No Motors, No Wake, No Worries

Just north of Chicago, the Skokie Lagoons offer something rare: a series of connected water trails where the only boats allowed are the ones you paddle yourself. No motors, no wake — just kayaks, canoes, wildlife, and whatever breeze happens to be moving through. In this video, I paddle both north and south of Tower Road to show what a day on the lagoons actually feels like — the quiet stretches, the herons and turtles that call this place home, and yes, the faint hum of the nearby freeway that reminds you civilization is still just a few hundred yards away. It's not total wilderness. But it's close enough, and close is enough when it's this accessible.