grosse point lighthouse

andrewwymer

Grosse Point Lighthouse Beach is one of our favorite beaches in Evanston. It is our favorite beach to watch the colors from the sunset creep out over the lake, since it provides a largely open and expansive view of the lake. There are volleyball nets, and during the summer you need to have your Evanston beach pass or pay admission. The water is quite shallow, so our little daughter does not feel uncomfortable. Also, this beach is a great place to see a winter or wind storm blow in across the lake from the northeast. A recent storm this fall/winter had about ten foot waves, and the beach is unprotected from the northeast. There is also a play area up in the grassy area behind the beach.

JWer2014

Grosse Point Lighthouse is the lighthouse behind the logo of Evanston. It has boasted a live-in lighthouse keeper throughout its history. Its tiny museum is interesting and informative, originally being created for Shedd Acquarium in Chicago. There is also a great coffee table book available (Gross Pointe Lighthouse) that has won awards, telling the history in text and pictures.

AshleyW451

Favorite place to run to in Evanston from campus. Very peaceful and quiet. Nice to go at dusk too and walk out to the beach.

73michael2z

An easy walkable light house, established around 1873 automated Around 1935, the tower is estimated to be around 113 feet. This is a family event, easy tower to climb. You should call for times it is open.

trish4217

This is one of my favorite places in the world. As a child I remember coming to the beach and looking at the lighthouse. These summers I love to watch the sailboats out in the lake and walk along by the waters edge looking at the green trees along the waters edge. One day sitting on the rocks we saw a deer. I have load of photographs of my own kids playing in the sand on this beach. There is a lovely playground and a community garden in the park just north of the lighthouse. This is a special place that holds many memories.

TDDunk64

Evanston was a nice little break away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago. The lighthouse tour was informative and our tour guide was the author of a couple books that were for sale on the lighthouse. It is a bit of a climb to the top (141 cast iron steps... but who's counting). It's a nice walk up and down and with the windows open you can catch a wonderful breeze coming in from Lake Michigan while you look at the scenery from small windows and at the top. The views are so beautiful and the lighthouse beach was full. The parking is a bit difficult if you go on a nice day due to the beach goers, but if you are patient, you will find some place to park there. It's a small parking lot at the Evanston Art Institute next door to the lighthouse. Northwestern University is close by as well and the neighborhood is beautiful with older homes, nice landscaping and several churches close by.

Lucia826

The old lighthouse. It is one of the great historic sites of the area. Great to visit and those of us who were teenagers "back in the day" used to go nearby to watch the submarine races. ;-) It is right near Northwestern University, too. Evanston is a very charming small city filled with a lot of quaint spots, beautiful beaches, outstanding homes, parks everywhere and it is a family kind of town. I spent about 10 years growing up in Evanston, and it remains dear to my heart.

carla_nacher

Beautiful area, peaceful and interesting from historical point of view. Nice little beach with sand dunes. Impressive houses in the neighborhood .

36BP

Reminds me a little of Club Largo in LA. Good singer/songwriter shows as well as blues and some jazz. Wish they had more deals on lower cost tickets though.

RuthD

We took a tour of the lighthouse in fall of 2012. School was in session, so perhaps that explains the non-crowd issue, but we only had about 6 people on our tour and it was nicely guided with some background history and stories and the opportunity for questions and picture taking.The grounds outside were pleasant and very pretty making the wait time for our tour enjoyable as well. After the tour we walked onto the beach and got some great shots of the lighthouse with the sun beginning to do down behind it.

Justsaygrace

This is the landmark by the Evanston Arts Center & my favorite beach, the Lighthouse Beach! It is on grounds that contain a park with many trees & flowers, & attract many artists sketching or drawing as it is truly inspirational.The beach is gorgeous.... Just breath taking! It's so wonderful that it attracts a crowd.Drawbacks: gets too crowded here sometimes especially when day camps come with many bus loads of people, & parking is difficult to find as the lot doesn't support the traffic here.

Carehb

The Grosse Pointe Lighthouse circa mid 1800's is a wonderful stop on a north shore visit. It sits in a wonderful nature preserve right on Lake Michigan sharing the grounds with the Evanston Art Center. A milestone for our kids was turning 6 so they could climb to the top of the lighthouse and do the tour. This lifesaving station was developed and manned after ships were wrecked on the shoals between Evanston and Wilmette. The maritime history of the great lakes is preserved right in Evanston!

sydneyinevanston

This is a good place to visit with kids because of the playground. It's big, shady, and designed for kids of all abilities. The lighthouse isn't open often so check the website. There's a beach, too. Free in the off season but there's a charge in the summer.

wendyl901

As an Evanston resident I am happy to say I never grow tired of the "Lighthouse Beach" as we refer to it. The lighthouse itself has bouts of construction (I think one is going on now) where the building is not accessible, but don't call it a day if you can't do the tour. The grounds are spectacular - the buildings are historic, and there is an awesome beach directly behind the lighthouse which is open to the public (although it requires a fee during the summer). Residents love this area, there is a park for little ones, some covered pavilions for picnicking, bike racks, restrooms, an ice cream and food truck in the summer and often the front lawn boasts some cutting edge sculpture, thanks to the art center which is housed in one of the buildings on the grounds. Beware of parking in the summer, however. There is only a tiny area, and it is full by 10:00. Park on one of the streets leading down to the lake (but watch local signs re: permit parking and hours), take a lunch and prepare to spend a couple of hours enjoying whatever is available at the time. For sure, the beach alone is worth the trip. Enjoy!

specht3

We found the Lighthouse tour to be valuable. It's a bit of a climb up the stairs, but they are attuned to the audience and go as slowly as necessary. Lots of interesting facts about Evanston, the lake, and lighthouses. Nice views. I believe the tours are going to be ending soon (for security reasons), so don't wait too long.