Some people celebrate the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, with sunrise.
Summer officially begins when the summer solstice arrives on Thursday, June 20, bringing with it 15 hours, 13 minutes and 41 seconds of daylight in Chicago — the longest day of the year. Visit timeanddate.com.
If you’re planning on seeing the sunrise that day but aren’t sure where to go, we have good news for you: you don’t have to go far at all.
California-based photo book company Mixbook surveyed 3,000 respondents to identify the 150 best places in the U.S. to watch the sunrise on June 20. Chicago’s top spots made the top 50.
Coming in at No. 33 on the list is one of the city’s most popular beaches, the famous North Avenue Beach along Dassable Lake Shore Drive in Lincoln Park.
According to the rankings page, North Avenue Beach “offers beautiful views of the sunrise over Lake Michigan” and a “striking juxtaposition of natural beauty with the urban skyline.”
Coming in at No. 94 is Starved Rock State Park near Utica. According to Mixbook, Starved Rock is a park with beautiful sandstone canyons and waterfalls that make it an especially unique spot to watch the sunrise.
According to the rankings page, “Watching the sunrise from Lover’s Leap Overlook offers panoramic views of the Illinois River and the surrounding landscape.”
The third and final Illinois spot on the list is none other than Navy Pier, which offers “gorgeous views of the sunrise over the water with the city skyline as a backdrop.”
If you’re not sure where to go at Navy Pier, Mixbook says the best spot is at the end of the pier.
For those wondering the best places to watch the sunrise across the country, here are the top ten.
- Lake Tahoe, Nevada
- Arches National Park, Utah
- Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)
- Stone Mountain Park, Georgia
- Key West, Florida
- Everglades National Park, Florida
- Adirondack Mountains, New York
- Sedona, Arizona
- Maroon Bells, Colorado
- Cannon Beach, Oregon