California Park Pool

Hidden jem of Chicago Park District.!! Id give it five stars if they had it open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The California Park Pool is open for summer business (or leisure) again. I would love to give it 5 stars, but for the occasional weird event like making everyone get out of the pool because it’s over capacity, and in the middle of a brief hour and 15 minute session during the week. How the heck do you just get some quality time by the pool?
Here’s the solution: come on the weekend. Saturdays and Sundays there is open swim all afternoon. And while they still empty the pool every couple of hours, if you come in around 1PM, and find a lounge chair, you can pretty much hang out there all afternoon. And weekends are much less crowded, or so it seems. You can see the schedule online at City Of Chicago Park District Pool schedules.
They have adult lap swim and you need to buy a pass for that. But open swim is free and easy. Get your vitamin D and a tan, too. Sorry, no Pina Coladas available!

I love laying by the pool! There is nothing I love doing more when it’s hot out. I used to live in a complex that had a pool but alas those days are over so once I moved to Chicago, the search was on. Chicago park district does an excellent job of providing plenty of outdoor pools for it’s residents in the summer and this is one of the best I have come across. The pool itself it enormous with plenty of room for laying out. They have some beach loungers and I have not had a problem finding one (yet). I will agree that you MUST check the schedule on line. For some reason the CPD has all these crazy rules about who can be in the pool at what time so make sure you qualify. I also like the fact that they don’t seem to mind here if you bring in a bag with magazines etc Some of the other pools are ridiculously strict about that stuff which makes me not want to go. Overall a good location, parking is still free on the street (see how long that lasts) and the pool isn’t too crowded.