Indiana Dunes National and State Parks

IndianaMidwest Region
Written By Patrick Bissonnette

Indiana Dunes National Park, previously a national lakeshore, became a national park in 2019 and is my 30th national park to visit and our most recent trip. It's a relatively small park and is similar to Hot Springs NP and Cuyahoga NP in that it's surrounded by an urban setting. In fact, you can easily see the Chicago skyline from the beach. Despite this, you can definitely get away from the urban feel within the boundaries of the park. There is actually an Indiana state park associated with the national park which is aptly named, Indiana Dunes State Park. It is surrounded by the national park itself. Separate passes are required to visit both. Because both of these parks are technically together, I'll talk about both in the same post.

Due to its proximity to Chicago and other nearby cities, it can get quite crowded. When we made our journey, we lucked out in that the weather was seasonably cool for late June with highs in the low 70s and upper 60s. Making it a Wednesday into Thursday trip likely helped as well. It's hard to believe it took so long to finally make a trip here given we live less than 4 hours away. Probably the biggest excuse is the fact that it can be very difficult to acquire a campsite. In fact, over the past couple years, everything was essentially booked during the warmer months. At least if I wanted 2 nights that is. Fast forward until now when we have farm animals to take care of means that anything over a one night stay isn't really doable without a farm sitter. A short notice expedition doesn't allow for lining up help in watching the farm so it would have to be reduced to a single night. This decision actually helped in reserving a campsite. The national park campground was completely full, but the state park had 3 sites available. One on Thursday and 2 on Wednesday. Well, wouldn't you know that 2 hours after I found the Thursday site and got around to asking Laura, it was already booked. Gotta be quicker than that! So I picked the first Wednesday night option, but decided to take 2 minutes to check the weather for that night first. Guess what, in that 2 minute window someone snagged this site too, unbelievable! I quickly jumped on the other Wednesday option and had a confirmed reservation in hand. We're going to Indiana Dunes!

Now that the intro has set, let me get down to business and explain where to visit at both Indiana Dunes National and State Parks. It's certainly more than beaches and dunes here! Historical sites, hiking, paddling, and fishing are just a few additional activities you can enjoy here outside of beachgoing.

Getting There 

The address for the visitor center is:

1215 IN-49 Porter, IN 46304

Visitor Center

Begin your journey at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center. You can purchase your national park pass here if you don't already have one, pick up a map, and speak with a ranger if you want further information. A standard 7 day vehicle pass is $25. One note, your state park pass can not be purchased here. That will have to be done at the state park entrance if you decide to visit and it’s an additional $7 per vehicle for Indiana residents and $12 per vehicle for non-residents. The visitor center doesn't have a whole lot to see comparatively, but it does have the standard gift shop along with a small exhibit about the park as a whole, and beautiful wildflower gardens.  

Beaches

In total, we visited 5 different beaches over 2 days and here is what I thought of each one.

Porter Beach

Our first time seeing Lake Michigan on this trip was at Porter Beach. Almost a straight shot from the visitor center only requiring a few minute drive. There is a small parking lot here so I'd imagine it can be difficult to find parking on a crowded day. The beach was clean and only had a handful of families there at the time, but there is an industrial presence as just to your south resides a factory.

Indiana Dunes State Park Beach

A state park pass is required for this beach and is $7 for Indiana residents and $12 for non-residents.This beach contains the largest parking area we encountered and is also home to the historic Dunes Pavilion. We did not go inside, but for those interested, it houses a gift shop, ice cream shop, restaurant, and event space.Large parking lots generally mean large crowds and while it wasn't packed here, likely due to the cooler weather, it did have a healthy amount of beachgoers so this is far from primitive. It also has lifeguards stationed here which I believe is the only beach at Indiana Dunes to have them.We enjoyed this beach for a while. The kids were able to go swimming here and the water is considerably warmer at the southern end of Lake Michigan vs the northern end. There are also some dunes behind the beach with random, non-official trails for further exploration.

