| Lincoln Park | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view of the seven-mile-long Lincoln Park shoreline | |
 | |
| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Chicago |
| Coordinates | 41°56′24″N 87°38′06″W / 41.94000°N 87.63500°W |
| Area | 1,200 acres (490 ha) |
| Created | 1843 |
| Operated by | Chicago Park District |
Lincoln Park is a 1,208-acre (489-hectare) park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US President Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south,[1][2] to near Ardmore Avenue (5800 N) on the north, just north of the DuSable Lake Shore Drive terminus at Hollywood Avenue.[3] Two museums and a zoo are located in the oldest part of the park between North Avenue (1600 N) and Diversey Parkway (2800 N) in the eponymous neighborhood. Further to the north, the park is characterized by parkland, beaches, recreational areas, nature reserves, and harbors. To the south, there is a more narrow strip of beaches east of Lake Shore Drive, almost to downtown. With 20 million visitors per year, Lincoln Park is the second-most-visited city park in the United States, behind Manhattan's Central Park.[4]
The park's recreational facilities include baseball/softball fields, basketball courts, beach volleyball courts, cricket pitches, football/soccer fields, a golf course, lacrosse fields, rugby pitches, tennis courts, volleyball courts, field houses, a target archery field, a skate park, and a driving range.
The park also features several harbors with boating facilities, as well as public beaches for swimming, and nature reserves. There are landscaped gardens, public art, bird refuges, a zoo, the Lincoln Park Conservatory, the Chicago History Museum, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, and a theater on the lake with regular outdoor performances held during the summer.
- ^ Ohio Street Beach Archived June 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Lincoln Park History". Parks & Facilities. Chicago Park District. Archived from the original on June 8, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
- ^ Osterman Beach Archived June 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "City Park Facts" (PDF). The Trust for Public Land, Center for City Park Excellence. June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 31, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2011. p. 25.