Warren Township, Illinois skatepark

Everyone seems to think this is the Gurnee, Illinois skatepark, but I think it technically belongs to Warren Township, which is adjacent to Gurnee, home of Six Flags Great America and the lovely accompanying ditch. What’s the scoop on this park? Keep reading.

The Warren Township skatepark is made up of three shallow bowls and a small street area with a pyramid and a cool u-shaped bench with a tight tranny.

This is the nicest bowl. It’s a little spread out, but you can build up some speed pumping off that island in the middle. Those extensions are the height of a curb, making them essentially useless.

The whole thing is pretty small, but would have been more fun if they had not put some stairs and ledges right in the middle of it. I didn’t really pay attention, but it doesn’t look like there’s much of a run up to actually use this feature if you wanted to.

Here’s a slightly deeper bowl that is a little more compact.

I could have been fun, were it not for the fact that on the longest side there is a bank with the bare minimum of transition. It is essentially a speed killer unless you are dropping in.

And again, there’s the curious placement of the half pyramid with the ledge, right in the middle of the bowl. Check out the extra large expansion gaps!

Here’s the lone street obstacle that isn’t in the middle of a bowl… and easily the place that gets the heaviest traffic.

This is a super shallow bowl that is still alot of fun. It was probably meant as a place for real beginners to learn how to skate transition, and it’s pretty much the only bowl in this park that wasn’t screwed up by the addition of a ledge or stairs in the middle of the flow. There’s a bit too much flat in this bowl, but it still works. If anything, it kind of corrals the kids inside, keeping them out of the way.

There is a small ledge, but the bowl is so spread out and shallow that it doesn’t really get in the way.

A view from the balcony of the teen center, looking to the west.

Here’s a shot of a really cool curved bench with a tight tranny. It’s actually the best feature of the whole park, that is If you can get the kids off of their asses so you can skate it. Yes, those are rollerblades. Apparently they aren’t extinct in northern Illinois after all.

Another shot. Where did the kids go?

I’ll tell you where the kids went. I asked this kid if I could take some pictures of him. After one shot he got kind of creeped out when I started talking to him, and he soon left. All of the sudden the whole park was almost empty. Everyone seemd a bit ill at ease to see someone skating who was over 20. I did have one very polite young man/lurker of about 10 years old who asked how old I was. I told him to guess and he came up with 23!. When I told him I was 43, he replied that I was doing a very fine job and didn’t look my age at all. I think he was dead serious too. This is Brian or Ryan or someone with a Polish last name. Not a big surprise in the Chicago area…

Reverse view from the balcony of the teen center that adjoins the park. Abandon hope all ye who enter here…

Here’s the floorplan.

Final thoughts:

It’s kind of sad, but this is one of the better cement parks in the Chicagoland area. The cement is finished smooth, but teh expansion gaps are ridiculously large, and the design has obvious flaws. It was clearly not designed or built by anyone who actually skated. Still, it has the potential for a lot of fun, especially if you are already in the neighborhood.

Coming soon: The Waukegan Illinois skatepark.

Here’s a Google maps embedding of the park. Six Flags is essentially a mile or so due east and a city block north if you want to check out the ditch that runs on along the perimeter.

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