Explore Indiana Dunes: One of America’s newest national parks

I did not know what to expect when I suggested that my son and his family meet me and my husband for a springtime hike in Indiana Dunes National Park. I had to wrap my head around huge mounds of sand—as high as 192 feet—and 15 miles of protected coastline along Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline. At first glance, the 15,000-acre park is a little confusing. From most of the main roadways, trees block views of the world’s fifth-largest freshwater lake. It’s at the pull-offs where you find delightful surprises.

A visit to America’s 61st national park, designated in February 2019, provides a look at how glaciers shaped a landscape that’s now woods, dunes, wetlands, and prairie. Its 354 avian species make it a top 10 national park for birding. At one point on our visit we heard a woodpecker and were searching for that bird when two magnificent herons stole our attention as they flew overhead.

The park also provides, oddly, a revealing look at some of the consequences—both positive and negative—of America’s industrial revolution of the last century. The park stretches from Indiana’s urban steel-making metropolis of Gary (parkland surrounds a still-operating steel mill) to Michigan City, home to a massive power plant. Two busy train lines run through the park, carrying passengers, freight, and commuters to Chicago, an hour away.

What your kids will likely remember from their visit to Indiana Dunes National Park and its surroundings—based on my 4-year-old grandson’s reaction—is fun playing in sand and water and delight at seeing lots of trains. Plan for much more than a day at the beach.

Here are our favorite discoveries of things to do in and near Dunes National Park.

In another oddity of the area, the Indiana Dunes National Park contains a state park that is home to both a popular beach and a brag-worthy signature walking experience. This 1.5-mile trek with steep climbs will get you huffing and puffing as you conquer three of the park’s tallest dunes, ascending 552 vertical feet in the process. Much of the trek is on sand, which thrilled my grandson at first: He started marching straight up, but later asked to be carried on my son’s back. I can imagine older kids making the trek a competition. If you chicken out partway through (as we did after two dunes), divert from Trail 8 to Trail 7 to get back to the parking lot. If you climb all three dunes, you can reward yourself with a free 3DuneChallenge bumper sticker from the visitors center.

New for 2021 is a marked 1-mile hike that follows 270 steps over a huge sand dune that leads right to Lake Michigan. We found this hike both easier and more scenic than the Three Dune Challenge. Since it was a clear day, we had views not only of the sand landscape but also of Chicago’s skyline, 36 miles across the water. The Dare is named for Alice Mabel Gray, who more than 100 years ago left Chicago to live in an abandoned shanty along Lake Michigan so she could be closer to nature. The press called her “Diana of the Dunes.” Interpretive signs along the trail tell about her life.

Named for a U.S. senator from Illinois who in the late 1950s and early 1960s led the fight to establish the park (Indiana Dunes was declared a National Lakeshore in 1966), this nature center in Gary is a gateway to the Miller Woods, one of the park’s best woodland hikes. Children can help rangers feed forest creatures, including snakes. Visitors may borrow a nature backpack containing a field guide and magnifying glass to use as they explore the woods. The ponds with lots of beaver activity are particularly entertaining.

Indiana Dunes National Park’s 14 designated trail systems cover more than 50 miles. If tackling even one trail seems overwhelming, consider a ranger-led hike. One of the most fascinating (that is closed to the general public) is a 90-minute hike atop the 125-foot Mount Baldy, the park’s tallest “moving” dune. This is your chance to see erosion in action and learn about the mysterious holes that began appearing in the sand a few years ago. Do a sunset hike to watch the sun fall over Lake Michigan. Check the park’s website for scheduled hikes.

Kids may say ho-hum to a garden, but they won’t when it involves model trains. At this 330-acre arboretum, oak trees share the land with the big calling card for families—a railroad landscape with 3,000 feet of track that’s explored by whistle-blowing steam-engined trains. The award-winning setup, maintained by volunteers, features miniature conifers, limestone rises, waterfalls, and scaled-down towns and depots. The collection has 100 trains with seven operating at any given time. An educational element: Dioramas tell the story of American steam engines and their impact on history.

You might be surprised to learn that Indiana’s South Shore has a pizza maker that is nationally recognized by the Food Network. Dine at the small storefront in downtown Valparaiso, about 13 miles south of Indiana Dunes, or find one of their two big, bright red antique Studebaker fire trucks equipped with pizza ovens that make the rounds from the train station in Beverly Shores to local farmers markets. The thin-crust, wood-fired artisan pies feature creative toppings—my husband and I especially liked the Purple Pig, which comes with smoked pork shoulder, cheese, and a tangy purple slaw. The kids enjoyed the vegetarian options, including a pie topped with the ingredients of elote (grilled Mexican street corn).

DunesWalk Inn

Just outside the park in Chesterton, this renovated 1881 brick mansion has five guest rooms, including two suites with kitchenettes that are perfect for families—one even has built-in bunk beds and a whirlpool tub. Rates start at $125.

Riley’s Railhouse

Train fans might enjoy staying in a converted boxcar or caboose situated near working commuter-train tracks (ear plugs advised). Rates start at $160. 

Cleveland-based Fran Golden is an award-winning travel journalist whose work regularly appears in such leading publications as Bloomberg and Travel and Leisure. She is the author of numerous cruise and travel books including 100 Things to Do in Alaska Before You Die.