Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park protects 15,349 acres along the southern shore of Lake Michigan in northwest Indiana. The park's 15 miles of beaches, active dunes, wetlands, and oak savannas support over 1,100 plant species and 350 bird species. Mount Baldy, the park's tallest active dune at 126 feet, migrates several feet south each year as prevailing winds move its sand. Chicago lies about 50 miles northwest, and the South Shore Line commuter train connects the city directly to stations inside park boundaries.

Active sand dunes: Mount Baldy rises 126 feet and migrates roughly 4 feet south each year, advancing over a buried forest whose dead trunks periodically re-emerge through the sand.
- Exceptional biodiversity: Over 1,100 plant species and 350 bird species have been recorded within 15,349 acres, a concentration that drew ecologists here over a century ago.
- Cowles Bog: A National Natural Landmark where botanist Henry Chandler Cowles first described plant succession in 1899, founding the science of plant ecology.
- Train access from Chicago: The South Shore Line runs from Millennium Station in downtown Chicago to stations within or adjacent to the park, making car-free visits practical year-round.

By car: The park stretches 15 miles along Lake Michigan with multiple access points. The main visitor contact area is on Kemil Road in Porter. From Chicago, take I-90/94 east to I-80/94, then exit onto US-12 or US-20 east depending on which section you are heading to. Parking lots fill quickly on summer weekends.

By train: The South Shore Line commuter rail runs from Millennium Station in downtown Chicago to Dune Park station (near the visitor center) and Beverly Shores station (near the Century of Progress homes). This is the most practical car-free option from Chicago, with multiple daily departures.

By air: Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) is approximately 45 miles west.

The dunes formed after the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet roughly 10,000 to 14,000 years ago. Glacial meltwater created a series of higher lake levels, and each drop in water level left a ridge of exposed sand vulnerable to wind.

Prevailing westerly winds from Lake Michigan pile sand into dunes up to 200 feet high. Mount Baldy, at 126 feet, advances roughly 4 feet south each year, swallowing a forest on its lee face. Buried tree trunks re-emerge from the sand as the dune passes over them.

Behind the active foredunes lie older, stabilized dune ridges at successively higher elevations, each representing a former lake shoreline now carrying oak savanna or beech-maple forest. The progression from bare sand to mature woodland is visible within a single short walk.

Low swales between ridges collect groundwater perched above glacial clay layers. These basins became the bogs and wetlands that cross the park, including Cowles Bog, a National Natural Landmark supporting carnivorous plants and rare sedge communities.

Indiana Dunes records over 350 bird species, driven by the park's position at the southern tip of Lake Michigan where migrating birds concentrate along the shoreline funnel. May is peak warbler month, with over 35 warbler species possible in a single morning. October brings sustained hawk counts including sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper's hawks, and bald eagles.

White-tailed deer are common in the forest sections year-round. Red foxes and coyotes hunt the dune grasslands and woodland edges at dawn and dusk. Blanding's turtles, a state-threatened species, inhabit the wetlands, and eastern box turtles use the oak savannas.

Plant diversity is a signature feature of Indiana Dunes: over 1,100 species recorded within 15,349 acres. Carnivorous pitcher plants and sundews grow in Cowles Bog just yards from prickly pear cactus on hot south-facing dune slopes.

The Potawatomi people lived along the southern shore of Lake Michigan for centuries, fishing and trading through a network across the western Great Lakes. Earlier cultures dating back at least 5,000 years left evidence of habitation in the dunes. The 1833 Treaty of Chicago forced the Potawatomi from Indiana; most were removed west by 1838.

French missionary Jacques Marquette passed the dunes in 1675, one of the earliest European records of the site. The steel industry established Gary, Indiana, in 1906, and industrial pressure on remaining Lake Michigan shoreline intensified through the first half of the twentieth century.

Henry Chandler Cowles published his landmark study of dune plant succession in 1899, giving the site international scientific recognition. Landscape architect Jens Jensen and U.S. Senator Paul Douglas spent decades campaigning for federal protection. Congress established Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 1966.

On February 15, 2019, the lakeshore was redesignated Indiana Dunes National Park, the 61st national park unit. The Beverly Shores section preserves five houses transported from the 1933-1934 Chicago World's Fair, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Century of Progress Architectural District.