Rainbow Park Beach, Public beach in South Chicago, United States
Rainbow Park Beach is a public beach on Lake Michigan in South Chicago, Illinois, at the mouth of the Calumet River. It lies within the Cook County parkland, about 900 km west of Washington, D.C., in a continental climate with July highs near 22 °C and February lows near −8 °C.
The beach began in 1908 as Rocky Ledge Beach, named after the limestone formations that defined the shoreline. It later combined with another municipal beach and came under Chicago Park District management.
Rainbow Park Beach takes its name from the 42nd "Rainbow" Division, a U.S. Army unit of World War I. The beach sits in the South Chicago neighbourhood, and the name ties a stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline to that unit's history.
Rainbow Park Beach sits on the Lake Michigan shore in the South Chicago neighbourhood, reached by car via South Shore Drive and by bus on nearby routes. The sand is coarse and the water shallow near the edge, so the footing is firm close to shore. Swimming is unsupervised outside the summer season, when lifeguards are not on duty.
A section of the beach preserves rare dune habitat with native plants that are uncommon along Lake Michigan's shore. This area also uses advanced filtering systems to clean stormwater from parking areas and protect water quality.
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