Two Dune Buggies will be rolling through the park this summer. They won’t be 4-wheeling over the sand; instead they will be picking up South Shore train passengers and Dunewood campground visitors and providing free shuttle service to the park’s beaches.
Working in partnership with the Dunes Learning Center and the South Shore Line, the National Lakeshore will be providing this free service between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day. There will be two routes for these free shuttles, one in the east end of the park and the other in the Miller section of Gary.
West End Shuttle: The buses will run their Miller routes throughout the day in an effort to encourage Chicago and South Bend visitors to use public transportation to get to the park. The shuttles will stop at the Miller South Shore station following the train schedule.
Once passengers disembark at the Miller South Shore station, they can catch the free shuttle bus or walk down Lake Street for shopping, restaurants and other services in the community. In addition to the Douglas Center, the Dune Buggies will drop off passengers at Lake Street Beach and Marquette Park Beach, both of which are Gary Parks Department sites with restrooms, food service, and lifeguards. The Douglas Center is less than a mile walk from the train station if visitors miss the shuttle or don’t want to wait for the next one to arrive. The entire shuttle route takes about 20 minutes to drive.
East End Shuttle: New this year, one Dune Buggy will pick up visitors at the Dunewood campground, located in Chesterton Indiana, registration office and shuttle to the Kemil Beach parking, located in Michigan City, Indiana, area for easy beach access. It will also make a stop at the US Geological Survey parking lot to pick up overflow beach parking.
For more information on the Dune Buggies or other programs at the Douglas Center, contact them at 219-395-1824.
Discover More About the Indiana Dunes:
Chesterton European Market
Century of Progress Tour
Things to Do in Michigan City
Dunes Learning Center
Chesterton Art Center
Things To Do in Chesterton
Indiana Dunes Becomes a National Park
Songbird Prairie Bed & Breakfast awarded “Best Romantic Getaway”
Chautauqua in the Dunes
Lake Michigan Beaches
Free Beach Shuttles at Indiana Dunes
Birding Festival (May)
Maple Sugar Time (Spring)
Visit Mount Baldy
Outdoor Adventure Festival (Fall)
Apples Festival (Fall)
Local Family Fun Amusement Parks
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.
