Why you should experience Maggie Daley Park in Chicago, Illinois.
Maggie Daley Park is an imaginative urban park where the Loop's innovative landscape architecture, civic recreation, lakefront beauty, and Chicago's commitment to world-class public spaces redefine the modern city park.
Positioned between Millennium Park and the Lake Michigan shoreline, this extraordinary recreational landscape combines dramatic rolling topography, a whimsical Play Garden, the celebrated Skating Ribbon, towering climbing walls, tennis courts, picnic groves, and beautifully landscaped gardens that create one of America's most innovative public parks. Curving landforms, immersive play environments, and exceptional architectural design transform what was once conventional parkland into a destination where recreation, nature, and civic life unfold with remarkable creativity. The result is a destination defined by visionary landscape architecture, family adventure, and exceptional urban placemaking.
What you should know about Maggie Daley Park.
Maggie Daley Park is best known for transforming the former Daley Bicentennial Plaza into a 20-acre landscape masterpiece designed by internationally acclaimed landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, opening in 2014 after a $60 million redevelopment that converted the roof of Chicago's East Monroe Street Parking Garage into one of the world's most innovative urban parks. The project emerged after deterioration of the parking garage's waterproofing membrane created the opportunity to completely reimagine the northeastern corner of Grant Park through an extensive public planning process that engaged thousands of Chicago residents between 2009 and 2012. Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park deliberately contrasts the formal Beaux-Arts symmetry of historic Grant Park through sweeping curvilinear landforms, dramatic elevation changes constructed with approximately 18,400 cubic yards of geofoam, and immersive recreational environments that blur the boundaries between landscape architecture and adventure play. The redevelopment removed approximately 290,000 cubic yards of soil, introduced more than 1,000 new trees, and preserved the beloved Cancer Survivors' Garden, creating a richly layered landscape above the 4,000-car East Monroe Street Parking Garage. The park's signature attractions include the three-acre Play Garden, inspired by children's literature and divided into imaginative themed environments; the quarter-mile Skating Ribbon, among the first skating ribbons in the United States, which replaces the traditional rectangular rink with an undulating course; a 40-foot Climbing Wall featuring multiple climbing disciplines; tennis facilities; miniature golf; picnic groves; and an architecturally distinctive fieldhouse designed by Valerio Dewalt Train. Connected directly to Millennium Park by Frank Gehry's BP Pedestrian Bridge, Maggie Daley Park has become a model for contemporary landscape architecture, demonstrating how recreation, ecological design, engineering, and civic engagement can successfully transform complex urban infrastructure into one of the nation's foremost public spaces.
The landscape experience unfolds through sculpted hills, winding pathways, carefully orchestrated sightlines, native plantings, and immersive recreational environments that encourage exploration. Advanced engineering solutions, including lightweight geofoam landforms, sophisticated drainage systems, and rooftop landscape construction, made it possible to create dramatic topography atop existing infrastructure while preserving long-term structural integrity. Every element reflects Michael Van Valkenburgh's philosophy that public parks should inspire discovery, movement, and imagination, establishing Maggie Daley Park as one of the most influential examples of twenty-first-century landscape architecture and a defining component of Chicago's internationally celebrated lakefront park system.
How to fold Maggie Daley Park into your trip.
Maggie Daley Park is best experienced as part of an exploration through Chicago's celebrated lakefront parks.
Begin at Millennium Park, where internationally acclaimed public art and architecture introduce Chicago's civic landscape before crossing the BP Pedestrian Bridge into Maggie Daley Park. Continue to the Cancer Survivors' Garden, whose tranquil setting offers one of the park's most reflective spaces. Conclude at Navy Pier, where lakefront attractions, dining, and panoramic skyline views provide a memorable finale celebrating Chicago's remarkable relationship with Lake Michigan. The progression moves naturally from architectural innovation to imaginative landscape design before concluding along one of America's most celebrated urban waterfronts, revealing why Maggie Daley Park has become one of Chicago's defining public spaces.
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