Sights to See at Indiana Dunes State Park | National Lakeshore

Written by: Rheanna

Indiana dunes, the ones that can be found in the much celebrated Indiana Dunes National park, is world renowned for its picturesque nature. Priding itself of its magnificence and beauty, Indiana Dunes State Park is located in northwest Indiana and contains an estimated 15,000 acres.

Another famous dune park is the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, meaning it is a protected area of national lakeshore by the United States of America which is maintained by the U.S. National Park Service. Indiana Dunes is one of the current four national lakeshores in the whole United States.

The park is composed of a number of beaches, sand dunes, marshes, forests, and more land and water forms. Also, it is famous for its singing sands, which are sands that produce sounds, either of high or low, when undergoing pressure. This happens whenever a strong wind passes over a sand dune.

Daily, a visitor can expect a ranger-guided tour consisting of walks and talks throughout the park vicinity. Originally thought of as Sand Dunes National Park, in the year 1926, a part of it became Indiana Dunes State Park. Making it a national lakeshore however, came later when the citizens formed the Save the Dunes Council and shortly thereafter gained political support to make it one of the four national lakeshores.

The park offers a number of recreational activities, some of which are for arts and entertainment, cultural and historical, for children, for a big group and for those who are into shopping. Some activities though are seasonal.

Some of the famous short hike trails of the park are as follows:

Miller Woods Trail, which is a short 1.5-mile long trail that passes around a number of wetlands.
Inland Marsh, a short walk through the tree tops to the ridges of the dunes.
Succession Trail, which climbs to higher dunes.
Bailly-Chellberg Trails, that are a series of connected trails upon which, a tour would consist of a visit to the Bailly Cemetery.
Little Calumet River Trail, which is a restored grassland and a lot other trails.

Among the beaches of the Indiana Dunes are West Beach, Portage Lakeview and Riverwalk, Porter Beach, Kemil Road Beach, Lakeview, Central Avenue Beach, and Mt. Baldy.

Indiana Dunes National park also offers facilities that the visitors can choose from when they go for a visit. The Dunewood Campground, which consists of 78 campgrounds; the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center that offers a number of artwork made in the park vicinity together with exhibits; West Beach Bathhouse that has picnic areas, a parking lot bathhouses with showers; and the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk, which has a big pavilion, and has a hike bike trail and a fishing pier.

The Indiana Dunes National Park has two kinds of weather, the winter months and the summer months. It is, of course, more advisable to pay a visit during the summer months both for a group or an individual, because it will make you appreciate the park more when it is in its peak, and not covered with sheets and sheets of ice.

Find related products in our Hiking Shop: