Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park is a remarkable ribbon of wild diversity along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, protecting some 15 miles of beaches, towering sand dunes, and an astonishing variety of habitats squeezed between the great lake and the industrial cities of northwestern Indiana. Despite its small size and unlikely setting, the park is one of the most biologically diverse units in the entire National Park System, a place where ecosystems of north and south, prairie and forest, meet and mingle.

Born of the Ice Age and the shifting sands of Lake Michigan, the dunes rise high above the water, climbed by visitors and stabilized over time by a fascinating succession of plant life that helped found the modern science of ecology. Beyond the beaches and dunes lie oak savannas, wetlands, bogs, prairies and forests harboring hundreds of bird species and a remarkable range of plants. Redesignated a national park in 2019, Indiana Dunes offers swimming, hiking, birding and dune-climbing at the doorstep of Chicago, a wild and biodiverse treasure on Lake Michigan.

Indiana Dunes National Park offers swimming and beachgoing along its Lake Michigan shoreline, climbing the towering dunes (including the strenuous trails of nearby Indiana Dunes State Park), and more than 50 miles of hiking trails through dunes, wetlands, prairies and forests. Birding is world-class, and visitors enjoy paddling, fishing, biking, picnicking, ranger programs and winter activities. The combination of beaches, dramatic dunes and extraordinarily diverse habitats makes the park a beloved natural escape on Lake Michigan, remarkably close to Chicago.

Summer is the busy peak for beaches, swimming and dune-climbing, when the lake is warmest, while spring and fall bring spectacular bird migration along the Lake Michigan flyway and milder weather for hiking. Fall adds color to the forests and savannas. Winter brings quiet beaches, ice formations along the shore and birding. The beaches are busiest on summer weekends; spring and fall migration are highlights for birders. The park rewards visits year-round, with each season showcasing its remarkable diversity.

The Indiana Dunes have a storied place in American science and conservation — here the botanist Henry Cowles studied how plants colonize and stabilize shifting dunes, pioneering the modern science of ecology. After decades of effort by conservationists to save the dunes from industrial development, Congress created Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 1966, and in 2019 it was redesignated Indiana Dunes National Park. The park preserves not only the dunes and beaches but a landscape central to the history of ecological science and the American conservation movement.

The Indiana Dunes were formed by the Ice Age and the ongoing work of Lake Michigan: as the great glaciers retreated and lake levels fell, winds and waves piled sand into dunes along the shifting shoreline, building successive ridges that record the lake’s changing levels over thousands of years. The towering ‘living’ dunes still move with the wind, while older dunes inland have been stabilized by vegetation. The interplay of glacial sand, wind and the great lake created the dramatic, dynamic dune landscape that defines the park.

Indiana Dunes is a birding paradise, with more than 350 species recorded along the Lake Michigan flyway, including warblers, waterfowl, raptors and rare migrants, while the diverse habitats shelter white-tailed deer, foxes, coyotes, and a remarkable variety of reptiles, amphibians and insects. The park’s extraordinary biodiversity — among the highest in the National Park System — reflects the meeting of northern and southern, prairie and forest species. The dunes, wetlands, prairies and forests make the park an outstanding place for wildlife watching and birding.

Indiana Dunes National Park is renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity, ranking among the most diverse units in the National Park System despite its small size, because it sits at a crossroads where northern boreal, southern, eastern forest and western prairie species all meet, across habitats ranging from beach and dune to bog, marsh, prairie, savanna and forest. This diversity, and the dune-succession studied by early ecologists, make the park globally significant. Protecting the dunes, wetlands and varied habitats sustains one of the richest concentrations of life in the Midwest.

Indiana Dunes holds a special place in American culture as the birthplace of the science of ecology, a hard-won conservation victory, and a beloved Lake Michigan getaway for the people of the industrial Calumet region and nearby Chicago. The decades-long struggle to save the dunes from industry, the pioneering ecological studies here, and the park’s redesignation as a national park in 2019 make it a landscape rich in scientific, conservation and recreational significance on the southern shore of the great lake.

Indiana Dunes National Park stretches along the southern Lake Michigan shore in northwestern Indiana, between Gary and Michigan City, reached via US-12, US-20 and Interstate 94, about an hour from Chicago and served by the South Shore commuter rail. The park is free to enter (some beaches and the state park within it charge fees), with a visitor center, multiple beaches, trailheads and the Indiana Dunes State Park enclosed within it. Check the National Park Service for the visitor center, beach access, fees and conditions before visiting.

The National Park Service protects the dunes, beaches, wetlands, prairies and forests of Indiana Dunes National Park and their extraordinary biodiversity, amid an industrial landscape that makes conservation especially vital. Visitors help by staying on trails and boardwalks to protect the fragile dunes and rare plants (off-trail travel destabilizes the living dunes), respecting wildlife and nesting areas, packing out everything, protecting water quality, and following Leave No Trace. Protecting this biodiverse crossroads of habitats sustains one of the most ecologically significant landscapes in the National Park System.

Lake Michigan can be dangerous — dangerous currents and waves, especially during high winds, have caused drownings, so swim only at designated beaches when conditions are safe, heed warnings and flags, and never swim in dangerous surf. The towering dunes are strenuous to climb and the sand can be very hot in summer; carry water, wear sun protection, and pace yourself. Watch footing on steep dune trails, supervise children near the water, and be mindful of ticks and poison ivy in the wooded areas.

The park is free to enter (some beaches and the enclosed state park charge fees). Stay on designated trails and boardwalks to protect the fragile dunes and plants; off-trail dune travel is restricted. Swim only at designated beaches when open. Camp only in the designated campground. Pets must be leashed and are restricted on some beaches. Drones are prohibited. Collecting plants, animals or sand is prohibited. Pack out all trash. Check the National Park Service for current regulations, beach status and conditions before visiting.

The Indiana Dunes State Park is enclosed within the national park, and the towns of Chesterton, Porter and Michigan City, the Calumet region’s cities, and the broader Lake Michigan shoreline lie nearby. Chicago is about an hour west, reachable by the South Shore rail line, and the Michigan border and harbor towns lie to the east. Indiana Dunes National Park anchors a remarkable region where wild Lake Michigan dunes and extraordinary biodiversity meet the industrial heart of the Calumet, an easy nature escape from the city.

Combine a beach day with dune-climbing and birding — swim at a designated beach (heeding lake conditions and currents), climb the dunes (the strenuous 3 Dune Challenge is in the enclosed state park), and bring binoculars for world-class birding, especially in spring and fall migration. Stay on trails and boardwalks to protect the fragile dunes, carry water for the hot sand, and start at the visitor center. Reachable by train from Chicago, the park is an easy and biodiverse Lake Michigan escape.