Kemil Beach and Dunbar Beach

The parking lot for Kemil beach is not within eyesight of the water, but it's only a short walk up the road via a sidewalk to get there. Once at Kemil beach, it opened up to a much quieter experience. The main grouping of people were within the first 100 feet or so of the entrance. Few people ventured past that zone. We were one of those few people as we took the just under half mile trek across the beach to get to the 1933 Century of Progress Homes. These sit atop Dunbar Beach. I'll cover these historical houses in a bit. As for Dunbar Beach, the lot here is tiny so plan accordingly if you want to spend some sand time below these really cool houses. Kemil Beach is also where we viewed the sun setting across the lake and right next to the Chicago skyline.

Mount Baldy Beach

By far my favorite of the 5 beaches we visited. This beach is at the far northern portion of the park and we almost had the beach to ourselves. It had the wildest feel of all the beaches, but unfortunately also has a major eyesore on the north side with the power plant in view. Mount Baldy, the tallest dune within the national park and standing at 126 feet tall, is off limits to the public outside of ranger led hikes. Currently, these are taking place on Fridays so we were unable to hike the dune. To get to this beach, you have about a third of a mile hike through the woods and around Mount Baldy. Once on the other side, the trees open up to a beautiful view of the crystal blue waters below. All you have to do now is descend! Of course, what goes down must come back up so don't bring anything too extravagant with you. 

Historic Sites

If you're a history buff, you can certainly enjoy some places of historical value within the park!

Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm

Both of these sites can be tackled on the same trail. The walking is easy and essentially entirely in the woods. This is both good and bad. It's good in that you have plenty of shade. The downside is mosquitoes. Lots and lots of mosquitoes. We were practically running the majority of the trail between the Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm to lessen the number of skeeters we'd have to endure. The Bailly Homestead used to cover 2000 acres. Today, it sits on just over 2 acres. 3 houses from different periods sit on this site. You can not go inside any of them, but there are informative boards that explain the site.

The Chellberg Farm is a small, live farm with real chickens, goats, and cows. Due to us having a farmsted of our own, the kids were reluctant to stick around too long as this was all everyday stuff to them.

1933 Century of Progress Homes

These 5 homes were brought here via barge for the World's Fair in 1933. Each one displays a uniqueness and while futuristic nearly 100 years ago, they are still very modern by today's standards. They all have an informational board in front of them to further your curiosity. 

Hiking

Aside from the Bailly Homestead/Chellberg Farm hike and the beach walking, here are a couple more that we experienced. One word of caution, there is poison ivy everywhere. All hikes we did and even going up and down Dunbar Beach had it on the steps. Watch where you step.

3 Dune Challenge

This hike takes you through forests and strings the 3 tallest dunes in the state park together for a fun adventure. After you've summited the 192', 184' and 176' dunes, you can collect a 3 Dune Challenge sticker back at the visitor center. My 2 oldest kids and I woke up early and knocked out this hike well before the campground was awake. We were rewarded with only encountering a couple people on the trail in doing this as well as very cool weather. Perfect for dune climbing! On the park map it's referred to as trail #8 and it's claim to fame is it's the most challenging hike in the park. My honest opinion is practically anyone can summit these 3 dunes. If you are fit, it's not terribly difficult, even for children. If you're not used to hiking and such, it's still a very doable achievement so don't let it scare you. Just take it slow and target a time of day or year when it's cooler to aid the comfort level. You got this! Oh, and don't forget your state park pass!

Heron Rookery Trail

This is a hidden, standalone gem which isn't connected to the rest of the park. It is located southeast of the main park system. You will be hiking under the dense cover of a forest along the Little Calumet River. Fishing is allowed here, although we didn't do any given that we were on a short trip. There were mosquitoes here, of course, but they weren't nearly as bad as the homestead area.

