Location:

1222 W. Touhy Ave
Chicago, IL 60626

Location Notes:

1222 W. Touhy Ave (Touhy Ave. @ Lake Michigan) Distance swimming from Lunt to Farwell and parallel to shore.

Located Within: Leone (Sam) Beach Park

Rules

  • Swim only when lifeguards are on duty.
  • Follow lifeguards’ instructions.
  • Only Coast Guard approved personal flotation devices (PFDs) are permitted. Person-children wearing PFDs should have adult present.
  • No smoking.
  • No alcohol.
  • No dogs on the beach.
  • Do not feed birds or wildlife.
  • Dispose of trash and recycling in appropriate containers.
  • Grill in designated areas only and dispose of coals in red barrels.
  • Keep accessible beach walks clear. No bicycling, skateboarding or rollerblading is permitted in these areas.
  • Access to the Lake Michigan Water Trail for sports such as kayaking, canoeing and other non-motorized board or paddle sports is allowed at Leone Beach.   
  • No surfing or kiteboarding. Kiteboarding is ONLY permitted at Montrose Beach.

 

Hours

Facility Hours
Day Time slot Comment
Sunday: 11:00 am-7:00 pm
Monday: 11:00 am-7:00 pm
Tuesday: 11:00 am-7:00 pm
Wednesday: 11:00 am-7:00 pm
Thursday: 11:00 am-7:00 pm
Friday: 11:00 am-7:00 pm
Saturday: 11:00 am-7:00 pm

Hours Notes

The beach is open from 6 am to 11 pm, but swimming is only permitted during the beach season when lifeguards are on duty from 11 am to 7 pm, in designated swim areas.  The beach season runs from the Friday before Memorial Day, through Labor Day.

Description

Located in the Rogers Park neighborhood, Leone Beach is the perfect place to relax on the sandy shores of Lake Michigan while soaking in some rays or getting active at the nearby playground and kayak launch. The Junior Lifeguard program conducts many of its programs at Leone Beach.

Nearby Loyola Park hosts many activities at the field house, baseball fields, tennis courts and more.

Distance Swimming: Lunt to Farwell, parallel to shore

For questions regarding Chicago beaches, email beaches3@chicagoparkdistrict.com

History

Leone Beach Park dates to 1919, when the City of Chicago's Bureau of Parks and Recreation acquired the park site from the Department of Water. The city purchased the property and its pumping station from the Rogers Park Water Company in 1907.

Shortly after obtaining the lakeshore property, the Bureau of Parks and Recreation remodeled the pumping station, built in 1900, for use as a field house. By 1937, the park comprised 250 feet of beach frontage, including street-end beaches at Chase, Greenleaf and Farwell Avenues. In 1959, the Chicago Park District began leasing the park, then known as Rogers Park and Beach, from the city.

The park's Touhy Avenue beach included diving boards and rafts that drew neighborhood children in droves.

In 1966, the Chicago Park District renamed the site Leone Park after employee Sam Leone (1900-1965). Leone joined the Bureau of Parks and Recreation as a lifeguard after serving in the Navy during World War I. He first worked at the old Clarendon Park Beach, but moved north to Rogers Park in 1927. When Leone became a Chicago Park District employee in 1959, he was named supervisor of lifeguards for the entire North Side.

Leone was still living above the Rogers Park beach house, supervising lifeguards and safeguarding swimmers, at the time of his death at age 65.

Parking/Directions

Parking
Pay & display parking

Public Transit
The following public bus & train routes serve this beach:

CTA Bus Routes:
96 Lunt
147 Outer Drive Express
155 Devon

CTA Red Line Station:
Jarvis
Morse

Map & Facilities

Leone Beach

1222 W. Touhy Ave
Chicago, IL 60626
United States

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