Crystal Lake Main Beach never disappoints. We had an amazing time at their Friday the 13th interactive chapter 2 of the movie. This is our second year going we went to the original and it was so fun. We decided to do again and they did not disappoint. They brought up their game by 10 points. Don't sleep on these little Park district activities. Sometimes they turn out to be the funnest not only do you get a beautiful view of the Crystal Lake and all its amenities but we had food and activities. They really went all out. The bathrooms are clean and well stocked. There was plenty of food to go all the way around with all the food trucks and as always, the park is clean and easy to navigate. read more

See all

This main beach is full option! There are the beach, water activities, playground, food stand, convenient parking spots, and big restrooms! Overall is nice and clean. Very good for family with kids. read more

Main Beach Pavilion - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

See all

$12 per person for non residents (at 3pm). Tiny piece of beach for swimming. EIGHT lifeguards around it. Couldn't use a net floatie (I'm an adult!) past the 3' sign. At 4pm everyone had to get out of the water for TWENTY MINUTES so all the lifeguards could have a swim break (they can't rotate!?). We left. Waste of time and money. read more

Main Beach Pavilion - Couldn't take these past the 3' deep sign. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

See all

Main Beach Park on Crystal Lake is a great location to hang out and enjoy the beautiful lake. They have plenty do and easily accessible by parking just to the east of the park. There is activities through the year from music, to fun on the beach or playing at the park. They also have some paddle boats and canoes to rent along with plenty more. The lake lives up to its name as it Crystal Clear water are just right to splash around in. There is a boat launch toward the north of the property but boat tags are required and residents are the only ones who have rights to boat on the lake. In the winter there is usually an ice rink depending on weather. You can even go for a walk on the ice which is fun to do. read more

Main Beach Pavilion - Playground @ Main Beach - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

I do not recommend coming here unless you want swimmers itch, swimmers itch is a parasite that goes into your skin and leaves an allergic reaction that itches like hell for a week. I would rate this place negative stars. Locals have even seen employees dumbing geese poop into the water leaving the parasites to enter your skin. I hope for this place to shut down or actually to be cleaned. This has affected several other people at the beach as well. read more

Main Beach Pavilion - This is how the terrible rash looks like when the parasite enters the skin . - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

Me and all of my friends got swimmers itch this place is fucking terrible. They do not take care of the water and ask kids For ids if I could give this place negative stars I would don't take your kids here. Don't take anyone here unless you want to be scratching your self for a week showers. Do not help the swimmers itch I pray for the downfall of this place and I hope it burns down read more

Had I known this place existed, I would've made more of an effort to get out to Crystal Lake. It's one part camp-style outdoors fun (though there is no actual camping) and one part water park. Perfect place to spend the day with family. Admission if you're a Crystal Lake resident is minimal at $1 a head, but if you're an out-of-towner it'll run you closer to $11 per adult... which, for all the fun offerings they had here didn't seem bad. We ended up coming here about an hour or so before sunset on Memorial Day weekend and weren't prepared to use their sandy beach, boats, or BBQ amenities, as we came here on a whim, but it was nice that we were allowed to both park and enter for $0... not sure if that was entirely legal, but there was no one working either gate so we just moseyed in. The lake is beautiful and the swimming area was really rad to see. I've never seen swim lanes set up on a real-deal body of water before, so I thought it was really cool. It seemed like they had more than enough raised lifeguard perches for safety and there was no shortage of picnic tables or benches to claim for some resting time. There's a small snack shop with your typical burgers, dogs, fries, etc that were all nominally priced - though I do believe you can BYO stuff in as I saw many people had tables and blankets set up with their own bounty of provisions. If you're kids aren't in to water sports, there's an expansive all wooden playground that seemed to have areas that would be good for kids and parents of all ages, and there's a nice path for walking. My SO and I found ourselves at one of the very large lakefront swinging benches facing the sunset. It was nice because you can rock back and forth on land (and pretend like you're actually swinging over the water), while watching the sun go down and the other beach-goers enjoy the rental paddle boats, sailboats, and more. Def bookmark this place for a sun in the sun summer cool down day. read more

