Rainbow Beach
Chicago, IL
Rainbow Beach, at 3111 E. 77th Street, is the centerpiece of a 142 acre South Shore park named for the U.S. Army's Rainbow Division from World War I. It started as two separate city beaches that were later joined. From the sand you get what many locals consider the best view of the downtown skyline from the South Side.
A big, historic South Side beach with a great skyline view, though it's far from downtown.
How we score beachesStay for sunset and look northwest; the skyline view here rivals anything on the North Side.
Parking lots at Rainbow Beach Park.
Paved paths lead from the lots to the sand.
Lifeguards are on duty 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The park's dunes and meadows are good for birding in migration seasons.
More Great Lakes beaches
Sleeping Bear Dunes Beach
Empire, MI · Great Lakes
Freshwater Lake Michigan surf below towering sand dunes, some over 400 feet tall, with water clear enough to rival a coastline and a hike back up the dune to burn it off.
New Buffalo City Beach
New Buffalo, MI · Great Lakes
New Buffalo City Beach is the first real Lake Michigan beach you hit crossing from Indiana, a wide stretch of sand at the end of Whittaker Street beside the harbor and the Galien River channel. Chicago weekenders fill it in summer. The town's shops and restaurants are a five minute walk back up the street.
Warren Dunes State Park
Sawyer, MI · Great Lakes
Warren Dunes State Park in Sawyer has roughly three miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and some of the tallest dunes in southwest Michigan. Tower Hill rises about 260 feet above the lake, and climbing it and running back down is a rite of passage. On a hot July Saturday the beach feels like a small city.