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Bookmark & shareHave your own urban adventure and canoe the Chicago River, retracing the route of French trapper Louis Jolliet. Besides urban sprawl, you're likely to see deer, red fox, beaver and birds. Chicago's push for more parks and houses along the river is providing a more aesthetically pleasing paddle.
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fishing
Fishing has become a mayoral priority in Chicago, and a special fishing hotline has been set up to answer questions about what to catch, when to cast and how. Most of the lagoons in the parks are stocked in the summer, and charter boats take anglers trolling on Lake Michigan. Coho salmon, rainbow trout, chinook and perch are among the fish you'll find.
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canoeing/kayaking
Kayaking can be enjoyed on Lake Michigan and along the Chicago River. The best place to access both is from the Chicago Harbor at Navy Pier, where the Chicago River empties into Lake Michigan. Diversey Harbor, near downtown, is another good launching point.
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10-pin bowling
Bowling is a distinctly Midwestern activity. Winter months especially draw people of all talents, shapes, sizes and ages in boisterous groups to send balls crashing into a set of pins. With a great billiards room, Southport Lanes in Wrigleyville is the choice of many an indoor sport connoisseur.
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