Lincoln Park

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Lincoln Park is Chicago’s largest public park, stretching along Lake Michigan on the North Side. It covers about 1,200 acres (490 hectares) and runs seven miles (11 kilometers) from Grand Avenue in the south to near Ardmore Avenue in the north. It was created in 1843 and renamed Lincoln Park in 1865 to honor President Abraham Lincoln.

In the park’s oldest area (roughly between North Avenue and Diversey Parkway) you’ll find the Lincoln Park Zoo (free and open year-round) and several museums and gardens: the Chicago History Museum, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and the Lincoln Park Conservatory. The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool is a notable historic landscape nearby, and the area also hosts outdoor theater and other attractions.

Beyond the oldest section, Lincoln Park offers beaches, harbors, and lots of green space. Highlights include the North Pond Nature Sanctuary, the Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary (often called “The Magic Hedge”), and the Uptown Natural Area (opened in 2022). There are seven public beaches along the seven-mile shoreline and three harbors—Montrose, Belmont, and Diversey—that provide marinas and boat launches.

The park is known for its artwork and statues. A famous landmark is the large standing statue of Abraham Lincoln by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Other sculptures include a Grant statue, a Shakespeare statue, and works by Goethe, Andersen, Altgeld, and more.

History runs through Lincoln Park. The land began as cemetery grounds, and in the 1860s most graves were moved to create the park. Graves from Confederate prisoners who died at Camp Douglas were later relocated to Oak Woods Cemetery. The park grew along the lakefront as Chicago expanded, a plan echoed in the 1909 Burnham Plan. It has also been the site of important social events and protests, such as those around the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Today the park is a hub for recreation: baseball and softball fields, basketball and tennis courts, a golf course (Sydney R. Marovitz), archery, a skate park, a driving range, and more. The 18-mile Lakefront Trail runs along the lakefront for cyclists and walkers, connecting Lincoln Park with other lakefront parks.