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The best place to watch summer solstice sunrise in Chicago this week

Jun 18, 2024

Some folks will mark the summer solstice – which signifies the longest day of the year – by catching the sunrise.

Summer will officially commence when the solstice occurs on Thursday, June 20, giving Chicago a long 15 hours, 13 minutes and 41 seconds of daylight — the most we’ll see on a single day this year, according to timeanddate.com.

For those thinking about seeing the sunrise that day but aren’t sure where exactly to go, we have some good news: you don’t have to travel far at all.

Mixbook, a photobook company based in California, conducted a survey of 3,000 respondents to identify the 150 best places in the U.S. to witness the sunrise on June 20. One popular spot in Chicago made the top 50.

Landing at No. 33 on the list is one of the city’s most popular beaches, the famed North Avenue Beach along DuSable Lake Shore Drive in Lincoln Park.

According to its entry on the rankings page, North Avenue Beach “offers a picturesque view of the sunrise over Lake Michigan” and “the juxtaposition of the natural beauty and the urban skyline is striking.”

Coming in at No. 94 was Starved Rock State Park near Utica. Described by Mixbook as a park with stunning sandstone canyons and waterfalls, Starved Rock provides one particularly unique spot to catch the sunrise.

Seeing the sunrise from “Lover’s Leap Overlook provides a panoramic view of the Illinois River and the surrounding landscape,” according to the rankings page.

The third and final Illinois spot to make the list was none other than Navy Pier, which offers “fantastic sunrise views over the water with the city skyline in the background.”

If you’re not sure where to go on Navy Pier, Mixbook said the end of the pier is a prime spot.

For anyone wondering about the best locations to see the sunrise nationwide, the top 10 are below: