Park Ridge (Illinois)
Park Ridge is a city in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicagoland, just outside of Chicago. It has a lively uptown area that has plenty of local businesses and restaurants. You can watch a film at the historic Pickwick Theatre or have a pool day at Centennial Park. Park Ridge is a great and accessible small town to escape to for a day trip, with lots of fun and exciting activities to fill your schedule.
Get in
By train
- Metra serves Park Ridge with service on the Union Pacific Northwest Line. The 🌍 Park Ridge Metra station is at 100 South Summit Avenue, between Touhy Avenue and Prospect Avenue in Uptown Park Ridge (the suburb's central business district), and has a waiting room that is open 5AM-9PM daily, and also has a ticket agent available weekdays 5:25AM-12:55PM. The less used 🌍 Dee Road Metra station is at 950 Busse Highway, west of Dee Road and south of Oakton Street in northwest Park Ridge; this station has a shelter but no ticket agent.
- Park Ridge is accessible by the CTA or "El"/"L" trains that serve Chicago. The CTA Blue Line's 🌍 Cumberland station is just south of Park Ridge's city limits.
By car
- Park Ridge is adjacent to two major highways, I-294 and I-90, though the city is more accessible to travelers heading away from downtown Chicago. Travelers on I-294 North, the Tri-State Tollway, can exit at Touhy Avenue (East) and US-14/Dempster Street (East) to get to Park Ridge. I-294 South does not offer easy access to Park Ridge. Travelers on I-90 West, the Kennedy Expressway, can get to Park Ridge by exiting at Cumberland Avenue (North) or Canfield Road (North). I-90 East offers close access to Park Ridge at the Cumberland Avenue (North) exit only.
- US-14, which is Dempster Street in Park Ridge, runs near Park Ridge's northern border. US-14 connects Park Ridge to the northwest suburbs (where US-14 follows Miner Street in Des Plaines and Northwest Highway in further northwest suburbs), as well as Niles and the north side of Chicago (where US-14 follows various streets including Caldwell Avenue and Peterson Avenue).
- IL-72, Higgins Road, runs along Park Ridge's southern border. It connects Park Ridge to northwest suburbs including Schaumburg, as well as to Harlem Avenue on Chicago's Far Northwest Side.
By bus
Park Ridge is accessible by Pace Suburban buses and CTA buses. Buses are often late due to traffic and CTA buses tend to have more frequent stops than Pace buses.
Pace Suburban buses
290 - Touhy Ave - This route starts at Rodgers Park at the Howard St CTA Station(on the Red, Yellow and Purple Line) and follows Touhy Ave until Uptown Park Ridge, where it will stop at the Park Ridge Metra Station and turn south until it reaches the Cumberland CTA Station(on the Blue Line).
240 - Dee Rd - This route is a part-time route that provides weekday rush-hour service that connects Golf Mill Shopping Center to the Cumberland CTA Station with a stop at the Dee Rd Metra station.
241 - Greenwood-Talcott - This route is a part-time route that provides weekday rush-hour servuce that connects Golf Mill Shopping Center to the Cumberland CTA Station with a stop at the Park Ridge Metra station in Uptown Park Ridge.
CTA buses
68 - Northwest Hwy - This route connects the Jefferson Park CTA Station and the Jefferson Park Metra station to the Park Ridge Metra station in Uptown Park Ridge. It is a great way to get to Uptown Park Ridge by either the "L" trains or the Metra.
See
- 🌍 Rodham Corner. Rodham Corner is one of two public commemorations of former Secretary of State, First Lady and presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton in her hometown. It's hardly a monument at all, just a very simple sign on a pole at the corner of Wisner and Elm, near the home where the Rodhams lived when Hillary was growing up. You can't go into HRC's former home, as someone lives there, but you can get a sense of the neighborhood she grew up in: it's directly north of the Pickwick and Uptown Park Ridge. Clinton is also commemorated in a plaque on a historic fountain across from Park Ridge's city hall.
Do
- 🌍 Pickwick Theatre, 5 S Prospect Ave, ☏ +1-847-825-5800. One of the true grand movie palaces remaining in the Chicagoland area. Famous film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert filmed the intro for their "At the Movies" show there. Make sure you have a ticket for the show on the main screen, though, not the shoebox mini-plex around the corner.
- 🌍 Concerts in the Park. Starts at 8PM. Several free Friday night concerts held during the summer in front of City Hall in Hodges Park. A great way to meet locals and have fun.
- 🌍 Centennial Park, 100 S Western Ave. A large park complete with a sled hill, a playground, a soccer field, a community center, a fitness center (including an indoor 2-pool aquatic complex), and a 3-pool outdoor aquatic complex. To access the pool and the fitness center, a membership is needed or you can pay for a one-time visit. There is also a small food stall that is acessable from either inside the outdoor aquatic complex or from the playground.
Buy
- 🌍 American Science & Surplus, 27 N Northwest Hwy. Buy items ranging from robot parts to garden supplies to arts & crafts for a very discounted price.
- 🌍 Park Ridge Farmers Market, 15 Prairie Avenue. Run on Saturdays, Memorial Day weekend through the end of October, the Farmers Market is a great place to purchase all sorts of fresh produce, pastries and flowers.
Eat
- 🌍 Cream of the Crepe, 8 S Northwest Hwy. A noteworthy crepe restaurant in Park Ridge. Cream of the Crepe has decor in a French cafe style.
- 🌍 Hay Caramba, 122 S Prospect Ave. Popular sitdown spot for Mexican food.
- 🌍 The Harp and Fiddle, 110 Main St. Irish pub offering Irish food, beer, and atmosphere.
- 🌍 Holt's, 43 S Prospect Ave, ☏ +18477204484. One of the oldest surviving restaurants in Park Ridge. A popular American restaurant serving pizza, burgers, cocktails, and beer.
- 🌍 Triple Scoop'd, 801 W Devon Ave. A local ice cream shop that sells delicious treats and is a great place for the family to grab dessert.
Drink
- 🌍 Beer on the Wall, 106 Main St, ☏ +1-312-720-3732. M Th 11AM-9PM, F Sa 11AM-11PM, Su 11AM-7PM. An eclectic selection of beers. Not a bar, but you can sample beers up to a certain amount. Has several board games and an old NES system for patrons to play.
Connect
- 🌍 Park Ridge Public Library, 20 S. Prospect Ave (next to Metra station), ☏ +1-847-825-3123.
Go next
If you liked Uptown Park Ridge, the suburbs along the US-14 corridor, including Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, and more all the way through Barrington have similar business district layouts. Beware: US-14 in the northwest suburbs is confusingly also called Northwest Highway, though it's not contiguous with Park Ridge's Northwest Highway. If traveling by car, you'll have to turn left at the intersection of Park Ridge's Northwest Highway (which becomes Rand Road) and US-14 (which changes from Dempster Street to Miner Street, then becomes Northwest Highway.)
The nearby Far Northwest Side neighborhoods of Chicago, especially Edison Park, which borders Uptown Park Ridge, offer more shops, restaurants, and nightlife opportunities.
If you're looking for other historic movie theaters in the area, the Logan Theatre in Logan Square is another well-known one.
| Routes through Park Ridge |
| Milwaukee ← Des Plaines ← | N S | → Rosemont → Gary |
| Harvard ← Des Plaines ← | W E | → Niles → Chicago |
| Ends at ← Des Plaines ← | W E | → Chicago → Ends at |
| Harvard ← Des Plaines ← | NW SE | → Chicago → END |