Where to Play Padel on Chicago's North Shore (2026)

Chicago's padel story didn't start downtown. It started in December 2022 in a Mundelein industrial park, 35 miles northwest of the Loop, and it has been working its way back toward the lake ever since. Three years later the suburbs north of the city hold more open padel courts than the city itself — and a fourth club is on the way.

This guide covers every padel club on Chicago's North Shore, using the term the way locals do: the suburbs running north from Evanston along the lake, plus the Lake County facilities just inland. For the city proper, see our separate guide to where to play padel in Chicago.

Why the North Shore Became Chicago's Padel Hub

Three things had to line up at once, and on the North Shore they did.

A racquet-sport population that was already there. Platform tennis leagues have run in these suburbs for decades. Padel never had to explain why anyone would play a racquet sport in February — only what made it different.

Room to build. A padel court needs roughly 200 square meters of playing surface plus run-off, and enough clear height that a lob doesn't hit a beam. That footprint is scarce and expensive in Lincoln Park or the West Loop. In Mundelein, Glenview and Highland Park it's an ordinary industrial lease or a park district parcel.

Winter, again. Chicago's outdoor racquet season is about five months long, so every serious operator here has built indoors. The North Shore clubs run year-round while seasonal country club courts elsewhere in the Midwest go dark in November.

The operators know they've built a cluster. Alex Vainberg, quoted by trade outlet The Padel State, estimated that "by 2026, the North Shore is going to have… probably like 60 or 70 courts" once private country club installations are counted. That's heavy supply for one corridor, and more than one operator has pointed to Sweden — where a padel boom overbuilt and then contracted hard — as the outcome to avoid. Abigail McCulloch, who founded Alma Padel in Glenview, has argued publicly that operators should be open about expansion plans: "the more market information all the players have, the better it is for the sport."

For players, the near-term effect is simple: more courts, more open play, and more competition on price than anywhere else in Illinois.

The Clubs

North Shore vs. Downtown Chicago: Which Should You Play?

The city has five padel venues: Cube Padel Chicago, Proximo Padel and its Goose Island location, Union Padel Club, and a single court at the private Saddle & Cycle Club. That's roughly 16 courts across Chicago proper, against 15 already open on the North Shore with Northbrook still to come.

Play downtown if you don't have a car, you want to squeeze a match in after work without leaving the grid, or you're playing on a weeknight when suburban clubs are running league play.

Play the North Shore if you want ceiling height, a real pro shop, a deeper coaching bench, or a court on a Saturday morning — the city clubs fill first, and North Shore parking is free and plentiful in a way that Goose Island's is not.

Costs, Memberships & Booking

None of these clubs require a membership to play — all four sell court time to non-members. What a membership buys is a lower hourly rate and a longer booking window.

The shape of the market as of mid-2026:

• Non-member court time generally runs about $30–$60 per hour for the whole court, peak evenings and weekend mornings at the top of that range. Split four ways, that's roughly $8–$15 a head.
• Memberships at Alma Padel start near $65 per month and run to roughly $175 for premium, which brings member court time to about $20 an hour and open play to around $15.
• Padel Clube's premium tier bundles unlimited court bookings with gym, recovery room and coworking access, plus a discount on the shop and events.
• Open play and clinics are the cheapest way in and the fastest way to find partners. Every club here runs them, and the intro clinics assume you've never held a padel racket.

Rates move, so confirm on the club's own booking system before planning around a number. Every club rents rackets, so there's nothing to buy first — when you're ready, start with our beginner racket guide, and if the sport is new to you, what is padel covers the basics in five minutes.

Getting There from the City

Driving is the honest answer. Alma and the Northbrook site are off the Edens (I-94) at the Willow and Dundee Road exits, Club Pickle & Padel is on Skokie Valley Road (Route 41) in Highland Park, and Padel Clube is off Route 60 in Mundelein via I-94 or I-294 north.

Rough drive times from the Loop, outside rush hour:

• Glenview (Alma Padel) — about 35–40 minutes
• Northbrook (Proximo) — about 40 minutes
• Highland Park (Club Pickle & Padel) — about 40–45 minutes
• Mundelein (Padel Clube) — about 55–65 minutes

Metra gets you close but rarely to the door. The Milwaukee District North line serves Glenview and Northbrook, the Union Pacific North line serves Highland Park, and the North Central Service reaches Mundelein. Each of those stations is a short rideshare from the courts rather than a walk, so a train-plus-rideshare trip works from downtown without a car — just budget for the last mile.

If you're mapping the wider region, the Midwest build-out doesn't stop at the Illinois line: see the growth of padel in the Midwest and where to play padel in Milwaukee, 90 minutes up the lake.