Lincoln Park Bike Ride: Route, Stops and Where to Start

Lincoln Park is where the Lakefront Trail stops being a commute and becomes a destination. The path is flat and continuous, and the lake stays beside you the whole way. This is the north-side piece of Routes & Trails that most riders should do first.

The park behind the path

Lincoln Park covers 1,208 acres along Lake Michigan and is the city’s largest public park¹. It stretches seven miles, from Grand Avenue on the south to near Ardmore Avenue on the north¹. About 20 million people visit each year, which makes it the second-most-visited city park in the United States, behind Central Park¹.

The city set aside the land in 1860 as Lake Park, on ground just north of the burial ground¹. On June 12, 1865, it took the name of the assassinated President Lincoln¹. The oldest part of the park, between North Avenue and Diversey Parkway, holds two museums and the zoo¹.

The route, Oak Street to Belmont Harbor

Divvy’s own north-side ride is the cleanest way to read the park. It runs south to north³.

Leg	What you pass
Michigan Ave & Oak St station	Ramp west of the station down to the trail3
Oak Street Beach	You join the trail here3
About 1 mile north	North Avenue Beach and Lincoln Park3
Another mile north	Sailboats, then Belmont Harbor3
Belmont Ave station	Harbor, Boystown, a short detour to Wrigley Field3

You can enter the trail at any point, and many Divvy stations sit on or near it³. Bike and Roll rates the north trail at 4 miles and two hours⁴. Divvy stations near the park include Clark St & Armitage Ave and Cannon Dr & Fullerton Ave³. For the wider network, see the Lakefront Trail guide and the mileage and map breakdown.

Where to stop

Lincoln Park Zoo. Free and open year-round¹. It holds nearly 1,250 animals¹. Dock at the Lake Shore Dr & North Ave or Theater on the Lake stations to reach it, along with the Chicago History Museum and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum³.

Lincoln Park Conservatory. Built in stages from 1890 to 1895, with a vestibule, four display halls and fifteen growing houses¹.

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool. A Prairie School landscape on Fullerton Parkway, named a National Historic Landmark on February 17, 2006¹. It is open mid-April to mid-November, from 7:30 AM to dusk or 7:30 PM, whichever comes first¹.

North Pond. A ten-acre pond between Fullerton, Diversey, Stockton and Cannon, restored as a natural area in 1999 and 2000¹.

Beaches and harbors

Seven public beaches line the park’s seven-mile shoreline, guarded in summer¹. From north to south: Thorndale, Hollywood and Foster in Edgewater, Montrose in Uptown, North Avenue in Lincoln Park, and Oak Street and Ohio in Near North¹. North Avenue Beach was the first public beach the city opened, in 1895¹. A footbridge, the Lincoln Park Passerelle, has linked it over Lake Shore Drive since 1940¹.

Three harbors hold the boats: Montrose, Belmont and Diversey¹. Belmont Harbor provides 730 moorings¹. Near Montrose Point, Cricket Hill is one of the few sledding hills in the city’s parks¹. Divvy’s Montrose Harbor station serves the harbor, the hill and Montrose Beach³.

Bike trail and streets

In 2018 the Park District completed the trail separation project. It divided the former combined trail into an 18-mile bike trail and an 18.5-mile pedestrian trail². Keep to the bike side. The Park District publishes five Lincoln Park section maps: Ardmore to Montrose, Montrose to Fullerton, Fullerton to North, North to Oak, and Oak to Ohio².

Off the trail, the neighborhood has bike lanes on many popular streets and dozens of bike racks⁵.

Repairs and new rules in 2026

The Park District announced a trail inspection and repair program on 9/14/26². Crews will patch asphalt and seal-coat as needed, starting at 6300 south and working north to Foster Avenue². Signs go up ahead of each work zone².

The Park District also announced town halls on September 29, 30 and October 6 about a new state law on e-bikes and other micromobility vehicles. Riders can share ideas for new rules on Park District paths².

Getting a bike

Divvy docks along the route make a one-way ride easy. See the Divvy guide for how it works, or rent a bike for the Lakefront Trail if you prefer a shop bike. Bike and Roll also runs a guided Lincoln Park Bike Adventure⁴.