Beach · Lake Michigan · Illinois
Illinois Beach State Park South Beach
A public beach on Lake Michigan in Lake County, Illinois, 3.5 miles of shore. The state samples the water for bacteria twice a month through a 101-day swim season.
The beach
On the record
- Water
- Lake Michigan
- Location
- Lake County, Illinois
- Length
- 3.5 miles
- Owner
- Public
- Access
- Public Access
- Water sampling
- Yes — twice a month in the swim season
- Swim season
- 101 days, as reported
- Monitoring tier
- Tier 1 — the state’s highest monitoring priority
- Water quality standard
- E. coli, geometric mean: 300 CFU per 100 mL
- EPA beach ID
- IL215601
- Coordinates
- 42.4420° N, 87.8010° W to 42.3920° N, 87.8030° W
As the state reported it to EPA for the 2025 season. Sampling schedules change year to year. How beach monitoring works →
Down the shore
Nearest Michigan beaches
- Zion Hosah Park Beach0.8 mi · IL
- Illinois Beach State Park Resort Beach1.0 mi · sampled · IL
- Illinois Beach State Park Camp Logan Beach1.5 mi · IL
- Illinois Beach State Park Sailing Beach1.8 mi · IL
- Illinois Beach State Park North Beach2.6 mi · sampled · IL
- North Point Marina Beach3.5 mi · sampled · IL
Straight-line distance.
By boat
Launches nearby
- Simmon's Island Boat Harbor11 mi · trailer ramp
On the horizon
Lighthouses nearby
- Waukegan Harbor Light5.7 mi
- Kenosha North Pier Light10 mi
- Kenosha Light10 mi · deactivated
Ashore
State parks nearby
On shore nearby
Worth the stop
- Illinois Beach State Park1.6 mi · beach
Off the beach
What to fish on Lake Michigan
Source
Facts on this page are from the EPA BEACON profile for beach IL215601, the record Illinois files under the federal BEACH Act, retrieved 2026-10-10. The county is placed from the beach’s own coordinates. A blank field means the record is silent. Parking, fees, lifeguards and dog rules are set by whoever runs the beach; check with them before you go.
Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.