Summer Series- Outdoor Aquatic Centers

The weather in Chicago isn’t quite cooperating yet, but soon it will be true summer! When the sun is shining, what better way to spend a day than at an outdoor aquatic center? We’ve got the skinny on the best family-friendly aquatic centers in the Chicagoland area- we promise they’re worth the drive! 

First- head to Barefoot Bay in Mundelein. This is a great alternative to larger (and more crowded!) waterparks. Barefoot Bay has four bodies of water: a combined leisure and lap pool, a diving well, an enclosed wading pool for toddlers, and a plunge pool. Other exciting features include a 740-foot long lazy river, a zero-depth pool, tube slides, body flumes, an Aqua Climb Water Wall, and more. Admission is $13 for adults, $11 for children, and kids 2 and under are free. Find more information here.

Next, get yourself to Centennial Park Aquatic Center in Orland Park! The park is 360,000 square feet and is sure to delight the whole family! There’s a zero depth pool, a water play feature for little ones, two body speed slides, a 328 foot long tube slide, a 200 foot long flume slide, a platform cliff jump, a drop slide, and a lazy river. The center also features picnic and pavilion areas and sand volleyball courts. Admission is $8 for residents and $20 for non-residents. Check out the website for more info. 

Cypress Grove Family Aquatic Park has over eight acres of water attractions! The drive to Woodridge is 100% worth it. Take your littlest ones to Bullfrog Bayou where there’s a giant dumping bucket, water guns, bubblers, and a body slide for kids under 42” tall. Cattail Bay is a zero depth pool with a kiddie slide on one end and a drop slide and diving board in the deep end. You can also check out the inner tube falls, the lazy river, three body slides, and a six lane lap pool. Tickets are $15.50 per person and children 11 months and younger are free. Find more info here.

Finally, check out the Family Aquatic Center in Wheeling! You and your kids can zoom down drop slides, tube slides, and body slides and splash in the zero-depth pool. Your little ones will especially enjoy the water playground, splash pool, toddler slide, and sand play area. The more daring of your kids will love Paradise Falls and the two huge drop slides-you’ve got to see them to believe them! Adult tickets are $13, children are $11.50, and kids 2 and younger are free. Find more info here.

RACHEL HOOVLER & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO