

83°F air 5 mph wind Best this week: This Afternoon (86)

Holland State Park Beach

96 mi · ~2 hr 18 min drive · Ottawa County, MI

Ideal for a beach walk.

84°F air 6 to 9 mph wind Best this week: This Afternoon (85)

Grand Haven State Park

108 mi · ~2 hr 35 min drive · Ottawa County, MI

Ideal for a beach walk.

76°F air 6 to 12 mph wind Best this week: Tuesday (85)

Silver Lake State Park

136 mi · ~3 hr 16 min drive · Oceana County, MI

Ideal for a beach walk.

84°F air 9 mph wind Best this week: This Afternoon (85)

Ludington State Park

159 mi · ~3 hr 49 min drive · Mason County, MI

Ideal for a beach walk.

83°F air 9 mph wind Best this week: This Afternoon (85)

Whitefish Dunes State Park

212 mi · ~5 hr 5 min drive · Door County, WI

Great day for a beach walk.

Cave Point County Park

212 mi · ~5 hr 6 min drive · Door County, WI

Ideal for a beach walk.

80°F air 9 to 14 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Empire Beach (Lake Michigan Beach Park)

217 mi · ~5 hr 13 min drive · Leelanau County, MI

Ideal for a beach walk.

80°F air 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Maumee Bay State Park

220 mi · ~5 hr 16 min drive · Lucas County, OH

Ideal for a beach walk.

82°F air 13 mph wind Best this week: Monday (85)

Peninsula State Park (Nicolet Bay Beach)

228 mi · ~5 hr 28 min drive · Door County, WI

Great day for a beach walk.

83°F air 12 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

237 mi · ~5 hr 41 min drive · Leelanau County, MI

Ideal for a beach walk.

79°F air 10 mph wind Best this week: Thursday (86)

Cedar Point Beach

257 mi · ~6 hr 10 min drive · Erie County, OH

Great day for a beach walk.

80°F air 17 mph wind Best this week: Monday (86)

Distance is straight-line, drive times are estimates

Mileage shown is straight-line distance from the center of Chicago. Real drive times depend on highway routing, weekend traffic, and where in the metro you start. For summer Saturdays, plan 20–40 minutes longer than the estimates here. The range slider above filters by the same straight-line distance.