Lake Chicago was a prehistoric proglacial lake that is the ancestor of what is now known as Lake Michigan, one of North America's five Great Lakes. Formed about 13,000 years ago and fed by retreating glaciers, it drained southwest through the Chicago Outlet River.

Jun 16, 2018 · Lake Chicago's level, at its highest, was almost 60 feet higher than the level of present Lake Michigan, and the lake completely covered the area now occupied by Chicago. Its northern outlet into the St. Lawrence River was still blocked by remnants of the glacier.

Chicago's Lakefront Trail is an 18-mile paved path to let you run, walk, bike or rollerblade along the beautiful Lake Michigan shore. Get more info about the Lakefront Trail.

Chicago’s 26 miles of scenic lakefront includes numerous public parks and gardens, an 18-mile Lakefront Trail — and more than two dozen free beaches that open to the public every summer in Chicago. Here are a few spots you can kick back and soak in …

Evidence of ancestral phases of the Great Lakes, with names such as Glacial Lake Chicago, Lake Algonquin, and Lake Algoma, can be observed as ancient beaches, lake plains, and wave cut bluffs.

Lake Chicago, in what is now the southern Lake Michigan basin, and Lake Maumee, in present-day western Lake Erie and its adjacent lowlands, originally drained southward into the Mississippi River through the Illinois and Wabash drainages, respectively.

4 days ago · The bird deaths on Chicago's shores also prompted the Milwaukee County Zoo to close its aviary "out of an abundance of caution." In an announcement , the zoo said the closure would last "for the ...

The lobe of glacial ice more than one-half-mile thick which had scoured out the Lake Michigan basin melted away and left a huge lake called Lake Chicago. The surface of this glacial lake lay 60 feet higher than the current level of Lake Michigan, and it …

Jan 30, 2025 · Chicago’s “front yard,” Grant Park is one of the oldest landmarks in the city and it was the subject of many legal fights. While forward-thinking locals lobbied to have the lakefront green space protected back in 1835, city commissioners wavered on the idea for 55 years, before they approved plans for civic buildings to go up here.

The city is home to two stunning waterfronts — the Chicago River and Lake Michigan — and each offers plenty of cruise options. Admire the skyline on a lakefront cruise, learn about the city’s iconic architecture on a Chicago River cruise, enjoy dinner and dancing aboard an all-glass vessel, sip cocktails on a tiki-themed boat, paddle your ...