Beach · Lake Michigan · Illinois
Oak Street Beach
A public beach on Lake Michigan in Cook County, Illinois, 0.21 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
- 0.21 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
- IL296528
- Coordinates
- 41.9040° N, 87.6240° W to 41.9020° N, 87.6220° 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
- Ohio Street Beach0.9 mi · sampled · IL
- North Avenue Beach1.4 mi · sampled · IL
- 12th Street2.8 mi · sampled · IL
- Margaret T Burroughs (31st St. Beach)4.5 mi · sampled · IL
- Montrose Beach4.5 mi · sampled · IL
- Montrose Dog Beach4.6 mi · IL
Straight-line distance.
On the horizon
Lighthouses nearby
- Chicago Harbor Southeast Guidewall Light1.5 mi
- Chicago Harbor Light2.0 mi
- William E. Dever Crib Light2.2 mi
On shore nearby
Worth the stop
- Chicago Lakefront Trail1.1 mi · drive
Off the beach
What to fish on Lake Michigan
Source
Facts on this page are from the EPA BEACON profile for beach IL296528, 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.