Reviews: Joliet City Dock

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Joliet City Dock

201 West Jefferson
Joliet, IL 60435
Des Plaines River 287.8 RDB

Lat / Lon: N 41° 31.428' / W 088° 05.237'
Contact: Deanna Opsahi
Phone: (815) 724-3760
Email: [email protected]
Website: bicentennialpark.org/

3.71

(17)

3.71 out of 5 stars

Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: G. Jay Nelson, Pegasus, on Oct 15, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 44'
Draft: 3.5'

Rating: 4

The Joliet City Dock Wall is a very nice free dock. It is well-lighted at night. It is within easy walking distance of the Harrah's Casino, and a more moderate walk to a few other bars and eateries in the area. The city dock has no restrooms/showers or water, but there is free 30-amp power. It is moderately pet friendly, and in the evening the river traffic subsides making for a quiet and stable docking. Some of the criticisms of the city dock is that is showing its age. The wall is crumbling, and some of the power outlets (located in the chain wall posts) did not work. The three boats in our Loopers cadre did not have any problems with the 30-amp power, but wall is very rough where the cement is breaking down leaving very rough edges. Fenders were sufficient to protect our boat from the wall, but if your cleats are below the wall there is a very real possibility of chafing your mooring lines. We solved the problem by moving the lines off the cleats to the large chain rings at the top of bollards where the safety chain attaches. If headed south, call the Brandon Road Lock prior to departure to determine what potential lock delays for pleasure boats due to the commercial traffic, and understand it is only a best guess at that moment. The lock master told us the delay would be 30-45 minutes, but by the time we got to the lock 30 minutes later the commercial traffic had grown significantly and our wait was three and a half hours.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Ken Beyer, Hull of a life, on Sep 29, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 50'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 4

There was about 16 of us but all was fine, even had 30A power and garbage dumpster for trash. No security issues, lots of police presence. Little noisy at the bridge and the trains, but can't beat the price. Would stay again.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Kevin Williams, m/v Blue Tortuga, on Sep 17, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 3.5'

Rating: 3

Granted it's free, but we've been on other free docks that were much better. The wall is crumbling and it's difficult to get on and off the boat, availability of actual cleats is hit & miss. Lots of hardware in the wall that could do some serious damage. About 1/3 of the pedestals don't function. It's a super convenient location for traversing the rivers.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: David Richardson, Voyager (Grand Banks Europa 46'), on Sep 15, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 50'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 5

Much nicer and safer than its sometimes questionable reputation. In fact I thought the free wall at Joliet was great especially for the free price that includes power. Some non working pedestals. Some cracking and chipping on the old wall but otherwise a nice river park experience.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Scott Gregory, My Happiness, on Sep 10, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 42'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 4

The wall was full and only 1 or 2 boats were able to use power. We were here Oct. 5, 23 in an AGLCA flotilla. The wall is rough and there is a lot of wake activity on the river. The park and area is beautiful and we had no safety issues on the dock. We would stay here again.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Lance Williamson on Sep 8, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 3.8'

Rating: 4

There were 10 boats on the wall the night we stayed there. Each power pedestal had multiple 30A outlets (I heard of a couple outlets that didn't work) and most, if not all of the boats were able to use two 30A outlets. No safety issues the night we were there.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Paul Steindorf, Ohana, on Aug 20, 2024
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 45'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 2

Wall in tough shape, with hit or miss 30 amp power, bring extension cords. No water or land restrooms. It is a welcome stop after coming down from Chicago or Hammond. No issues with safety while we were there.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Capt Sam, WhatYachtToDo, on Oct 21, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 50'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 4

7 Oct 23 Sam at GreatLoopAcademy.com on the wall here on a training trip with a 430 Mainship with a 3' 8" draft. Wall is still in rough shape. Use plenty of fenders. There is adequate power at the pedestals. All seem to be 30 amp. We used a splitter, but it did not seem to work so we used a 50 to 30 adapter and that seemed to work. No issues with security, and took a walk into town to eat at a Bistro. Good T-Mobile and Verizon service. Sam from WhatYachtToDo ?

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Lori Pickette on Oct 10, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 37'
Draft: 3.0'

Rating: 2

Wouldn't stay here if we didn't have to. Wall is literally crumbling under your feet making it dangerous to get on/off your boat but it's "the only game in town". Thankfully there were 15+ of us together which I believe deterred anyone from doing anything nefarious.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Tom Taylor on May 25, 2023
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 42'
Draft: 0.0'

Rating: 4

Nice spot. All previous comments relevant. Prefer this over most marinas. Well lit, quiet park in evenings. A homeless woman did show up for a while to cook her lunch with a portable grill. Visited with her, seemed just down on her luck. Gave her a little cash to help out, but for the grace of God, there go I.

Cop car is frequently parked across the park.

We recommend Juliet's Tavern Restaurant on the far bank, easy walk.

