We all know how valuable in awesome the Indiana Dunes National park is to all of us that live here in Northwest Indiana. And now, so do a lot of other people. The Indiana Dunes was just listed on the Tripmemos Website as one of the Five Popular places to go this Summer in the Midwest.
“You might associate sand dunes with oceanic shores, but Indiana Dunes National Park, located on Lake Michigan’s southern coast, defies that expectation,” the Tripmemos website states.
This tiny 15,000-acre strip of land along Lake Michigan is actually the fifth most biodiverse unit in the entire National Park System, housing more native orchid species than the state of Hawaii. It is internationally recognized as the “birthplace of American ecology” because Professor Henry Chandler Cowles used these specific slopes in 1899 to develop the foundational theory of ecological succession.
Did you know it ranks fourth in biological diversity among all U.S. national parks despite covering only about 15,000 acres, thanks to the mixing of dunes, forests, wetlands, prairies and lakeshore habitats in one place? Some sand dunes there are still actively moving, with wind reshaping them year after year and sending dunes creeping inland over forests and trails. The park also protects globally rare oak savanna ecosystems that have disappeared from most of the Midwest, supporting plants and animals found nowhere else nearby.
The area also features rare “singing sands,” where a specific high silica content and grain shape cause the earth to emit a distinct humming or whistling sound when you walk across it.
Learn More About Hiking The Indiana Dunes
with this Youtube Video with Ron Seman
Hikers Will LOVE this Video with Indiana Naturalist Ron Seman Talkin about His Hiking Adventures at the Indiana Dunes! Beachesandbeyond Learn about ShirleyHeinze Land Trust; Indiana Dunes National Park; Monarch Butterflies Migration; Salamanders; Wolf Lake Hammond In; Heron Rookery; Native Plant Sale at Friends of Indiana Dunes, Inc. Office (New Location) Porter County Parks and Recreation; Great Lakes Marsh Marsh in Miller Beach; Ambler Flatwoods Hiking Trail and Sandhill Cranes at Miller Beach, Gary, IN
CLICK HERE TO WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEO
As you know, we have interviewed “Indiana Dunes Hiking Sage,” Ron Seman, several times on our weekly Radio Show, every Friday at Noon on wvlp.org.
We Want to thank Tripmemos for pointing out what we all already know. To see their full article, click here.
MORE RELATED ARTICLES . . .
Indiana Dunes Succession Trail To Be Replaced
Indiana Dunes National Park is planning to replace the aging boardwalk along the West Beach Dune Succession Trail, with construction scheduled for fall 2026. The project will address the deteriorating 45-year-old wooden structure to enhance safety, and it may include removing the central staircase. The new boardwalk will still offer scenic views of…
National Park Announces Project 1966 – Hike Every Trail
Join a ranger and hike all the trails in Indiana Dunes National Park. This hiking challenge will take place over the course of the summer with each week featuring a ranger-led hike on a different trail. There will be a total of 19 hikes covering 66 miles to honor the year, 1966, when the park…
Why is it Costing Millions to Clean up Burns Harbor, Calumet River, Lake Michigan?
As the phrase goes, “Don’t mess with Mother Nature,” well Cleveland – Cliffs learned this lesson the hard way, after an environmental disaster occurred in 2019. Active cleanup and environmental improvements at the Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor steel mill in Indiana focus on correcting long-term water and air violations. Following a 2019…
Indiana Dune’s Mount Baldy Closed Thru Mid – June 2026
The Mount Baldy Access Site will be closed from late March to mid-June 2026 as the Indiana Dunes National Park Service undertakes a key project to manage sand movement and stabilize the shoreline. Over the years, windblown sand has covered parts of the parking area and sanitation facilities. This effort is designed to…
Mount Baldy is No Longer Bald
Story by Friends of Indiana Dunes Mount Baldy is a 126-foot-tall sand dune located at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, lying near the eastern end of Indiana Dunes National Park and just west of Crescent Dune . This parabolic dune began forming some 4,000 years ago and is continually changing because of natural and…
EPA to Spend 200 Million Dollars to Clean Up Grand Calumet River
While long-term dredging in the Indiana Harbor Canal (Phase 2) began in 2021, new major cleanup projects for both the Indiana Harbor and the Grand Calumet River are set to begin in late 2026, following a 2026 EPA announcement of over $200 million for sediment remediation and restoration to remove pollutants. (More info…
Hobart Marsh Plan by the IDEM and Lake Michigan Costal Program
During our research on the effect of the Hobart Data Center on the environment, we found the Hobart Marsh Plan document worth looking into. This 21 page document was published in 2016, further emphasizes the importance of the Hobart Marsh Ecological importance. The area location is bounded by Interstate 65 to the west;…
New Report Published about the Effects of Data Centers On the Great Lakes
The Hobart Indiana Data Center is located closer to Lake Michigan than most folks realize. It’s actually 12 miles as the crow flies, and 16 miles using a 100% waterway, from Deep River (Hobart) to Lake Michigan. The effect of Data Centers on the Great Lakes is an important issue that should be…
Indiana Dunes Succession Trail To Be Replaced
Indiana Dunes National Park is planning to replace the aging boardwalk along the West Beach Dune Succession Trail, with construction scheduled for fall 2026. The project will address the deteriorating 45-year-old wooden structure to enhance safety, and it may include removing the central staircase. The new boardwalk will still offer scenic views of…
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.
