Clark Park

A lovely urban oasis. I found it through Google Maps, where the trail is listed as N Branch Riverwalk. The park is small, with a trail running from Addison to Belmont for a grand total of 0.6 miles. Occasionally you’ll see homeless people on the trail and gang grafitti at the Belmont end. The trail is perfect for those who live in Avondale/​N Center/​Roscoe Village and don’t want to fight traffic on the lakefront path.

Ssssh!
You’re gonna blow the whistle on all the local kids from Lane who go and party it up in the little wooded area next to the park!
Seriously (well, that is true, but they’ll live), this is a great and underused little natural getaway. I bring my daughter here to ride her trike, and if you haven’t kayaked the river yet, you don’t know Chicago. Do it soon before the last remaining industry on the north side is replaced by expensive condos and the like.

The jogging scene in Avondale, which I think consists of just me at this point, vastly prefers the trail through this park to Logan Boulevard, the jogging grounds of the neighborhood’s fitter neighbors to the south. There are more parallels– for example, the squirrels living alongside this trail are quite affluent (after converting acorns to dollars), much like the gentry living in greystones along Logan.
The park itself is on the site formerly occupied by Riverview Amusement Park, and appropriately is haunted by ghosts of screaming roller coaster riders. But only at night.
If you’re a real risk-​taker there’s always the opportunity for a canoe rental at the riverside, provided you’re coordinated enough to paddle between the «Danger! Don’t Touch the Water» signs spaced every twenty meters or so.