Paddling near Waukegan, IL

Waukegan's harbor opens directly onto the Illinois Lake Michigan Water Trail, the IDNR/Openlands corridor running through North Chicago, Beach Park, Winthrop Harbor, and Zion. Paddlers launch from the Port of Waukegan for big-water touring or head north to Illinois Beach State Park, whose 6.5 miles of beach-ridge shoreline is the last of its kind in the state. Quieter options wait inland: the Des Plaines River west of town and the busy Chain O'Lakes a half-hour drive away.