Not an official trail, but my son and I did hike quite a ways along the dunes from behind the state park beach all the way to Mt. Tom (highest dune and part of the 3 Dune Challenge) and back. While I didn't see any signs saying no hiking, just be sure that you stay on the single track trails so you don't erode anything further. Don't forget to look out for poison ivy as it's alive and well up here too. You'll be able to take in a plethora of views of the lake with dunes plunging down to the beach and you won't have to battle anyone to do it. 

Stargazing

Kemil Beach is the only lot that is open 24 hours for stargazing. All others close at either 9 or 11pm. This includes the state park unless you're camping, in which case there is a half mile trail from the campground to the beach. Since we were camping at the state park, I did this short hike with the kids. On the way to and from, we turned off our headlamps a few times to watch hundreds of fireflies flash around us like the camera flashes at the Super Bowl. Once at the beach, we climbed a dune to get a better view. Honestly I was quite disappointed. Why? Because Kemil Beach is listed as an International Dark Sky Site so the state park beach, a few miles south, should also be very dark. Well, the Chicago light dome is just too bright so it really doesn't get too dark here. Even with no moon in the sky and observing 90 minutes after sunset. It's not a total washout, but it's not very dark here. 

Indiana Dunes State Park Campground 

Let me start by saying the campground is really nice. We have camped all over the country and this one is very clean, good bathrooms and showers, has access to trails from the campground, and despite the many people here, it was actually surprisingly quiet. I really don't have any complaints about it so if you're able to snag a site here, you shouldn't be disappointed! 

This sums it up for Indiana Dunes National Park and Indiana Dunes State Park, but we did a bit more exploring of the area so if you'd like to read about our adventures in Michigan City, Indiana, keep reading below.

Michigan City

Michigan City is actually in Indiana, however, it's only a few miles south of Michigan. It's a quiet beach town that is reminiscent of what you'd find in Florida, but still has a very Midwestern feel. While the city does offer a fair amount of activities to do, we were short on time so the list is short. Definitely use Google Maps to help plan a trip beforehand!

Michigan City Pierhead Lighthouse

I am a fan of lighthouses. Their cool, unique designs coupled with a view of the water lures me for photographs every time and this one was no exception.  The Michigan City Pierhead Lighthouse was built in 1904 and is located at the end of a long concrete pier. Due to it being a working light, the public is not allowed inside of the lighthouse, but you can walk up to it. The day I went had some pretty good swells so I went barefoot and had to time my positioning with the waves just right to avoid getting wet. 

Washington Park Beach

We were not intending to go here, however, we did walk along it to get to the lighthouse. It's a sizable beach which features a paved boardwalk and even has a sizable awning to provide ample shade. There was a red flag warning in effect so no one was swimming here. Parking is $20 per vehicle to get into Washington Park. To me, this is a bit ridiculous especially since we were just going to walk up to the lighthouse so I found free parking just south of the marina. There aren't many spaces, but it's free and you'll have to walk around the marina. Speaking of the marina, there are several fishing charters based out of here as well.

Stateline Blueberries 

Most people don't think of fruit picking while on vacation, but when I saw this place pop up on Google Maps, it piqued my interest. Our timing was perfect as it was opening for picking just 2 days before our arrival. So off to the farmlands we drove and arrived at Stateline Blueberries.

While I grew up picking blueberries, the kids have never done so. They have been spending the past several weeks picking and eating every mulberry in our pasture that they could find, so needless to say, both kids were very excited for the opportunity to pick a different berry! As of 2024, the U-pick pricing was $2.40 per pound. The owners were really friendly people and the berries are great. Highly recommend!  

Slice of Heaven

We had every intention of eating our peanut butter sandwiches until this place caught our eye so we stopped after the lighthouse. Slice of Heaven is a hotdog stand featuring a variety of hotdogs, however, they are pricey hotdogs averaging about $5 each. We were excited to try this place, but honestly there was much to be desired. I felt the toppings were a bit skimpy and nothing special at the price point.            

Patrick Bissonnette
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