Main Beach Pavilion - Sunset from one of their family swing benches. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

If you have a village sticker you can park free and they give you a piece of paper to carry in with you to avoid the admission cost ($7 I think). You can bring in pretty much anything you can carry as far as I can tell. I brought in a big cooler full of drinks but there were people with volleyball gear, chairs, grills, dogs, you name it. Nice playground for the kids, very large. There is a snack bar that sells nachos, pretzels, hot dogs, candy, etc. for $2-$3 each item. There are 6 or so lifeguards too, kiddie swimming area, diving platforms, and so on. read more

Main Beach Pavilion - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

We have been coming to this beach many years and never had a problem. Please clean up all the goose poop by the shore where everyone has to walk back and forth. They raked the seaweed and left the poop. Not sanitary at all. The other beaches in the area keep the sand free from goose poop. read more

The city of Crystal Lake has done a great job with their parks and properties. Main Beach is a great place to go to bring the kids for a cheap day when the weather permits. It gets very packed on nice days, so if you want to BBQ you need to reserve a place and table. The lake has a boat launch and is stocked with fish. Ice fishing is also available in the winter frozen months. Check out the Crystal Lake website to see all of the activities that are offered such as sailboat lessons and golf on the frozen lake. Year round fun! read more

Captain Beach Manager is rude and inconsiderate. After launching my boat on the 7th, my husband, asked the manager for a picnic table pass. He had a whole stack of passes, and made my husband walk out of the park to the parking lot to get a pass. He is racist and discrimanating to my husband. I paid $75 to launch my boat, and am there every week, why should I have to walk out and across the street because this ass of a manager couldnt give me a pass. read more

Very disappointed!!! Definitely geared towards children as even ADULTS were made to get out of the water for the ridiculous 15 minute break!!! My husband and I came here for the first time today and planned on using our floats and just be off on our own and wind down and instead we were allowed only within the FIRST set of buoys that is absolutely no further than 35ft from the shore AND where ALL the children are. Water came up to my thigh. Are you kidding me?!? We're not 5!! I think most people want to use floats for deeper water!!! No one...I repeat NO ONE was out in the back sectioned off area, yet we were not allowed to use our floats out there. This rule makes absolutely zero sense. We're incredibly disappointed with the rules at this beach and will never go back. And if management is reading this...if you're going to charge $12 per adult....then treat them as such!! read more

We used to come to the beach all the time in the summer to rent paddleboards. Today we paid to rent them and the guy tried to give us wooden canoe paddles. A paddleboarded paddle should be at leaat 6ft tall so using a 3ft paddle will not work. We went to the desk to get a refund and the manager, Andrew was extremely rude and condensing. He said they have a no refund policy. I tried to explain that we paid to rent paddleboards but they did not supply us with the most important part. His response was "we have what we have. I'm not giving you a refund." I understand the no refund policy if we were to change our mind but I don't understand it if you are only going to give me half of what I paid for. My biggest problem is the way the manager handled the situation. No apology, just yelling at us like it's our fault. read more

Great playground for kids - lots of places to allow for creativity. There's even a little "theater" part with a stage and benches for kids to put on a play. Rent a little boat and take it out on the lake. Go for a swim. Or just lay out. read more

Very nice options for all-day family fun! The waterfront is huge, the inflatable attractions in the water are fun, and the park is huge and perfect for gatherings read more

Very disappointed. No splash pads, no access to pier to jump in & can't swim past the orange rope which is only about 70 feet out. Our tween & teenager are bored with water that's less than 5 feet & no additional activities for them. Won't be returning as it's not worth the non-resident fees & parking. read more

You have to love the fact that Crystal Lake offers so many events and areas for outdoor activity. Whether it be the farmer's markets or the upcoming Gala, there is always something to enjoy. The main beach is no exception offering swimming and other water activities. If you are not keen about water there is also a small park co-located with activities for the kids. For all the activities offered check out the website: read more

No thanks - 'dirty sand' beach combined with unclean swimming water. Restroom facilities are not too clean and there are beer cans strewn about. Overall, not exactly a family friendly environment. read more