Celebrate National Trails Day on Saturday, June 5 by hiking the Diana of the Dunes Dare at Indiana Dunes National Park. Join park staff and volunteers as we showcase the newest hiking challenge in the region. From 6:30 pm-8:30 p.m., participants can hike the one-mile loop trail at the national park’s West Beach unit to learn about Diana of the Dunes and be inspired by her story. This trail is a new hiking challenge developed in partnership with the Friends of the Indiana Dunes and Indiana Dunes Tourism.
After hiking the trail, relax on the beach listening to music by park volunteers Marti Pizzini and Suzanne Keldsen, who have developed a song repertoire about the Diana of the Dunes story.
As you hike the trail, rangers will share the true story of this remarkable woman known as Diana of the Dunes. Her real name was Alice Mabel Gray, and she lived in a shack in the dunes for nine years, beginning in 1915, and spawned many legends and ghost stories. The facts about Alice Gray are even more interesting than the legends as she was a well-educated mathematics scholar who became disillusioned with her life in Chicago and took a train to the dunes in 1915 and never moved back to the city.
Program participants must pay the fee at West Beach of $6 per car but otherwise the program is free. Guided hikes will start every 15 minutes for the first hour with participants ending at the beach to listen to the music and watch the sunset. Meet the rangers at the Diana Dunes Dare trailhead. West Beach is located at 376 N. County Line Road, Gary, Indiana.
For more information about this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Park, please contact our program information line at 219-395-1824 or visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/indu or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/IndianaDunesNPS.
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Susie Young Baxter, CEO, has published PanoramaNOW Magazine for 31 years. Her hobbies are Camping, Boating, Hiking, Nature, Gardening and Outdoor Activities. She is an Artist, Graphic Designer, an Avid Seamstress, Dabbles in Homemade Crafts and Landscaping. Since her Father was a Health Teacher, she also likes homeopathic Health Solutions. Since blogging started over 10 years ago, PanoramaNow has been added to Newsbreak – a national news affiliate.
