Lakefront Trail - Ohio Street Beach — Attraction in Chicago

Trail Series, Part 18 If you’re in Chicago, Illinois and looking to combine some long distance exercise with some dynamic photo opportunities, I suggest the Lakefront Trail along Lake Michigan.

It spans nearly 20 miles and provides separate lanes for the walkers/runners and for the cyclists/skateboarders/rollerbladers. This distinction is key because while I was running there were many cyclists really barreling along. However, this presented no safety concerns because we were enjoying our various forms of exercise in entirely separate lanes.

I found the overall safety of the trail to also be good as the paths were well traveled and using them during the day (even if alone) presented no concerns. While there were a large number of people enjoying the paths (including many with leashed dogs), there weren’t so many as to prevent runners from maintaining their desired pace.

Speaking of pictures, I ran North from Navy Pier and was stunned by the view of the downtown skyline when I eventually turned around. While I’ll never take a picture as good as my friend @andreimatei, there were a couple from this run that I was pretty stoked about.

Depending on where you’re staying in downtown, getting to this trail may take a little bit of effort, but I found my investment to be entirely worth it.

And that’s…Henry’s...

It was fantastic to bike on this 19 mile protected loops around the Michigan lake trail. Through this uninterrupted trail, we saw pristine blue water beaches, sailboats, lighthouse, budha head statues on the grass, Lincoln park, cafes and eateries, etc. It was just perfect with a great workout on a...

The best place to jog when visiting Chicago. Get out early and beat the crowds. I started at Ohio Street, located near my hotel, and headed north on the trail. Have been in multiple seasons and different times throughout the day and always enjoy it, but nothing beats the sunrise. Have a...