Indiana Dunes National Park

Indiana Dunes National Park.

We pulled into Michigan City Campground on Thursday, 7/2. We’re here for three nights to meet up with Bob and Carole and Ruby and to add Indiana Dunes National Park to our map. We were excited about both the reunion and a new park. During check-in I asked the staff if Bob and Carole had arrived yet and they told me that they had cancelled their reservation. Huh? I had just talked to Carole the evening before and she was also looking forward to meeting up. I asked if they were sure and she checked the computer and said they had cancelled their reservation on May 22nd. I immediately got Carole on the phone and she said they hadn’t cancelled.

Oh no, this was the 4th of July weekend! The campground initially said they were completely full. Then another staff said, wait they’d had a cancellation just thirty minutes ago. I had Carole on the line, so handed my phone to the office staff so they could get them rebooked right away. Whew! That was nearly a disaster! (Mystery solved: Bob later figured out that he'd inadvertently canceled the reservation when he’d intended to cancel one at a different campground with a similar name. Oops!)

Michigan City Campground is a private park close to the north end of the Indiana Dunes National Park. The campground has some really lovely landscaping, several small ponds, a swimming pool, a great playground, and cute cabins. Lots of folks had decorated their spaces for the 4th of July holiday too.

Michigan City Campground.

Indiana Dunes National Park encompasses approximately 15,349 acres and stretches across 15 miles of the southern Lake Michigan shoreline and wraps around the 2,182-acre Indiana Dunes State Park. The park boasts an amazing variety of habitats within a relatively small footprint – lake, beach, dunes, ponds, marsh, oak savanna, prairie, river, and bogs. Each one with unique birds, wildlife, and plants. Unfortunately, between the holiday crowds and the daily afternoon thunderstorms we didn’t get to see as much of the park as we’d have liked.

Pond, wetland, oak trees, and dunes...in just one shot. Lol. 

Early efforts in 1916 to save Indiana Dunes from development were derailed by WWI. A state park was established in 1926 and then in 1966 Congress designated the surrounding area as a National Lakeshore. In 2019, it finally became a National Park. What surprised me most were the beautiful sand beaches. While there’s no tide, there were waves. Standing on the beach of Lake Michigan truly feels like being on the shore of a vast freshwater ocean.

On a clear day you can see the Chicago skyline across Lake Michigan.
It was hazy, but can you see it very faintly in the distance?

On Friday, we drove to the Visitor’s Center to start our exploration. We got great advice from the park staff and started with the West Beach Trail. The trail goes up and over the dunes, past ponds and ends at the very popular West Beach.  

Rog making friends at the Visitor's Center.

Together again!
Happy to be traveling with Bob and Carole and Ruby.

Beach grasses and trees anchor the dunes.

And of course there were stairs! Lol.

Wind scoops out a dune, if the bowl reaches the water table it may fill creating a pond.

The trail ended at the very popular West Beach.

In addition to the incredible nature, there was another interesting part of the park to explore – the 1933 Century of Progress Homes. Real estate developer Robert Bartlett purchased five demonstration houses from the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair and had them moved, four by barge and one by truck, to their current location. He hoped that the five houses – the Cypress Log Cabin, House of Tomorrow, Armco-Ferro, Florida Tropical, and Wiebolt-Rostone – would entice buyers to his new Beverly Shores resort community. I’m not sure if it worked, but today the houses are part of the National Park. The homes are leased to Indiana Landmarks and private funds are being used to restore them to their original condition. Some of them are sublet and occupied as private residences. I certainly wouldn’t want hordes of tourists strolling by and snapping pictures of my house every day. Lol.

The Cypress Log Cabin.

 

The House of Tomorrow (under construction today, lol).

The Armco-Ferro House.

The Florida House.

The Wiebolt-Rostone House.

As we were viewing the Century of Progress Homes we noticed that there were some serious thunderheads forming. As the wind picked up, folks were quickly leaving the beach. We beat feet back to the RV’s to pull in our awnings and check on the pups. Riley likes thunder about as much as he likes fireworks, which means not at all. Lol. And we had some crazy storms roll through with plenty of lightning, thunder, and rain. Then a few hours later it would clear off again. The next day – rinse, repeat. Lol.

Trouble brewing. Hope that paddleboarder made it in before the rains hit. 

On the 4th of July, we tried to visit Indiana Dunes State Park, which is a separate entity but located wholly within the National Park. We took one look at the backup to get in and decided to skip the beaches on the 4th of July. Lol. Instead we went to the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education in the National Park. The Center has lots of excellent displays, including many kid-friendly activities, and we learned a lot there. The Great Lakes are fascinating. Did you know they hold 20% of the world’s surface fresh water? To give that some perspective, if you emptied Lake Superior alone it would fill a pool the size of the entire continental United States to a depth of nearly five feet! That is mindboggling. However, the highlight was a tiny fawn just outside the window. He waited patiently for mom to reappear and then happily dived under her for lunch.

Speaking of kid friendly activities, the big kids are plotting our route. 

Lake Superior is 1,333 deep!

Just loved this bird egg display. 

Before the dunes were protected, they carted off the largest 200' dune one railcar load at a time to make glass. The mineral composition of the sand created the famous, and collectible, blue glass.

So dang adorable.

Mom is back, lunchtime!

The 3.2-mile Miller Woods Trail trailhead was just outside the Center. The trail meanders through a unique wave-formed geological formation called swell and swale. Formed over 3,000 years ago, the swells are now covered in oak savanna and the swales are wetlands. It’s a beautiful trail, but we took a shortcut back as the afternoon clouds were threatening again!  We rushed home to make sure the awnings were in and the pups had their emotional support people on hand again. Lol. On the upside, the worst of storms tracked around us and we had no hail or damaging winds, so I’ll call it all good.

The trail wound through the oak savannah...

...and along the marshy swales.

A Six-Lined Racerunner. (I think.) 

Beaver dam, the local engineers were also hard at work.

Wildflowers along the ponds...

...and water lilies too.

Finally, we climbed a small dune and...

...made it to the lake.

Where we hung out with the locals for a bit. Lol.

We were hoping for a fun 4th of July BBQ and tried to beat the rain, but Rog had just taken the burgers off the Traeger when it started. We ended up rushing through dinner and scurrying indoors as the rain picked up and came at us sideways under the awning. All was not lost, as I introduced Bob and Carole to “dirty sodas” (Root beer and Maple Crème Liqueur from Vermont). They are now fans too. I’m either a caring, sharing person or a bad influence. Not sure which. Lol.

A new meaning to dine and dash. Lol.

We had wanted to get the pups to the water, but the accessible beaches were too crowded and Riley couldn’t hike to the more remote ones. He’s doing better and the swelling is down, but he’s still favoring that paw. We already have a vet appointment scheduled for when we get home and I’m just hoping we don’t have any more emergencies before then. No puppy pictures this post, but I promise to make up for it in the next one!

Our next stop looks like we’ll have easier water access, especially for the pups. Fingers crossed!