Foss Park Beach
North Chicago, Illinois · on Lake Michigan · Foss Park
Verified · 3 independent sources
- WATER
- lake
- ACCESS
- Designated swim area
- FEE
- No fee found
- SEASON
- Varies by conditions
About Foss Park Beach
Foss Park Beach is a public swimming beach on Lake Michigan in North Chicago, Illinois, managed by the Foss Park District at 1901 Foss Park Avenue. Opened in 2022 after a $4 million shoreline restoration project, this big-water swimming hole gave area residents their first safe local place to swim in Lake Michigan in nearly a century, and it won the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association's 2023 Best Restored Beach award.
The beach sits on a restored stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline in North Chicago, adjacent to Foss Park, which also includes a playground. The restoration project rebuilt roughly 1,300 feet of shoreline, with about half engineered as a recreational swimming beach and the other half dedicated to coastal habitat restoration.
Swimming at Foss Park Beach
It is an open-water Lake Michigan swimming beach (sandy shoreline swimming area) rather than a river, creek, or quarry. The park district describes it as providing 'a safe swimming environment for all residents,' filling a gap left when the district's indoor pool closed in the 1990s.
How to get to this swimming hole
Address is 1901 Foss Park Avenue, North Chicago, IL 60064, per the Foss Park District's official beach page.
The walk in
No real hike here. The water is a short walk from where you park. This is a drive-up Lake Michigan beach at 1901 Foss Park Avenue, North Chicago; no hike is needed to reach the water. No source specifies walk time from a parking area, so exact distance from car to shoreline is not stated.
Plan your visit
Bringing kids
OK with supervision
The beach was purpose-built as a community swimming beach (sandy, ADA-accessible engineered shoreline) per the Foss Park District and ASBPA, but no source confirms lifeguard staffing, and it is open Lake Michigan water subject to wave action and periodic E. coli-driven closures, so open-water caution applies even though the site was designed for family swimming.
Hours
Sunrise to sunset (Foss Park District)
On the water
No official source addresses kayak/canoe/paddleboard/boat use at Foss Park Beach specifically; the Foss Park District and ASBPA materials describe it only as a swimming/wading beach and coastal-habitat restoration, without mentioning watercraft launch or rules.
Backstory
The Foss Park District's original swimming pool closed in the 1990s, leaving the community without a dedicated local swimming facility for roughly two decades. In late 2021 the district issued $4 million in bonds to fund a shoreline restoration project (designed by Shabica & Associates, built by Michels Construction, Inc.) that created the current beach, which opened in 2022 and received the ASBPA's Best Restored Beach award for 2023.
Foss Park Beach: FAQ
Is Foss Park Beach kid friendly?
The beach was purpose-built as a community swimming beach (sandy, ADA-accessible engineered shoreline) per the Foss Park District and ASBPA, but no source confirms lifeguard staffing, and it is open Lake Michigan water subject to wave action and periodic E. coli-driven closures, so open-water caution applies even though the site was designed for family swimming.
Do I need to hike to reach Foss Park Beach?
No significant hike is required. The swimming area is close to parking and access.
What are the rules at Foss Park Beach?
Beach hours are sunrise to sunset (Foss Park District). The beach is subject to closure for swimming and wading by order of the Lake County Health Department when water testing shows elevated E. coli levels; as of this research the district's website showed such a closure in effect.
What water body is Foss Park Beach on?
Foss Park Beach is on Lake Michigan, a natural lake verified in USGS hydrography data.
