Chicago’s Parks Invite Families

A free zoo, free summer concerts, ice- and roller-skating rinks, a climbing wall, play parks, mini-golf and three beaches invite family travelers to take time to visit one of Chicago’s many parks.

The most prominent is Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, where the Cloud Gate (nicknamed The Bean) is a gigantic round sculpture visitors can walk beneath. In the winter, the area is flooded for skating.

Elsewhere in the park, the beautiful Lurie Garden has flowers blooming almost year-round. The park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion is the venue for festivals and for free summer concerts. Throughout the sprawling park are shaded picnic tables.

Also downtown and next to Millenium Park, Maggie Daley Park is popular with families for its mini-golf course featuring Chicago landmarks and for the play park where young children can climb on the Pirate Ship. While younger siblings are busy being pirates, older siblings can challenge themselves on the climbing wall. The park’s skating rink is year-round, with roller skating in the summer and ice skating in the winter. Skates are available for rent at the park.

The most popular feature of Lincoln Park is the free Lincoln Park Zoo, with more than 200 animals including giraffes, lions, penguins, aardvarks, camels and sloths. When the weather is chilly, visitors retreat to the tropical environment of the Lincoln Park Conservatory’s greenhouses to admire orchids, palms and tropical blooms.

On the South Shore, Jackson Park offers a blend of serene gardens, playgrounds and three beaches. Cross the footbridge to the Wooded Island to find a Japanese garden with a tea house, a pagoda and Zen gardens, all surrounded by lagoons. The beaches, located at 57^th, 63^rd and 67^th streets, have bathhouses and food vendors.