121st St. & Calumet Ave. 410.2 acres
Activities: Wind Surfing, Sailing, Swimming, Cross-Country Skiing, Fishing, Hiking Trail, Ice Skating, Picnicking
Facilities: Restrooms, Picnic Shelter, Public Boat Launch, Performance Pavilion, Aquatic Play Center
To the north is the beach, the only authorized swimming area at Wolf Lake, and the Aquatic Play Center where wind surfers stage their launches. Wolf Lake is considered one of the best wind surfing lakes in the Midwest. It draws from the four-state area of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. Veteran instructor Jackie Butzen is an AWLI member.
Looking toward the west horizon, up against the I-90 Toll Road, you can see the Illiana Yacht Club. Ice boating is popular during winter when the ice is thick enough and the wind has swept most of the snow off the ice surface.
Three picnic shelters encircle the pavilion and a towering wind mill provides energy to the city’s buildings there. Just south of this area is the boat launch. The nearby Scout Island is a popular and safe nesting site for water fowl who have no predators to fear. It is visited by canoeists during the wetlands festival in May. Further south, beyond your view, is a second island, called Strawberry Island. During the wetlands festival, canoeists find it covered with the white blossoms of wild strawberries and, at times, only a narrow passage around its southern shoreline.. Students from Scott Middle school released beetles there to attack the invasive purple loosestrife plant.
For boaters, Hammond limits the size of motors to maintain safe conditions for boaters and swimmers and protect the shallow lake bottom.

Return to the bus at the Environmental Education Center. Exit parking lot, turn right onto Calumet Avenue, turn left at 119th Street and proceed west, enter Forsythe Park at south entrance and proceed north.