Locals recommend parking upstream near the Jefferson St. bridge. Power outlets are better and lower risk of errant barge hitting you. A few barge hits have reportedly happened over the decades, very rare, we did not lose any sleep over it.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Graeme Walker, Confirmed Aquaholic, on Oct 22, 2022
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 54'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 4

Free, we used a 20' bike chain/lock to secure us to a cleat, didn't feel unsafe as their is a police station close by but took no chances. Great little town, worth visiting. Bring chaffing gear.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Capt Maria Langer, Do It Now, on Oct 16, 2022
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 32'
Draft: 2.5'

Rating: 5

I had pretty low expectations for this stop after reading some of the reviews. Yes, the wall is rough and there is metal jutting out in some places. Yes, it's a good idea to have chafe protection on your lines and/or fenders. (I do not.) If you park at a pair of cleats with both midship lines tied firmly to them, you will stay secure -- there's hardly any current. The power boxes are between those cleats. I wasn't expecting ours to work (given the reviews) but it did. Our Buddy Boat friends weren't so lucky with their first spot, but they repositioned to another and had power, too.

We arrived at around 4:30 PM on a mid October Saturday on the tail end of the Looper groups going south. There were five of us on the wall for the first night and room for at least four more.

The park is right there and conveniently located for stretching your legs or walking a dog. There were few people in the park until Sunday afternoon, when there were some strollers. I suspect that the park is closed after dusk because there were no vehicles parked overnight. We did not see any police presence and did not feel as if we needed it. It was very quiet.

There's no water or restrooms. There's a convenience store, a liquor store, and a casino with dining within walking distance.

Boat traffic was mostly tows with barges. They tend to move slowly through the area and don't generate much wake. I wish the few recreational boaters who came through the area were so considerate. Because the river is narrow and has walls on both sides, any wake seems to bounce off the walls before the water calms. I slept better here than I had on my previous weeks of travel.

As another reviewer said, you get what you pay for. I feel as if I got a lot more than I paid for: a safe and quiet place to park for two nights with power. That's why I'm giving this stop Five Stars.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Bill Mcmahon on Sep 24, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 40'
Draft: 3.5'

Rating: 3

Free wall, but was quite rough, bolts sticking out. Some areas of the wall are better than others. Some even have power, but because it is the first place to stop after a long run from Chicago many boats spend the night here. We had to tie up in front of a fence with no cleats. The fence posts were solid so, other than the convenience it was not an issue. We only saw other boaters so we did not feel that security was a problem.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Rob Dare, Liberty Call , on Sep 16, 2021
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 46'
Draft: 4.5'

Rating: 4

Good free Dock with power. Plenty of police presence to ensure no issues. Dock wall is crumbling. No water or facilities. Located in a nice park with plenty of green space to walk a dog.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Capt. Mac Rubel on Sep 7, 2021
LOA: 48'
Draft: 5.0'

Rating: 3

"Free" means you get what you pay for. Sometimes it is a grand surprise and other times not so grand. Joliet Free Dock is a good deal but is not a home run. First, the wall is open to the park. The only thing separating the rest of the world from the boaters is a low fence which is easy to get over or around but makes it hard to get bikes off boats. Second, there is electricity and some of the cabinets built into the light posts actually have circuits that work. Ours and some other did not. There is no water on the wall. Trash disposal is possible is when you find a park trash can that is not full. There are well anchored cleats to tie up to but the wall is rough and requires that you protect your ropes. There is plenty of water depth on the wall and the current downriver is not a problem. Be prepared to see large tows come by in the evening and through the night. They really don't make that much noise. There were six boats on the wall the night we were there. There is room for eight to ten.

On arrival we were met one of the officers from the police station directly across the river. He assured us that they would stage an officer overnight in the park to watch over us and the other goings on in the park. As night fell we were reassured by the excellent lighting along the river that illuminated six boats that tied up for the night. There were no problems after the late afternoon Labor Day Park people finished their barbeques and went home.

The wall is an ideal distance from the lake; fifty miles. We managed to make it in by three in the afternoon, coming from Hammond and using the Calumet. Most of the others had made it through from Chicago, no mean feat on Labor Day. If downbound, make sure you call the Brandon Roads Lock in the morning before leaving the wall so that you do not wait holding place in the middle of the river.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Robert Webb, Doc's Aweigh, on Jul 23, 2021
LOA: 54'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 4

Stopped here July 2021. Wall is bit rough, so have good fender protection. Power is 30A and there are multiple outlets inside each of the power 'boxes' [every 100ft or so - just pull open, no latch, turn on breakers]. Quiet location just south of Jefferson Bridge, with large cleats.

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Review for Joliet City Dock

Reviewed by: Thomas JAMIESON on Sep 15, 2017
Vessel Type: Power
LOA: 45'
Draft: 4.0'

Rating: 4

Great convenient location! A little noisy but, secure wall and power. There is a police station outpost right on sight. Short walk to town for dinner.

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