Beaches · 63 miles of Great Lakes shore
Illinois Great Lakes Beaches
56 beaches on Lake Michigan, about 17 miles of listed shore.Illinois tested the water at 47 of them in the 2025 season.
The standard
When Illinois posts an advisory
Illinois reports this bacteria standard to EPA for most of its Great Lakes beaches:
- E. coli, geometric mean: 300 per 100 mL
A sample over the line means an advisory or a closure until the water tests clean again. A single-sample limit applies to one day’s result; a geometric mean is an average over several samples, so one bad reading counts for less. How beach testing works →
Lake Michigan 56
Cook County 40
- 12th Street0.2 milesSampled daily
- 49th Street Beach0.12 milesNot sampled
- 57th Street Beach0.15 milesSampled daily
- 63rd Street Beach0.41 milesSampled daily
- Calumet South Beach0.25 milesSampled daily
- Evanston Clark Beach0.13 milesSampled twice a month
- Evanston Greenwood Beach0.23 milesSampled twice a month
- Evanston Lee Beach0.14 milesSampled twice a month
- Evanston South Beach0.15 milesSampled twice a month
- Foster Avenue Beach0.18 milesSampled daily
- Glencoe Park Beach0.11 milesSampled twice a month
- Hartigan Beachabout 200 feetSampled daily
- Howard Street Park Beachabout 260 feetNot sampled
- Juneway Terrace Park Beachabout 180 feetNot sampled · Private Access
- Kathy Osterman Beach0.33 milesSampled daily
- Kenilworth Beachabout 400 feetSampled 5 times a week
- Leone Beach0.55 milesSampled daily
- Lincoln Street Beach0.17 milesSampled twice a month
- Margaret T Burroughs (31st St. Beach)0.17 milesSampled daily
- Marion Mahoney Griffin Beach0.14 milesSampled daily
- Montrose Beach0.52 milesSampled daily
- Montrose Dog Beachabout 480 feetNot sampled
- North Avenue Beach1.1 milesSampled daily
- North Shore Avenue Beach0.15 milesSampled 5 times a week
- Oak Street Beach0.21 milesSampled daily
- Oakwood Beach0.19 milesSampled daily
- Ohio Street Beach0.11 milesSampled daily
- Pratt Blvd And Park Beach0.12 milesSampled 5 times a week
- Rainbow Beach0.34 milesSampled daily
- Rogers Avenue Park Beachabout 170 feetNot sampled
- South Shore Beach0.13 milesSampled daily
- Thorndaleabout 190 feetSampled 5 times a week
- Wilmette Gillson Park Beach0.28 milesSampled twice a month
- Wilmette Gillson Park Dog Beachabout 380 feetSampled twice a month
- Wilmette Langdon Beach0.29 milesSampled twice a month
- Winnetka Centennial Dog Beachabout 490 feetSampled once a week
- Winnetka Elder Park Beachabout 400 feetSampled once a week
- Winnetka Lloyd Park Beach0.11 milesSampled daily
- Winnetka Maple Park Beachabout 250 feetSampled daily
- Winnetka Tower Beach0.1 milesSampled daily
Kenosha County 1
- North Point Marina Beach0.2 milesSampled twice a month
Lake County 15
- Highland Park Avenue Boating Beach0.13 milesSampled twice a month
- Highland Park Moraine Park Dog Beachabout 330 feetSampled twice a month
- Highland Park Rosewood Beach0.18 milesSampled twice a month
- Illinois Beach State Park Camp Logan Beach0.77 milesNot sampled
- Illinois Beach State Park North Beach0.61 milesSampled twice a month
- Illinois Beach State Park Resort Beach0.5 milesSampled twice a month
- Illinois Beach State Park Sailing Beach0.14 milesNot sampled
- Illinois Beach State Park South Beach3.5 milesSampled twice a month
- Lake Bluff Dog Beachabout 310 feetSampled twice a month
- Lake Bluff Sunrise Beach0.25 milesSampled twice a month
- Lake Forest Forest Park Beach0.5 milesSampled twice a month
- North Chicago Foss Park Beach0.28 milesNot sampled
- Waukegan North Beach1.4 milesSampled twice a month
- Waukegan South Beach0.21 milesSampled twice a month
- Zion Hosah Park Beach0.15 milesNot sampled
Data from EPA BEACON 2.0, National List of Beaches 2025, retrieved 2026-10-10. Charts are not for navigation. Corrections tocontact@greatamericanlakes.com.