Lighthouse Beach

Cute beach area in Evanston. I have only been here in the winter, but there is ample parking, both street and a lot. The beach area is on the smaller side but it is perfect to go for a walk and view the puddle, which as of this week, is mildly frozen. I am kind of amazed that such a large body of water can freeze.
The beach is situated behind the old Evanston Lighthouse. That is a pretty cool complex which you can explore.
Would pay the $ 8 fee in the summer because parking seems easy and Evanston is generally gracious to us outsiders. There is also no playground, unlike Glencoe. Hooray!

This beach is nothing special: beach area is small and crowded. swimming area is even more reduced so life guard blow their whistle constantly as try to control people who go out side the area. Not relaxing at all. Plus bathrooms are very nasty, no changing area and parking difficult. I would assume if they are charge $ 8 each person to use a beach they should make it clean and more comfortable. Not impressed…

My family spends as many days as possible during the summer at Lighthouse Beach. The beach is clean and the kids can have a great time digging in the sand and chasing the gulls. On a hot August day, the water is simply delightful. We’ve tried some other Evanston beaches when this one has been closed for riptides or other reasons, but we think this one is the best! There is also a playground right by the beach, which is wonderful!

Can you put a price on lying at the beach, watching clouds go by on a perfect July day?
Answer: Yes. And that price is $ 8 per person.
***
I’ll admit that price seemed kind of steep, but then I took into account my general cheapness and the fact that they had a free parking lot, lifeguards, the beach was clean, rather quiet, not at all crowded, has a cool lighthouse, and handy bathrooms with those outside shower things to get the sand off you before you go to your car and it seemed like a really fair price.
In fact, I’d rather pay the $ 8 to come all the way up to Evanston and go to the beach than to just a-​line into the city for the gnarly free beeches there. It’s worth it to be in the cleaner, quieter, more relaxing atmosphere that’s clearly using your $ 8 entry fee wisely by hiring staff and keeping the shoreline in almost pristine condition.
I do wish they’d charge a lesser fee after a certain hour because it sucks to pay the full price at like, 5:30 when there’s hardly any daylight left to enjoy the beach, but I get that they’re probably just trying to make things less complicated with the one fee.
Plus, it’s super easy to sneak in here… not that I’m admitting guilt or anything, but just in case you were wondering. It does involve a bit of trespassing on private property though and you *might* have to walk through a homeless squatter’s bed/​empty bottle collection/​and other various treasures collection to get there. … or you can just pony up the 8 bucks. I’ll let you weigh it out on your own.

Hands down agree that this is the prettiest of the six beaches in Evanston. I love coming to the lighthouse and walking to the back of the house is this gorgeous view! I love coming here in the summer, it seems like it is one of the more crowded beaches in Evanston as well. The summer breeze is just fantastic when you are standing behind the lighout, which is more elevated than the rest of the beach area. I also love the many shaded area around the lighthouse. I am looking forward to checking out the art center, next time I will definitely make a stop. Of course the low rating of this beach comes from many frustration that beaches should be free, but is not. Also, Lake Michigan is a Lake, so it does not have salt water and the beach area is generally pretty small, feels almost like a man made beach. However, I am thankful everyday that Evanston is right on the edge of Lake Michigan, where else can you get a small city college town feel with the scenery of the magnificent lakeshore? The lakeshore never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many times I walked down to enjoy a refreshing breeze and the serene sound of waves.

This is not so much a beach as a general recreational area. This is why I like it so much despite the water being closed so often. (Apparently there are locks full of sewer water that the village of Winnetka dumps into Lake MIchigan, and all the rain we’ve been getting this summer filling their locks faster is why the water is closed so often at Evanston and Chicago beaches. Thanks a lot, jerks.)
There’s a playground, a picnic area with a pavilion and tables, a grassy field, and a little trail past the lighthouse where they let wildflowers grow until the sand overtakes the soil and turns the vegetation into grasses. There are also trees and shrubs around the field, so there’s a lot of wildlife – chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, birds, and (ugh) mosquitoes. The rinse station is very convenient, with three spigots at different heights so that you can rinse just your feet, or your whole body, while somebody else rinses, too. The drinking fountains are very clean and the walking paths are maintained pretty well.
Then there’s the lighthouse. There aren’t a whole ton of them around the Chicago area, and this one is lovely.
The Evanston Arts Center appears to be part of the property, too. It looks to me as if somebody could make a day of this place – visit the arts center, have a picnic, and finish it all off with a trail walk and a swim. Despite all the options Lighthouse Beach offers, parking is surprisingly easy to obtain, much easier than many of the other beaches in Evanston.

Hannah E. covers the annoyances of Evanston beaches well. Small swimming area, strict lifeguards, fees (residents can buy a pass at the beginning of the year). But if you’re choosing Evanston beaches, Lighthouse is arguably the prettiest. There’s a bit of a bluff and some natural areas to give it a little character, plus if you want a break from the sun and sand, you can peek into the art center (housed in a former grand house) or explore the lighthouse and its gardens.

It pains me to give my childhood beach a bad rating. This is the beach at which I grew up. Practiced swimming. Got sunburned. Saw 4^th of July fireworks. Hid in the rocks from police strobe lights at night. Got hit in the face with multitudes of dead alewive. Amongst many other things.
But as I’ve grown up and seen other beaches around the country and the world, I have begun to realize that it isn’t normal or necessary for a town to charge $ 7 per day simply for the privilege of going to the beach! Nor is it necessary to bind with buoys a microscopic swimming area and enforce it with draconian whistleblowing. The bound area only allowed me to go in up to my chest when I was 8. Now, I’d maybe be able to get my hips wet before the dreaded whistle tweet.
I don’t see any lifeguards blowing whistles at me when I’m at Venice Beach in California — even though there are constant truck-​sized waves aiming themselves at my head and an undertow that could drag me out and drown me anytime it chose. They just have signs that are like, ‘Danger, Undertow (Duh)’ — thus acknowledging the non-​stupidity of its patrons — and it’s free.
In fact, all the beautiful beaches I’ve been to in California are free (of both charge and silly buoys). Same with New York and Oregon and North Carolina. Hell, even the beaches in Chicago are free — all you have to do is go 3 miles south to gain free admission to a beach that, quality-​wise, is identical to Lighthouse: buoys placed by paranoid grandmothers, a 50% chance of dead fish washed up everywhere, sand that is half composed of hamburger wrappers, and freezing water.
Ah, the beach of my youth, you know that I love you despite these things, and my family gets a season pass every year, so I go to you every time I visit home. But I am aware that that is strictly because of nostalgia.