Indiana Dunes State Park

Fantastic scenery along the shore of Lake Michigan. Neat history behind the efforts to protect this land from industry and pollution, which would have inevitably destroyed it, and its beauty would have been lost forever. This park is a gem in Indiana!

Their is a picnic area beside the park where you can stay. But you need to have a reservation if you want to come here. It can be done online. As it is shown in their community board. Otherwise a sheriff will give you a parking fee ticket. Well its not really a paking ticket fee, its a donation, for the village to keep the place clean and running. Went here for a weekend beach day. This place is not too crowded unlike other well known beach and the water is clean and at this time it was at the right temp. They have a barbecue station too and toilets. Love the place.

This has to be my favorite state park I have ever been to, ever! The campground is great with electricity and spacious sites, pavilions are very nice and secluded, hiking trails were beautiful and fun, 3DC is a must do, the nature center was so well done and the beach is incredible! So close to Chicago via the South Shore Line allows a mid day Cubs game to fit into a quick trip. I can't wait to come back! The Indiana Dunes sweets and coffee trail was fun too!

I went here in December - I liked it. Nearly totally vacant and the walks were nice. Several info plaques to learn about the park and a great set of textures. I walked the trail from the main pavilion to the campground - I'd like to do some cold weather camping there. Very cold with the wind from the water, but that doesn't bother with the proper clothing and gear.

We love coming here. There's so much to do in the park and in the general 20- or 30-mile radius. Keep an eye on the weather. The beach was always open, but swimming was closed about 50% of the time we were there. That's fine, we don't swim. We're beach combers and campers. We find lots of unique rocks washed up and some cool photo ops. Our favorite time to go is very early and spend about 2 or 3 hours each day walking up and down the shoreline. On the weekends, the public is horrible. Please carry your garbage out with you if the provided cans are full. I can believe this national treasure is treated so poorly by some people. I think the park could probably put someone on garbage duty at different times of the day. Lifeguards are very attentive and do a great job keeping people in line. The pavilion food is VERY expensive for convenience food stored in warmers. I'd suggest bringing your own food and drink.