Adeline JayGro-Karis Illinois Beach State Park is located north of the Chicago area on the shores of Lake Michigan, and just a few miles south of the Wisconsin border near Zion. It is composed of wetlands, a couple mile long stretch of beach, a large campground, and a small beach hotel.
The main beach is a couple hundred yards long and on a clear day has a view of the Chicago skyline in the distance to the south. The park was building a new concessions stand and bathrooms in 2021. The parking area is large enough to accommodate vehicles towing campers.
There is a trail from the beach to the north along the lake front on one side and sand dunes on the landward side. We find this area peaceful where you can only hear the sound of the wind and waves and not as many people venture down. Our kids, aged 5 and 7, like to walk the edge of the water to look for shells, interesting rocks and an occasional piece of sea glass. There are a few larger dunes at the south end of the beach area.
Geology of the Beach
The main beach area is mostly sand, but also has areas of wave-polished gravel that many people find very interesting because of the variety of stones. The geology of the stones include both eroded rock layers from the depths of Lake Michigan and large amounts of glacial gravel that was dumped into the lake from the last ice age. Rocks include sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. The smaller glacial erratics include rock types that were carried from as far away as northern Ontario, Canada and Michigan across the lake. Fossils also wash up, mostly Silurian period limestone with embedded crinoids stem sections that look like small pierces of Cheerios cereal. There are also is a lot of mud stone gravel that eroded to show interesting pattern from the layers of sediment making up the stone.
Abandoned Structures Along the Beach
The park appears to have been very popular in the 1960s when two large beach houses and the resort were constructed. The two beach houses are now abandoned. There is also a concrete picnic structure at the far north end of the beach trial that is partly buried in a sand dune that moved along the beach. It appears a large portion of the beach from 50-60 years ago is now underwater due to erosion of the shoreline. In some spots the beach is only a few feet wide from the large sea wall that was constructed out of blocks and stone to keep retains the remaining shoreline and dunes.
In calm weather the shoreline is pretty calm, but people should still be aware of strong undertows. Lake Michigan is basically an inland sea and acts accordingly. It can generate extremely violent waves and gale force winds. The weather along the lake can change quickly throughout the day, and did so each time we visited fort camped there.
Illinois Beach State Park Camp Ground
The campground includes a couple hundred campsites, most of which are well shaded with trees. The row of camps closest to the lakeshore are only about 75-100 yards from the water, but will be cooler with wind coming off the lake. There is a low area running through the camp ground that looks like it retains standing water during the summer. The landward side of the campground faces a large wetlands area. There are a few campsites on the north, landward side which have lots of pine trees.
There are three dump stations. The concession area for the beach is attached to the edge of the campground so it also can service campers. All the camps in the campground are within a somewhat reasonable walk to the beach.
What is Close By to Illinois State Beach?
The large Great America amusement park is located in Gurnee, Illinois, which is about a 20 minute drive away. North of the state park along Sheridan Road is access to the North Dunes Nature Preserve along the lake north of Zion. A little further north is Winthrop Harbor. If you head to the North Point Marina there is another beach, a restaurant in the Marina and a beer garden (Harbor Brewing Co. Lakefront Biergarten) located in the main marina building with out door seating. Our kids were super happy to run around at the playground which happens to be right next to the out door seating at the Biergarten which many parents took advantage of.
Dogs in the Park
We brought our pup with when we went camping here and the campground was dog friendly. Don’t expect to bring your dog out to the beach with you as this park does not have a dog friendly beach. The trails are good for dog walks as long as your pup is leashed. The picnicking areas are also dog friendly so that works out when you take a break from the sandy beach.
Kids Impression
Obviously the big draw for this kids at this park is the beach, they could spend all day just playing and digging in the sand. They also enjoyed walking along the numerous trails in the park with our dog. The campground does have a playground but they preferred the playground at the North Pier Marina across from brewery which was newer and larger. Over all our family enjoyed our time at this park and will definitely be back.
