Entry No. 97 — the Chicago file — filed under: outdoor
Steelworkers Park Ore Walls
Two towering concrete ore walls — leftover retaining walls from U.S. Steel's 600-acre South Works plant, which once employed over 20,000 workers before closing in 1992 — were deliberately left standing as the last visible fragment of the mill, and now double as a 30-foot outdoor climbing wall against open Lake Michigan.
The story
When U.S. Steel abandoned its 600-acre South Works complex in 1992, wrecking crews flattened almost everything that had once sustained 20,000 jobs. But when they brought dynamite to the two parallel, 30-foot-tall ore walls that once stored coal and raw iron ore from Lake Michigan freighters, the explosives lost. The walls had been poured with concrete reinforced by blast-furnace slag forged at 1,500°C. After punching a few stubborn breaches, the demolition crews gave up and walked away, leaving nearly 700 meters of industrial monolith standing along the shore.
In 2014, the Chicago Park District dedicated 16.56 acres of the former steel mill property as Steelworkers Park. Rather than hiding the indestructible retaining walls, they bolted climbing holds directly into the slag-concrete face. Today, you can chalk your hands and climb the literal bones of Chicago's industrial past, scaling routes graded 5.2 to 5.7 while taking in sweeping views of open lake water.
What it's like
You pull up to 3399 E. 87th Street to find native prairie grasses quietly colonizing the cracked foundations of a dead industrial giant. The vibe is quiet, raw, and distinctly un-manicured, populated mostly by local anglers casting off the breakwater and urban explorers taking in the breeze. If you want to climb, bring your own lead-climbing gear for an independent session, or time your visit for a Chicago Park District weekend open-climb to run on their top-rope setups. Local tip: pick up a bag of smoked shrimp from Calumet Fisheries down on 95th Street beforehand and eat it out on the old foundations at sunset—you didn't hear it from us.
The move: Catch a Chicago Park District weekend open-climb session on the ore walls (grades 5.2–5.7), then walk the surviving foundations out toward the breakwater at sunset.
- 📍 South Chicago
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 3399 E. 87th St, Chicago, IL 60617
Hours: Added 2026-07-19 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Stony Island Arts Bank — Pair South Chicago's industrial ruin with another South Side revival—a rescued 1923 bank housing single-subject archives less than four miles away.
- Promontory Point — Trade South Chicago's raw blast-furnace concrete walls for Hyde Park's lakefront peninsula ringed by hand-carved 1930s limestone revetment blocks.
- Garden of the Phoenix & Yoko Ono's Sky Landing — Contrast the dynamite-resistant remnants of a 600-acre steel mill with a peaceful Japanese garden and lotus sculpture tucked away on Jackson Park's Wooded Island.
- Nuclear Energy (Henry Moore sculpture) — Follow the South Side's heavy-industrial trajectory from steel mill ruins to Henry Moore's bronze monument marking the site of the world's first self-sustaining nuclear reaction.
Good to know
Do I need to sign up in advance to climb the ore walls?
Experienced climbers with their own gear can climb for free at their own risk whenever the park is open. If you want to use the Park District's climbing equipment and staff belays, you must catch one of their scheduled community open-climb sessions.
What climbing grades are available on the wall?
The bolted routes on the 30-foot wall range primarily from 5.2 to 5.7, making them accessible to beginners while offering unique climbing on slag concrete.
Why were the ore walls left standing when the rest of South Works was torn down?
The walls were constructed using dense blast-furnace slag concrete. Demolition crews tried to dynamite them after the plant shut down in 1992, but the material was so hard that workers abandoned demolition after blowing only a few holes.
Where inside the park are the ore walls located?
The two towering concrete walls stand on the eastern edge of Steelworkers Park, running parallel straight toward the Lake Michigan waterfront.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: chicagoparkdistrict.com · Wikipedia · springs-journal.net · nps.gov · mountainproject.com
last checked: 2026-07-19