Illinois's Best Lakes and Waterfronts

Illinois's waterfronts range from Chicago's magnificent Lake Michigan shore to the Mississippi River confluence at Cairo to the river-reservoir lakes of the interior.

Chicago Lakefront
Chicago's 26 miles of Lake Michigan lakefront — entirely public, thanks to Montgomery Ward's late-19th-century litigation preserving the "forever open, clear, and free" principle. The lakefront includes 30+ beaches (North Avenue Beach and 31st Street Beach are the most popular), the Museum Campus, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, the Shedd Aquarium waterfront, Northerly Island, and the Chicago Harbor. The lakefront multi-use path (the Chicago Lakefront Trail, 18 miles) is one of the most heavily used multi-use trails in the US.

Starved Rock State Park (Illinois River)
The Illinois River between Starved Rock and Matthiessen State Park — the sandstone canyon walls rise directly from the river. Eagle watching from the bluffs in December–February (bald eagles fishing in the open water below the dams) is the finest in the Midwest. Boat tours from the Starved Rock Lodge marina operate in summer.

Rend Lake (Benton)
The largest reservoir in Illinois — a 19,000-acre impoundment on the Big Muddy River in southern Illinois. Rend Lake is the primary warm-water fishing and recreation destination in southern Illinois — excellent crappie, bass, and catfish fishing. The adjacent Rend Lake Golf Course is one of the finest public courses in the state.

Pere Marquette (Illinois River meets the Mississippi)
The river confluence at Grafton — the Illinois River empties into the Mississippi at Grafton, creating a broad, marshy confluence rich with waterfowl and bald eagles in winter. Pere Marquette State Park overlooks the rivers from tall bluffs.

Lake Michigan (Illinois Shore)
Illinois Beach State Park near Waukegan preserves the only remaining natural beach ridges on the Illinois shore — a significant ecological resource in an otherwise developed lakefront.