Biking to Museum Campus: Route, Bike Racks and Divvy Stations

Museum Campus is the south anchor of a downtown lakefront ride. Each museum has bike parking or a Divvy dock close to the door. This guide belongs to the Plan a Ride series.

What the campus is

Museum Campus is a 57-acre park along Lake Michigan⁶. It holds five major attractions: the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, Soldier Field and the Lakeside Center of McCormick Place⁶. It runs from Roosevelt Road in the north to the end of the Stevenson Expressway at Lake Shore Drive in the south⁶.

The campus opened on June 4, 1998⁶. Lake Shore Drive’s northbound lanes had moved west of Soldier Field in 1996, which freed up 36 acres of land⁶. The aim was a pedestrian-friendly area with jogging paths and walkways⁶.

The route

From the north or south, use the Lakefront Trail and follow the signs for the Museum Campus¹. The trail runs from Ardmore Avenue on the north to 71st Street on the south⁷. Since 2018 the Park District has split it into an 18-mile bike trail and an 18.5-mile pedestrian trail, so stay on the bike side⁷.

Bike and Roll lists the Museum Campus ride at 2 miles, taking one to two hours². The ride passes Buckingham Fountain on the way south². The best skyline view is from the Planetarium². For the longer lakefront picture, read the Lakefront Trail guide.

From the west

If you start in the Loop or South Loop, take Roosevelt Road just past Michigan Avenue¹. Follow the path through the park and over the 11th Street Pedestrian Bridge, which crosses the Metra tracks¹. Continue under Columbus Drive and S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive¹.

Where to lock up and dock

Stop	Address	Bike access
Field Museum	1400 South DuSable Lake Shore Drive1	Racks at the East and West entrances and on the northeast and northwest terraces; Divvy on McFetridge Drive1
Adler Planetarium	1300 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive5	Divvy stations just outside the front doors5
Shedd Aquarium	On the campus6	Divvy station listed by Divvy3

Divvy’s nearby stations are Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Burnham Harbor, Michigan Ave and 14th St, and Calumet Ave and 18th St³. A single ride costs $1 plus $0.20 a minute, and a day pass costs $19.90⁸. Day passes are sold in the Divvy app or at a station kiosk³. See Divvy pricing for the full table.

The rest of the campus

Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, and McCormick Place, which hosts conferences and conventions, also sit inside the campus³. Soldier Field hosts concerts and other large events in summer, and those events affect parking availability and pricing¹.

Divvy pairs the campus with Northerly Island³. A promenade along Solidarity Drive links the island to the mainland⁶. Northerly Island Park covers 119.7 acres, with prairie, savanna, a 5-acre pond and strolling paths⁹. Its Visitor Center is open weekdays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm⁹. Read the Northerly Island ride before you go.

Hours

The Field Museum is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, with last entry at 4:00 pm⁴. It closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day⁴. Check each museum’s own site for its hours and admission before you ride out.

Starting from the north

Bike and Roll calls the ride an easy pedal to the campus and back to Millennium Park or Navy Pier². The full lakefront is 18 miles of car-free riding¹⁰. See biking to Navy Pier for the pier-side rules and the Divvy dock.

Trail repairs

The Park District has inspected the full 18 miles of the Lakefront Trail⁷. Repairs are asphalt patching and seal-coating as necessary⁷. Work starts at 6300 South and moves north one section at a time to Foster Avenue, so the campus stretch falls inside the work area⁷. Construction signage stands ahead of each work zone⁷.