Cute, clean neighborhood park. More for smaller kids. Small playground and large grassy area.read more

Great space and comfortable enough to have a soccer or football game…read more Playground is great for all ages. Located on a dead end street and right next to the rail and get the occasional blow horn from the trains passing by. Definitely a great park to have a picnic and far enough from any main streets so the noise level is great.

I've been wanting to visit this park since it opened, but it never came to pass. I'm really glad we…read moregot to visit during their 10th anniversary celebration! That party was cool; they had various community orgs, like a citizen science group and the Budlong Woods branch of CPL here to share info and stuff. There were park volunteers doing arts and crafts with the kids. They even had a fishing derby in the little pond, I think, which was really cool. There's at least one or two works of art in the park that are nice as well. This isn't your typical CPD park. It's a nature area that was acquired from neighboring Rosehill Cemetery and developed into a natural area/native preserve. Though the cemetery is over 150 years old, this portion on the northwest corner of Western & Peterson was never used for burials and was simply an undeveloped section of the cemetery. I used to live a couple blocks away from here and remember thinking it was a bit of an eyesore. But the Chicago Park District, and the advisory council for the park, have done wondrous things. There's a walking path throughout the park for a leisurely stroll. The park also hosts various events; I believe they recently had an equinox program, and I hope the bat program comes up again so I can take my little one. They even had Hocus Pocus movie night a few days ago (just before Halloween). But my favorite part by far is the nature play space. It's gorgeous! There are lots of benches and stumps for adults and children to sit on, and they had a couple of outdoor play kitchens. There's a little mound (which to a small child could look hill-sized) for kids to play and sit on. There's a small stage and I'm not sure if they've always had events or if they've started hosting more, but I'm keeping an eye on it because it's truly one of the best nature play spaces I've seen around. It's absolutely worth a visit if you have children, or just want a little quiet contemplation.

We had a great morning at West Ridge Nature Park! We came here on a Sunday morning to celebrate the…read more10th anniversary of the park. They had a lot of kid friendly activities like face painting, coloring, fossils to look at, and our favorite -- music from old town school of folk music! After enjoying some wheels on the bus, we walked around pond. The path was so pretty and well kept. We saw lots of geese, butterflies, squirrels, and even a hawk which my two year old loved. Our favorite though, was all the turtles! We saw about 10 out in the pond swimming. They were so cute, we could have sat out there for a hours watching them bob around. Definitely recommend West Ridge if you're wanting some peace in the city.

Beautiful little park with the original mansion & a couple of coach houses - one is used as a…read morerestaurant... Great playground for the kids...all of this right on the Lake.

I absolutely love it here. A tiny neighborhood park on Lake Michigan where the neighborhood comes…read moreto walk Rover, take the kiddos for a romp, or just feel a breezy gust here and there. It's in Edgewater, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Chicago: There is community here, different cultures live here,it's on the lake, college students (it's next to Loyola) , and really like it because it away from the congestion of downtown. When in Chicago for a minute, I come here for morning exercises and late afternoon too if the weather is comfortable (48 and above lol) and can easily find a nook secluded from everyone else. Though compact, you can also experience a play, a full service restaurant, a playground, and rocks to sit on, look out into the water...and contemplate a life full of miracles.

The park is definitely busier than ever overall, but 1.) the lock-stock-and-barrel weekend…read morebarbecue crowd comes less often this year (seemingly only on holidays and really hot days); and 2.) you can still find moments of peace and quiet. Tuesday afternoon I spent about ninety minutes there and for much of it, I was the only person in the park besides the lifeguard. Nothing but the soft whisper of the wind, the rhythmic whosh of the waves, and the near-melodic screak of the swingset. Now THAT is time well spent. This Sunday I had visitors who wanted to use the beach (which I never do) and was surprised by the scene. There were more people than I would have thought, but it wasn't overrun; maybe 25-30 at peak. I got the impression that many of these were suburbanites who were hitting one of the northernmost Chicago beaches because the North Shore beaches such as Evanston charge money? In any case, it wasn't rowdy or bustling but there was enough activity to keep you occupied if you just wanted to watch the kids (or adults) playing. And I've always described this beach as devoid of scenery other than sailboats, but there was surprisingly plenty of eye candy there this time, mostly in the late-teen/early-twenties range. Going to the beach is not my thing, but that made it enjoyable.

This is a pretty "chill" park. It's so peaceful throughout the day. From the birds chirping, to the…read moresound of the wave. There's a lot of trees here with nice shade from the sun during the summer. This park/beach is perfect if you coming to read , meditate, write, or sleep...but I wouldn't do that if I were you...but anyways ,you can even bring a date here. Even tho it is a small park. Every time I come here, it's never crowded. Rather it's 6am, 12pm, or 8pm. The best things in life are free.

