Oakwood Beach
Chicago, IL
Oakwood Beach, at 4100 S. Lake Shore Drive, is one of Chicago's newest beaches, built in the late 1990s to protect the shoreline. It's a quiet South Side beach with food stands, restrooms, and a pay-and-display lot, used mostly by Bronzeville and Kenwood neighbors.
A quiet, well-equipped South Side beach, though it lacks the skyline drama of beaches farther north.
How we score beachesIt's a calmer alternative to 31st Street Beach on busy weekends.
A pay-and-display lot at the beach.
Paved paths lead from the lot to the sand.
Lifeguards are on duty 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
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