For many visitors, Chicago is defined by its tower-studded skyline. But for most Chicagoans, it's the long beach-front parks that make this a city to be proud of. And the biggest and best-loved is the eleven kilometre strip of Lincoln Park. It runs along the Lake Michigan shoreline, providing a wide open space for the city's inhabitants to play in. Striking northwards from the bay of Gold Coast, all the way to Lane Beach Park, it's home to seven public beaches, three marinas, two museums, a golf-course, a zoo, a theatre and 163 beach volleyball courts.
No wonder it pulls in the crowds – more than 20 million people visit every year, making this the second-most visited park in the US. Surprisingly, this vast and diverse pleasure-zone had humble origins. It started out in 1860 small plot of land north of the town's cemetery it was named Lincoln Park in 1865, after the assassination of President Lincoln. Over the last 150 years, though, it has swelled to over 485 hectares, and now offers pretty much everything under the sun that a visitor could want.
Culture lovers will enjoy its great collection of monumental statues, and its theatre on the lake. History fans can indulge themselves at the Chicago History Museum, close to the Lincoln Monument. But it's those wide-open skies that bring most visitors here. As well as the lake-front beaches, and their inevitable beach volley-ball courts, those looking to get sporty are very much spoilt by Lincoln Park. There are over thirty tennis courts, fifteen baseball areas and half-a dozen basketball courts – not to mention plenty of places to play soccer, do some archery practice or sail a boat.
But you can also sit and watch the world go by. That could be on a beach, watching the summer-time rituals of the locals. Or it could be in one of the Park's many nature reserves, checking out the wilder side of Chicago. The North Pond is home to herons and beavers. And the dunes of Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary attract over 300 species of birds to what was once a missile base. For Chicagoans, there really is nothing that can't be turned into a park.
