Overview
Milwaukee is the northern bookend of BoatingChicago’s Phase 1 western-shore destinations. The city’s lakefront mixes parks, museums, and harbor basins, and for recreational slip and launch information the clearest official public source is Milwaukee County Parks’ McKinley Marina pages.
McKinley Marina is described by Milwaukee County as the county’s only public lakefront marina, with floating docks, fuel, pump-out, and related tenant amenities listed on the official parks site. The same pages outline launch-permit coverage for McKinley and other county launch sites — use those pages for current season dates and permit rules.
Port Milwaukee (the city’s commercial port department) manages commercial and cruise-related waterfront infrastructure and is not a substitute for recreational marina information. Recreational boaters should follow County Parks marina guidance for slips, launches, and seasonal operations.
A Chicago-to-Milwaukee cruise is a serious Lake Michigan passage that demands solid forecasts, fuel planning, and daylight strategy. Many boaters break the trip with stops in Kenosha or Racine. Whether you arrive by water or trailer to a county launch, start with Milwaukee County’s published marina materials and NWS marine forecasts for western Lake Michigan.