DIRECTIONS to Northwestern University's
Department of Geological Sciences

Northwestern's main campus is located in Evanston, the community immediately North of Chicago along the shore of Lake Michigan.
Please note that the street address of our Department is 1847 Sheridan Road, but the building is not physically located on Sheridan Road... If you get lost, simply ask for Evanston's South Beach: we are across the street from it.

By car: The most convenient approaches are along Interstate 94 (known as the Kennedy and Edens expressways). Use Exit 37 (Dempster Avenue), and continue East to Sheridan Road (one block before Dempster ends at Lake Michigan), then turn North on Sheridan to South Beach.
Beware however that I-94 is an East-West trunk interstate, running from Detroit to Billings, Montana, and its markers are labeled ``West'' and ``East'' even though in the Chicago area, it curves along Lake Michigan, with West meaning North and East meaning South....
Park in the double-decker parking structure adjacent to South Beach, cross the street to Locy Hall, and secure a parking permit from the Department.

By plane: Use O'Hare International Airport (ORD), which is approximately 25 km from Evanston, preferably not Midway Airport (MDW), more than 50 km to the South. There are vans running from ORD to Evanston, but their schedule remains a mystery, and it is best to use a taxi. The taxi driver may want the following instructions: Kennedy Expressway to Harlem, Harlem North to Golf, Golf East all the way into Campus.
The fare should be about $30. You should not pay more than shown on the meter (some unscrupulous drivers will try to collect meter-and-a-half (or even more!), which is illegal to a destination in Evanston).

Note: Fares to MDW may occasionally be so low as to make this distant airport an attractive alternative. Beware, however that the taxi fare may be in excess of $50, and that traffic through downtown Chicago on your way to Evanston may be horrendous during busy hours.
In case you still elect to use MDW, directions from MDW to Evanston are: North on Cicero to I-55 (a couple of miles), North (actually Northeast) on I-55 (Stevenson Expressway) to I-90/94; West (actually North) on I-94 (Dan Ryan Expressway which becomes Kennedy Expressway which becomes Edens Expressway); see above "By Car".

Note also that both Chicago airports are easily (and very cheaply) reached by subway ("The El"), with ("The El"), with stations in the basement of the terminal (ORD) and across the parking lot (MDW). El stations serving campus on the Evanston line are "Davis" or "Foster". From there it is a three-block walk into campus. However, from ORD to Evanston, the ride involves going all the way into downtown and changing lines along the two sides of a narrow "V", so that your total time on the El will be no less than 2 hours. In the case of MDW, the communities visited by the subway line between MDW and downtown make it a rather unattractive mode of transportation.

Finally, General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee (MKE) serves as Chicago's de facto third airport. It is approximately 110 km North of Campus, but fares into MKE can occasionally be as much as $200 below those into ORD. You will have to rent a car, though, taking I-94 East [actually South] immediately upon exiting MKE airport, staying on I-94 into Illinois and all the way to the Dempster Avenue exit (Number 37). Proceed East on Dempster to Sheridan Road (see above). When traffic is light, the drive from MKE should take about 80 minutes.

By bus: Greyhound Bus lines have a few schedules into the S/kokie Bus Terminal, which is only about 7 km from campus. A cab ride from Skokie to Campus should not be more than $10; there is also a spur of subway ("The El") running into the Skokie terminal, known as the "Skokie Swift", which through a connection at "Howard" can get you to campus (see above). However, the Skokie Swift goes into hibernation on week-ends.

For those of you whose vehicle (car, bicycle, rollerblades?) is equipped with GPS, the coordinates of our Department, housed in Locy Hall, are

42 deg 03.09' North; 87 deg 40.48' West

In case you are lost, just call us at [847] 491-3238 and we will vector you in.