National Park System units within a drive of Chicago
Two National Park System units sit within an estimated two hours of Chicago, two between two and four hours, and 25 between four and eight. The closest is Pullman National Historical Park, about 20 minutes by road from the metro's Census centroid. Indiana Dunes National Park is the nearest unit carrying the National Park designation within four hours. The metro is the Chicago area as the Census Bureau defines it, home to 9,408,576 people in the 2024 estimates.
Each drive time is an estimate made from the straight-line distance between the metro's Census centroid and the unit's listed coordinates, multiplied by 1.25 for roads and divided by 55 mph, so a real trip will often take longer.
Metro centroid Free to enter Charges an entrance fee
Under 2 hours
| Unit | Est. drive | Entry | 2025 visits | Campgrounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pullman National Historical Park National Historical Park · IL | 0.3 h | Free | 22,367 | 0 |
| Indiana Dunes National Park National Park · IN | 0.9 h | Fee | 2,629,497 | 3 |
2 to 4 hours
| Unit | Est. drive | Entry | 2025 visits | Campgrounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument National Monument · IL | 3.7 h | Free | no count | 0 |
| Lincoln Home National Historic Site National Historic Site · IL | 3.8 h | Free | 123,544 | 0 |
4 to 8 hours
Metro boundaries and population from the Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates; centroids from the Census Bureau 2026 Gazetteer, CBSA internal points. Unit coordinates, fees, campgrounds and 2025 recreation visits from the NPS API and Visitor Use Statistics. Data refreshed October 14, 2026. Other metros.