Beach · Lake Michigan · Illinois
Montrose Beach
A public beach on Lake Michigan in Cook County, Illinois, 0.52 miles of shore. The state samples the water for bacteria daily through a 101-day swim season.
The beach
On the record
- Water
- Lake Michigan
- Location
- Cook County, Illinois
- Length
- 0.52 miles
- Owner
- Public
- Access
- Public Access
- Water sampling
- Yes — daily 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
- IL132842
- Coordinates
- 41.9680° N, 87.6420° W to 41.9660° N, 87.6320° 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
- Montrose Dog Beach0.1 mi · IL
- Foster Avenue Beach0.9 mi · sampled · IL
- Kathy Osterman Beach1.6 mi · sampled · IL
- Thorndale1.6 mi · sampled · IL
- Hartigan Beach2.5 mi · sampled · IL
- Rogers Avenue Park Beach2.6 mi · IL
Straight-line distance.
On the horizon
Lighthouses nearby
- Wilson Avenue Crib Light2.6 mi
- William E. Dever Crib Light3.5 mi
- Chicago Harbor Southeast Guidewall Light5.9 mi
On shore nearby
Worth the stop
- Chicago Lakefront Trail5.5 mi · drive
Off the beach
What to fish on Lake Michigan
Source
Facts on this page are from the EPA BEACON profile for beach IL132842, 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.