Editing Lake County, Illinois (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Satellite image of Lake county.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A satellite view of the Lake County district]]

According to the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|1368|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|444|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|935|sqmi}} (67.6%) is water.<ref name="census-density"/> It is the second-largest county in Illinois by total area and the only one that has more water area than land area. Most of the water is in [[Lake Michigan]].

===State parks===
* [[Illinois Beach State Park]]
* [[North Point Marina]]
* [[Volo Bog State Natural Area]]
* [[Chain O'Lakes State Park (Illinois)|Chain O'Lakes State Park]]

===Lakes===
Besides [[Lake Michigan]], lakes in the county include:
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Bangs Lake]]
* [[Bluff Lake]]
* [[Butler Lake]]
* [[Channel Lake]]
* Lake Charles
* [[Countryside Lake]]
* Diamond Lake
* [[Druce Lake]]
* [[Dunns Lake]]
* [[East Loon Lake]]
* Fourth Lake
* [[Chain O'Lakes|Fox Lake]]
* [[Gages Lake]]
* [[Grays Lake (Illinois)|Grays Lake]]
* [[Highland Lake (Illinois)|Highland Lake]]
* [[Island Lake (Illinois)|Island Lake]]
* [[Lake Linden]]
* [[Loon Lake (Lake County, Illinois)|Loon Lake]]
* [[Lake Naomi]]
* [[Sterling Lake]]
* Slocum Lake
* [[Valley Lake]]
* [[Wooster Lake]]
* [[Lake Zurich, Illinois|Lake Zurich]]
{{div col end}}

===Natural areas===
Lake County's forest preserves and natural areas are administered by the [[Lake County Forest Preserves]] district. These facilities include traditional nature preserves, such as the Ryerson Conservation Area, as well as golf courses and historic homes, such as the [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]] historic home.<ref name=lcfp>{{cite web | url = http://www.lcfpd.org/index.cfm | title = Lake County Forest Preserves | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100621095012/http://www.lcfpd.org/index.cfm | archive-date = June 21, 2010 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> A long north–south string of the preserves in Lake County, including Half Day Woods, Old School Forest Preserve, Independence Grove, and Van Patten Woods, form the Des Plaines River Greenway, which contains the Des Plaines River Trail, a popular place for walking, running, and biking. Lake County is also home to [[Illinois Beach State Park]], featuring over six miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, as well as dune areas, wetlands, prairie, and black oak savanna. Several local environmental groups operate in Lake County, such as [[Conserve Lake County]] and [[Citizens for Conservation]], working to improve habitat. Volunteer opportunities also exist with the Lake County Forest Preserve District.<ref>{{cite web|title=Restoration workdays|url=http://www.lcfpd.org/conservation/index.cfm?fuseaction=conservation.viewRestoration|publisher=Lake County|access-date=January 5, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106040336/http://www.lcfpd.org/conservation/index.cfm?fuseaction=conservation.viewRestoration|archive-date=January 6, 2014}}</ref>

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Kenosha County, Wisconsin|Kenosha County]], [[Wisconsin]]{{Snd}}north
* [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]]{{Snd}}south
* [[McHenry County, Illinois|McHenry County]]{{Snd}}west

===Transit===
* '''[[Metra]]'''
* ''[[Milwaukee District North Line]]''
* ''[[North Central Service]]''
* ''[[Union Pacific North Line]]''
* ''[[Union Pacific Northwest Line]]''
* '''[[Pace (transit)|Pace]]'''

===Major highways===
{{div col|content=
* [[File:I-41.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 41]]
* [[File:I-94.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 94 (Illinois)|Interstate 94]]
* [[File:US 12.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 12 (Illinois)|U.S. Route 12]]
* [[File:US 14.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 14 (Illinois)|U.S. Route 14]]
* [[File:US 41.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 41 in Illinois|U.S. Route 41]]
* [[File:US 45.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 45 (Illinois)|U.S. Route 45]]
* [[File:Illinois 21.svg|20px]] [[Illinois Route 21]]
* [[File:Illinois 22.svg|20px]] [[Illinois Route 22]]
* [[File:Illinois 43.svg|20px]] [[Illinois Route 43]]
* [[File:Illinois 53.svg|20px]] [[Illinois Route 53]]
* [[File:Illinois 59.svg|20px]] [[Illinois Route 59]]
* [[File:Illinois 60.svg|20px]] [[Illinois Route 60]]
* [[File:Illinois 83.svg|20px]] [[Illinois Route 83]]
* [[File:Illinois 120.svg|25px]] [[Illinois Route 120]]
* [[File:Illinois 131.svg|25px]] [[Illinois Route 131]]
* [[File:Illinois 132.svg|25px]] [[Illinois Route 132]]
* [[File:Illinois 134.svg|25px]] [[Illinois Route 134]]
* [[File:Illinois 137.svg|25px]] [[Illinois Route 137]]
* [[File:Illinois 173.svg|25px]] [[Illinois Route 173]]
* [[File:Illinois 176.svg|25px]] [[Illinois Route 176]]
}}

===County routes and county highways===
Lake County's [[County highway|county road]] system currently covers 300 miles of road.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lake County |url=https://iaceng.org/page/LakeCounty |website=Illinois Association of County Engineers}}</ref> The county also employs two different numbering systems, a county route system and a county highway system. While both systems' can be seen on official road maps, only the County Route designations have been indicated with [[highway marker]]s on [[traffic signal]]s or dedicated poles.

The county route system in use today by Lake County was purportedly intended to be the dominant system for all of Illinois' counties and was proposed by the [[National Association of Counties]] (NACo), however their system was not chosen and instead each county was given the freedom to number their own county routes as well as choose whether or not to produce and display [[highway marker]]s. Currently, only Lake County, [[Boone County, Illinois|Boone County]], [[McHenry County, Illinois|McHenry County]] and [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] use NACo's proposed numbering system, and of the four only Lake and McHenry counties chose to fully display the county route designations on highway markers. Cook County began to roll out the production of highway markers near the beginning of 2009, but the seemingly arbitrary numbering system as well as the cost to produce the markers resulted in a lot of confusion and backlash, and ultimately only some of the markers were produced and mounted.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2009-02-11-0902100673-story.html | title=New signs point to confusion | website=[[Chicago Tribune]] | date=February 11, 2009 }}</ref>

For Lake County, all East–West-bound County Routes begin with an "A", while North—South-bound County Routes on the western half of the county begin with a "V", and those located on the eastern half begin with a "W".{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}