Indiana Dunes

Originally designated a National Lakeshore in 1966, the Indiana Dunes were converted to a National Park February 2019. This has led to some… identity issues as there are zero signs for a National Park, some signs for a National Lakeshore, and to top the confusion there’s an Indiana Dunes State Park within the National Park? I don’t think I ever saw a park ranger. This “Park” is pretty cool, but sprawling and disparate. It runs along the bottom edge of Lake Michigan, so most people come for the access to the beaches. As avid hikers, though, we opted to camp and take a few of the better-known hikes instead.

3 Dune Challenge

This particular hike actually took place not in Indiana Dunes National Park, but Indiana Dunes State Park. I found it via the National Park app, but what can you do? I paid the $12 outsider fee and we found Trail 8 – otherwise known as the “3 Dune Challenge.”

This hike got off to a lush, weird start with a boardwalk over a marsh, followed by a forested trail – but the trail was made of sand! Luckily, there were clear signs posted at every intersection to keep us on the right path as we navigated this strange environment.

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Dune 1 – Mt. Jackson – 176 ft – 31°

Dune 2 – Mt. Holden – 184 ft – 38°

Dune 3 – Mt. Tom – 192 ft

This section was so steep at 43°, there was a staircase instead of scrambling tourists. Alex took this moment to rid his shoes of some of the sand that had crept in.

The 3 Dune Challenge was a great hike with just enough difficulty in the 552 vertical feet of climbing over 1.5 miles. We enjoyed this excellent introduction to the area.

Mt. Baldy

Mt. Baldy is a large dune in the area, but is currently closed for preservation. An interesting fact from the National Park Service:

“Mount Baldy is ‘starving’. Beach erosion is taking away more sand than the waves are bringing in due to the breakwall that was built for the Michigan City Harbor. To try and correct the effect of the breakwall the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began feeding the beach in 1974.”

The dune itself was closed, but the beach was open and from a small cliff edge we were able to watch the beautiful sunset next to the Chicago skyline in the distance.

Cowles Bog Trail

This nearly five mile trail starts with a boardwalk over a bog, flows through some sandy forest (watch out for the poison ivy everywhere!) and even walks along the beach of Lake Michigan. I recommend going counter-clockwise on this loop to get the sharp descent in the sun and the steep ascent in the shade, instead of the reverse.

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Summary

Overall, we rated this National Park the worst one we’ve been to, but it was still kind of neat. It feels disorganized and not very park-like. If you’re in the area, it’s totally worth stopping by, but I’d limit the drive dedication to around 3 hours – any further and there’s probably somewhere more interesting you can go instead!