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Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park has combined sand dunes, wetlands, prairie, marshes, fens, bogs, oak savannas, a river and a woodland forest in one national park.

Indiana

2021

About The Park

Formerly Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore it became the 61st national park in 2019. The park’s 15,349 acres extends along 15 miles of Lake Michigan’s shoreline. It is comprised of two non-contiguous major park sections and a couple of other smaller pieces which also are not connected.

 
The park also surrounds Indiana Dunes State Park and in between the two largest sections of the National Park is the Port of Indiana which covers about five to six square miles and contains not one but two steel mills! You can see the smokestacks jutting high above the trees on certain hiking trails.

Along its 15 miles of the southern shore of Lake Michigan there are nine beaches where you can swim in one of the Great Lakes and 50 miles of hiking trails. The windy beaches have also become a popular spot for kite flying. Located just 50 miles from Chicago it is only minutes from Interstate 94 and Interstate 90.

For many in the surrounding area Indiana Dunes is the beach. Lake Michigan was cleaned up and that has helped make for some very nice beaches. Lots of the traffic, and parking competition, is with the beach goers. The beach at the West Beach area was not very wide and thus quite crowded. It did have a very large parking area which wasn’t even close to full mid-week so parking for the three hiking trails in West Beach was not a problem.  

The park is also noted for its singing sands. This not very well understood phenomenon which has been heard in a number of places around the world with sand dunes. The bottom line is that the wind, or walking on them, produces sounds that sometimes are as high as, in some places, 105 dB. You have to be lucky to experience this and we weren’t.

The park does have a large variety of plant species. At last count it was about 1,400 and would rank this National Park as 8th in terms of total plant species in all of the National Parks. That is not what most people would expect out of dunes park. With somewhere between 270 and 350 species of birds, depending on your source, it probably ranks quite high in this category too.

Another point of interest is the Century of Progress homes. These homes were on display at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. The idea was to show off modern architecture and the houses of the future. After the World’s Fair ended these five homes were shipped by barge and placed in this lakefront area in the community of Beverly Shores which is surrounded by the national park. Tours of these fully or partially restored homes are available by reservation only one day each October and sell out quickly. They are, however, worth taking the drive along Lake Front Drive to see them from the outside and read the markers detailing their story and features.  

In the debate in Congress as to whether to re-designate Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore as Indiana Dunes National Park, the Deputy Director of the National Park Service testified that the Service opposed the re-designation because it would be inconsistent with the Service's naming conventions. He said that the Indiana Dunes have more in common with other national lakeshores and seashores than national parks which are typically much larger than Indiana Dunes National Park’s 15,000 acres.

I have to say that I agree that he does have a point and, if you want to make the comparison, both Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (35 miles of shoreline, 71,000 acres) and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (42 miles of shoreline, 73,000 acres) both have scenery that is more picturesque and more dramatic. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before Michigan makes its pitch for these to become national parks.

Unfortunately, politics has come into play and the monetary value of the national parks designation is a powerful lure. Visitation at Indiana Dunes National Park is up 70% since the National Park designation was approved. It now gets over 2 million visitors which would put it in the top 15 most visited National parks. In reality much of the visitation is by people going to the beach most of whom probably have no interest in the national park aspect of Indiana Dunes.  

Still, I have to say that Indiana Dunes has a greater claim to be a National Park than Gateway Arch National Park. With a 630 foot high (and wide) man-made arch on a paltry 91 acres in the middle of downtown St. Louis, bounded by interstate highways the concept of a National Park was all but thrown out the window.

What Indiana Dunes National Park can lay claim to, that no other national park can, is that is the only national park with two steel mills in the middle of it.
  

Wildlife

Commonly seen mammals in the park are the eastern cottontail rabbit, the eastern fox squirrel, white-tailed deer, raccoons, meadow voles and the white-footed mouse.

Among the many species of birds there are these birds of prey: turkey vultures, four species of hawk and the American kestrel.

The area once was host to a variety of large mammals which have since been extirpated from the area. Among those that once roamed these shores are bison, wolves, lynx, bobcat, cougar, elk, river otters, porcupines and black bears.

Lodging

There’s no lodging in the park. Lodging is available in the surrounding areas. You can find a link at the bottom of the page for lodging. The park does have a campground. The Best Western in Chesterton, Indiana was very nice. If you plan to stay there you should request a room overlooking the lake. Sitting out on the balcony enjoying the view was a nice way to relax before dinner.

