Directions: Enter the Irving Park Road Canoe Launch on the east side of River Road just north of Irving Park Road in Schiller Park.
Just past the Chicago Avenue Bridge, stay to the left (east side) to enter the north channel around an island in the river. The take-out is approximately 300 feet east from the beginning of the channel on river left (the north bank).
As an alternate, take out 1/5 of a mile further south, at the Forest Preserves of Cook County’s Maywood Grove launch (installed in 2018), river-right and just above of the Lake Street Bridge. The Forest Preserves of Cook County have installed take out signage that you can see from the river.
This access site is approximately 300 feet south of the Maywood Grove parking lot, which is located at Ohio Street and Des Plaines Avenue. You should park in the Maywood Grove Lot, but you can park temporarily along Des Plaines Ave, north of Lake St. as you load your canoes/kayaks.
1 thought on “Irving Park Road to Chicago Avenue”
This is a great little stretch of river to paddle. Beautiful route through many forest preserves with great opportunities for birding and admiring the buzz of nature along the banks. Took this trip in September of 2025 with pretty low water levels (3.2 ft at River Forest gauge per NOAA website day of). The low levels meant there was some exposed trash and branches in spots, and passing under the many bridges along this stretch was tricky sometimes with the shoals of gravel built up around the pylons. It also got a little shallow just upstream of the chicago ave crossing, where the silver creek dumps into the des plaines. There was also a significant logjam blocking access to the maywood grove launch, forcing paddles to overshoot and come back up at the launch from downstream. A little tricky but nothing major. Overall a really beautiful and serene stretch of river, despite its urban and industrial surroundings! Great nature viewing and also really fun to see the old railroad bridges. Highly recommend this paddle!