I love every pedestrian bridge across the DuSable/LSD—they all help me reach Lake Michigan, my favorite place in the world. But among these lovely bridges, the best is the 35th Street bridge, because it leads to a field of flowers.
This lakeside prairie is part of the Burnham Park Wildlife Corridor, a ribbon of native grasses and wildflowers. The flowers bloom all season and the palette of the park changes as the months go on. I’m particularly fond of the bright yellows and pastel purples of late July, when black-eyed susans, bee balm, and milkweed are in full bloom.
It’s not a big park, but it is immediately enveloping. Stepping off the bridge, you can meander down one of the thin dirt paths leading deeper into the prairie. The noise from the road muffles, the city disappears from view. You can see a sliver of deep blue lake just over the crest of grasses. The last time I was there, the air was full of dragonflies.
35th Street Pedestrian Bridge, 3500 S. Lake Shore Dr.