39 - Indiana Dunes State and National Parks

One of the newest National Park and a longtime State Park.  Great birding and lots of other options for exploring.  Hike Sand Dunes, Wooded marshland, woodland forests, and open marshes.  Visit beaches with a view of Chicago.  A great affordable getaway!  

Transcript

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Hi, welcome to travel time. Today we're visiting Indiana Dunes National Park and Porter, Indiana and Indiana Dunes State Park and Chesterton, Indiana. Both parks are located along 15 miles of the southern shore of Lake Michigan, south of Chicago and in the northeast corner of Indiana. Although Indiana has four locations in the national park system this is the only location designated specifically as a national park. Indiana Dunes National Park was first designated as Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 1966. After a movement to advocate for that designation, that began in 1800. There was a hearing in 1916 to determine interest in making Sand Dunes National Park, and there were supporters including Henry couls, a famous ecologist who spoke on behalf of the park and no opponents but the US entered World War One and the effort was delayed in 1926. After a petition by the state to preserve the dunes, the Indiana Dunes State Park open to the public. The push for a National Park continued even with the opening of the State Park. The efforts for National Park continued to be threatened by projects like the port of Indiana efforts. The Kennedy compromise emerged in 1963 to 1964 and this entailed the creation of a National Lakeshore and a port to satisfy industrial needs. Illinois Senator Paul Douglas earned the nickname The third senator from Indiana when he lent support to the efforts to save the dunes in 1966. He ensured the port of Indiana could only come with the designation of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The bill passed November 5 1966, protecting 8330 acres of land and water. efforts continued to expand the boundaries of preservation and for expansion bills from 1976 to 1990. To increase the park to over 15,000 acres. On February 15 2019. Congress authorized the name changed Indiana Dunes National Park it became the 61st National Park at that time, the state park remains an enclave within the National Park. If you're visiting the area there's camping inside the state park as well as several hotels in Porter and Chesterton. I usually stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Chesterton. It's a quick 10 minute drive to the national park office in both the state and national park areas are just down the road from them. There are many things to do with this national park. The 15 miles of sand beaches along the lake offer a great opportunity for beach walk, swimming in the summer and they're open from 6am to 11pm. The park has fishing boating, biking, and in the winter snowshoeing and cross country skiing as an option. Plus they have one sledding hill. It also offers horseback riding and geocaching. In the spring, summer and fall in a nice winter weather there are over 50 miles of trails. There are over 50 miles of trails and different difficulty and terrain of different difficulty entering trail eight in the state park goes over the tops of three of the highest sand dunes in Indiana Dunes. It's a 1.5 mile road new trail. This one's definitely rugged. Almost the entire trail is entirely on sand and requires some combination of coordination and fitness to climb each dune in between the dunes. But the rewards are some great views. The trail is definitely the most unique hike in the park for sure I visit this area most often to go birding. The location of both of these parks is a migrant trap where migrating birds hug along hug the coast of the lake instead of crossing over the way and those who stop and rest. Typically at the southern end to continue their journey. The habitat also attracts large numbers of wintering birds. Over 350 species live or migrate through this area and making it a great location for birding. Some of the trails I really like for birding are trail two in the state park cows bought the cows bog trail, the great Marsh Trail and the hare and Rock Creek Trail. A special note the cowles bog trail has so much plant diversity that it was designated as a National Natural Landmark and includes ponds, marshes, swamps, Black Oak savannas and beaches if you do enjoy birds there's an Indiana Dunes birding festival every May hosted by the Indiana Audubon Society during the second week of May. It's a great event with lots of guided bird hikes to the best locations and other fun thing we've done with this park and we camp here with the scouts. There was a meteor shower while we were there and we were able to relax on the beach and watch it from West beach. It's a fun location to sit back and watch if you happen to be there during a meteor shower. The area's reasonably priced for a visit hotels are not overly expensive. Local Foods reasonably price and it's easily accessed by the Indiana toll road. If you're visiting an electric vehicle, they've got charge point chargers at visitor center and a new supercharger plaza at the Oasis just west of the exit for the parks as well. So thanks for joining me today. If you're up in northern Indiana, check out Indiana Dunes National Park or State Park and enjoy a lot of that really beautiful area and the diverse habitats that exist there. Until next time, Happy travels.