KAYAKING
SKOKIE LAGOONS
Skokie Lagoons is comprised of seven inter-connected
lagoons located on the east side of I-94 (Edens Expressway) near the northern
Chicago suburb of Glencoe. Believe it or not, this is the boat launch ramp
to the right of the Tower Road dock. Several weeks of rain has all our Chicago
area waterways well above flood stage. This launch is located at the Tower
Road exit of Edens Expressway, immediately east of the expressway on the
south side of Tower Road just before the bridge over the lagoon connector
channel.
This dam creates the seven lagoons of Skokie
Lagoons as well as the lagoons north of here for Chicago Botanic Gardens.
The North Branch of the Chicago River bike
trail follows the river that flows from this dam. In addition, these seven
lagoons are stepped up in height with three other dams, so two lagoons,
are on one level, the next three on a higher level, and the final two the
highest. These three dams have stairs and concrete stoops to assist portaging,
but they are designed more for canoes and rowboats than kayaks since their
heights above water level require standing in the vessel to step up onto
the stairs. The gradations on the right-most post of this dam reads 620
feet above sea level.
Skokie Lagoons area measures 190 acres with
depths up to 16 feet. Forest Way Drive borders the lagoons on the east and
you could launch from shore in a variety of places. The North Branch of the Chicago River Bike Trail also makes
a loop around the lagoons, giving some very nice views.
This map shows the layout of the lagoons
and also the waters of the Botanic Gardens. You can see Forest Way Drive
east of the lagoons and the Edens on the west border. A downloadable PDF
of this map is available from the Forest
Preserve District of Cook County website.