Rogers Park Guidebook - A Day in Rogers Park. Rogers Park on Foot. Tour of Rogers Park. WildOnions.org

Guidebook: Rogers Park
Sightseeing and Walking Tour

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Take the Red Line to the Loyola stop, where you can cross Sheridan Road to the East and begin your tour of the Loyola University of Chicago Campus, which excels in early 20th-Century structures in revival styles of architecture. Be sure to check out the Madonna della Strada chapel, especially striking at sunrise, and don't miss the Michael Cudahy science hall, splendid in Spanish Mission style, with a memorable obervatory dome on its top. After you've enjoyed the campus life, head back west to Sheridan Road. At 6560 N. Sheridan, you'll find a fascinating mural in terra cotta on top of the Kirchbaum building, depicting Chicago landmarks from the 1920s.

Enjoy the neighborhood architecture as you walk up Sheridan Road, and take a look at how ongoing revitalization is changing the face of Rogers Park with new businesses and new and renovated buildings. Between Columbia and Pratt, on Sheridan, explore a Rogers Park mainstay, the Armadillo's Pillow books, which offers a new-age style environment and fascinating reading material. Turn right on Pratt to enjoy one of the idyllic avenues leading up to parks and beaches along Lake Michigan; the scene evokes the leisurely resort culture of a maritime climate. Be sure to enjoy the whimsical ornamentation embedded in many of Rogers' Parks buildings (pictured), on the many quaint avenues between Sheridan Road and the Lake. On Pratt, stop in for some delicious Mediterranean food at Cafe Suron, a beautifully decorated restaurant in the renovated interior of a former hotel lobby. Continue on to Pratt Boulevard Park and Beach, which connects to Loyola Park, a kind of neighborhood lakefront rare in urban Chicago. Enjoy the murals painted along a stretch of one of the park's walls, made afresh every year at the Artists of the Wall Festival. Walk out to along the breakwater to the lighthouse, where on a clear day you'll enjoy a view of the Lake and the Chicago Skyline as good as any in the city.

Walk north for awhile along the Lake and return east on Lunt Avenue, stopping to take in the celebrated Lunt Lake condiminium complex, bold when built in the 1950s for its "Scandinavian Modern" style. Head back to Sheridan Road where you can enjoy an afternoon snack and in the tony, funky Ennui Cafe or search for something unusual at Unon Imports, which specializes in African merchandise. Continue north up Sheridan Road for some impressive townhouse architecture, making a point to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Emil Bach House, and perhaps seeking a bit of spiritual awareness at the pleasing Shambhala Meditation Center on the way. Or continue west along Lunt instead, catching some musical vibes at happening Morseland and/or enjoying the peace-and-freedom ambience at nearby Rogers Park staple The Heartland Cafe.

The Morse Red Line stop makes a convenient arrival or departure point here, and there is much more to see west of the tracks, including three impressive churches, all quite different: St. Jerome Catholic Church on Lunt, an angular study in brickwork; United Church of Rogers Park on Morse, with Greco-Roman elements; and the splendid Renaissance-style St. Ignatius Loyola church back on Loyola. In between, have a look at the sleek new Rogers Park Library on Clark, and at Sullivan High School on Bosworth with its Tudor decorative work. A bit further south lies Devon Avenue, a long stretch of eclectic shops extending west toward West Ridge and Northtown. An engaging commercial scene awaits at the intersection of Clark and Devon, including the jam-packed variety of Marjen home furnishings and the expansive, always-busy Clark-Devon hardware store. Before returning to the El at the Loyola stop, stop in at the Newleaf Market, a local haven of fresh, healthful groceries.

Also in the Rogers Park vicinity, close to the Evanston border, is the well-known Howard CTA Station, in an area with ongoing new development. Nearby, to the southwest, you'll find two well-equipped, spacious parks: Pottawattomie Park and Touhy Park, which have numerous athletic fields as well as indoor facilities. The Pottawattomie Park field house includes a WPA mural showing interaction between Native Americans and Europeans.