Hiking

The hiking trails in Indiana Dunes tend to be hikes in the forest. You can walk along the beaches but the designated hiking trails typically go through fairly dense forest. In fact there is little evidence that these are dunes since the ground cover is typically leaf litter. Technically they are but it is not at all evident to the untrained eye.

The park is open all year round and has a number of cross-country ski trails.

Dune Secession Trail

Located at West Beach this loop trail is mostly on a boardwalk and stairways and has a steep 270 step climb into the high dunes. This trail is about a mile long. It is a nice hike among sandy, hilly, dunes and is what one would expect of beach dunes. The last part of it takes you for a short distance along a narrow and crowded bit of beach when we were there. The hike ends at the West Beach bathhouse which you walk through to get back to the parking area.

Long Lake Trail

Located at West Beach this loop trail is about 2 plus miles and takes you through forested areas and along a ridge overlooking Long Lake. The lake is pretty much covered in aquatic vegetation but scenic nonetheless. It is a good spot for birding and pictures more so than in the forested portion of the hike. If you take the loop in a clock-wise direction you can walk down a steep, sandy portion - which is much easier than walking up it. On a hot day this has you in the cooler forest for most of the hike.     

Three Loop Trail Challenge

This combines parts the two trails described above and the West Beach Trail. It is 3.4 miles long and is a really nice way to get to know what the park is all about. It can be kind of strenuous, especially on hot days, but gets you up high enough to get a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. If this is for you then I would recommend beginning at the bathhouse and hiking clock-wise on the Dune Secession Trail to the West Beach Trail, stay clock-wise (the eastern part of the trail) and take that into the Long Lake Trail. Doing it this way will have you descend the 270 steps at the end of the Dune Secession Trail and descend the steep, sandy, hill at the end of the Long Lake Trail. You’ll still do the same 3.4 miles but in a less strenuous way.

Cowles Bog Trail

This is about a 5 mile loop or 4 plus mile out-and-back hike. It is a not too strenuous walk with a 223 foot elevation gain and a steep descent to the beach and climb back up. This is an excellent trail that doesn’t get a lot of traffic. It travels through a forest that skirts ponds, marshes and swamps. The descent to the beach crosses grassy dunes and the beach at Lake Michigan gets a fraction of the beach traffic that other areas get since it is a 2 plus mile hike from the trailhead. If you want to combine a nice hike with a couple of hours of beach time then this is the trail for you. You’ll find a beautiful Lake Michigan beach with very few people. The picture at the top of this page was taken from the beach looking back at the trail which ascends into the forest in the middle of the picture. Park at the lot next to the guardhouse for the town of Dune Acres.

Mount Baldy Trail

This is a three-quarter mile hike down to a nice beach. The side trip to the summit of Mt. Baldy unfortunately was closed due to dangerous conditions on the sand so the much touted views of Lake Michigan from there were not available. The beach is at the edge of some steep, high dunes which you can climb up and hike about and get your view of Lake Michigan. Right at the point where you descend the steep descent to the beach there is a small, narrow trail off to the right. If you take that you can hike about the dunes without having the steep climb that you would have if you decided to hike up from the beach.

 
Calumet Dunes Trail

This is a short half-mile paved trail through a forest along a ridge that once was the shoreline of Lake Michigan. There is little to recommend here. I only took it because it rained heavily the night before and I thought the forested non-paved trails would be very muddy.

Indiana Dunes National Park Photo Gallery

Other Resources

Indiana Dunes National Park on the National Parks Service website - NPS.gov

Indiana Dunes National Park - Wikipedia

Indiana Dunes National Park - Hiking - NPS.gov

Indiana Dunes National Park - Lodging - NPS.gov

Indiana Dunes National Park - Mammals

Indiana Dunes National Park - Birds

Indiana Dunes National Park - Reptiles

Indiana Dunes State and National Park

Century of Progress Homes

Other National Parks Within a Day’s Drive

New River Gorge National Park Where you can see a steep gorge and a graceful steel arch bridge that rises 876 feet above the river. It is 305 miles to the south and about a 5 hour drive.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Outside of Cleveland, Ohio is 310 miles to the east and about a 5 hour drive. Cleveland has the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame which I would recommend if you plan to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Mammoth Cave National Park Located in Kentucky it has the largest cave system in the U.S and it is due south 370 miles and about a six hour drive.
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Updated 02/11/23 7:04 PM

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