Nice smaller park for younger kids. Toddler friendly play area and bigger kid jungle gym, swings,…read moresplash pad, large grass area for games/sports and plenty of shade. I like this park because it's a little easier to manage with more than one child, as you have pretty good visibility of the whole park. Great for a picnic!

Came across this pretty small playground and park not far from Wicker Park, the actual park that…read moreis. Dean Playground is a pretty simple looking playlot. It has playground equipment such as a slide and swings. Also there's a community garden. The park also has a water feature operating in warmer weather. A surprisingly long history about it. In the years after World War II, there was a baby boom, and this caused an increased need to built lots more of parks and playgrounds. This small playlot was one of these. It got its name from the street it's located on of course. The street is named after John Dean, who was an early civic leader. Good place for kids and families. It's pretty safe around here. This is close to a few other bigger parks that have more things.

Independence Park is located smack dab in the middle of Central Street. It's not a bad location…read moresince there are several shops and restaurants here; I'm sure it's a nice place to stop and relax whilst in the midst of a shopping day. Independence Park has a playground and is not a bad size, particularly for its location. It's a popular space alright; there were lots of families and individuals there when I was across the street at Backlot Coffee. They may do halloween activities here--Central Street has trick-or-treating a week or so before the holiday. In fall 2022, they had a fall-themed selfie station set up outside with hay bales, corn stalks, gourds, and pumpkins, which I thought was kind of a cute idea even though I'm not sure everything needs to be an Instagram moment. There's a good deal of parking, though in parts of the neighborhood near housing it's possible the streets are permit; along Central, it's all pay parking using the Park Evanston app.

This isn't your fancy schmancy Riverwalk downtown. No, no, my friends this is the…read more North Branch Riverwalk! Currently this isn't a very long section of paths, just including the Richard Clark Park, some boat rentals that happen at the Park and a complimentary boathouse, then The Garden dirt bike path. Right now it's just .6 of a mile if you go the whole path but I usually go back & forth so I can at least get over a mile. This is a nice little path though depending when you go, it could be a bit weird. This is clearly a spot highschool kids to smoke up. Some hide in the woods and you just get the scent hitting you. Others sit along the path eating pizzas, leaving their garbage, intimidating people walking by while blasting music. It kind of ruins the nature feeling of this place and is disappointing. Mostly because trash is left everywheeeeerrrre. I don't get why people can't clean up after themselves? And breaking bottles all over the ground is dangerous for all the pups on the paths. But also, no efforts are made on an even weekly basis to keep things looking nice. Ah well. There are apparently big plans to expand the North Branch Riverwalk announced last year but I didn't see much progress this year. Actually I see no progress and it was supposed to be done this year. https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160309/roscoe-village/cool-bike-path-that-will-soar-over-river-has-name-start-date I'll keep on watching and hoping this area improves even more!

Here is another local park, that's good for chilling or playing baseball. It certainly isn't the…read morefirst one of these to go to in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, but it's often a quieter and less crowded option. Jonquil Park is known for the athletic fields and playground. Even though it's not big, it's big enough. The entrance even has a cool sculpture. A neighborhood park is the best way to describe it. It's not nearly as popular as the neighborhood's namesake park. This is more for those who live in the area than for other locals and tourists. Best known for the baseball. There's also a few tennis courts. A playground is pretty modern and it's ADA approved. There's a spray area to keep cool in summer. At the entrance is a sculpture by Richard Hunt. The Eagle Columns was inspired by a Vachel Lindsay poem about former Governor Peter Altgeld, who was an early proponent of playgrounds. He actually has a studio across the street from here. The park does have a few homeless but they don't really bother others. Good area. It's close to the Fullerton CTA station. This is located at the intersection of Lincoln, Sheffield, and Wrightwood.

I am now a student of tennis on the lake at jonquil park. But before starting lessons I read every…read moreYelp review looking for details on how to reserve a court and didn't find any! So here's are the details: Nice enough public park. Safe in my experience - there might be a few eccentric folks around but it's always felt safe during the day time. I've never visited the restroom but I've heard tell it's often out of order. The courts at jonquil are hard courts and they do have lights at night. Tennis On the Lake reserves 1 court (of 2) evenings throughout the week and morning/afternoon on the weekend for lessons during the nice weather. Each of the 2 courts has an "even/odd" rack. Hang your racket to reserve the upcoming even or odd hour. So if you arrive at 3:30, hang your racket on even to reserve for 4, and odd to reserve for 5. Tennis on the lake always plays on the west court. Not sure if there are any other coaches that reserve space - I've never seen that nor any other signs. Some people will go in the morning and hang their rack with a note reading "6 PM" this is against the rules and also again court etiquette. Not much we can do about it but if you wonder if you should do that - just don't. It's rude. Also I DO recommend tennis on the lake if you're looking for lessons.