Indiana Dunes National Park
Indiana
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
6.2 h fully dark
Crowds
high
Open today
Open
Entrance
$20
Partial Closures to Marquette Greenway Trail and Glenwood Dunes Trail
Marquette Greenway construction will require closing sections of the Glenwood Dunes Trail (April–December 2026) and Little Calumet / Mnoké Prairie Trail (May–December 2026). Closure dates may shift as work progresses. Please follow all posted closures and check the park website or NPS App for updates.
Official NPS alert →Partial Trail Closure at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk
Closed portion of Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Trail along Burns Waterway due to unsafe conditions from erosional damage. This trail portion will remain closed while funding is sought for repair work. Pier access remains open on either side of closure.
Lake Michigan's might has influenced Indiana Dunes for millennia. Wind and waves have shaped the land, leaving a rich mosaic of habitats along these 15 miles of Indiana coast. Over 50 miles of trails lead through shifting sand dunes, quiet woodlands, sunny prairies and lush wetlands. Known for its striking plant and bird diversity, it's easy to find inspiration throughout the park’s 16,000 acres.
Entrance fees
$20.00 — Entrance - Motorcycle
$25.00 — Entrance - Private Vehicle
$15.00 — Entrance - Per Person
$25.00 — Commercial Entrance - Sedan
$40.00 — Commercial Entrance - Van
$40.00 — Commercial Entrance - Mini-bus
$100.00 — Commercial Entrance - Motor Coach
Hours & seasons
The general areas of the park are open year-round. Please check individual areas for specific hours of operation.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 2193951882
✉ indu_communications@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: high
Weather now: ☁️ Overcast, 73°F
🌦️ 77°/68°
☁️ 82°/68°
☁️ 78°/67°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
15%
Feb
17%
Mar
26%
Apr
32%
May
58%
Jun
100%
Jul
96%
Aug
84%
Sep
52%
Oct
40%
Nov
23%
Dec
22%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
1966 Hiking Challenge · 66 mi · Trail lengths and hiking duration will vary from week to week. Each estimated trail time will be posted weekly.
Diana Dunes Dare · 36 mi · The Diana's Dare is located on one portion, or loop, of the West Beach Trail system. It will take about 40 minutes to walk and read the waysides on the loop. If you should try the other two loops of the trail system add 60 more minutes to your hike.
Paddling Lake Michigan and Waterways at Indiana Dunes
Swimming at Indiana Dunes West Beach · These are suggested duration times and should not be used as personal measures of your time spent swimming. These are also not related to opening and closing times of the beach.
Horseback Riding at Indiana Dunes · 15 mi
Become an Indiana Dunes Junior Ranger · The length of time to complete the Junior Ranger booklet depends on what places are visited in the park. Minimum time is 30 minutes.
One Hour Excursions · 15 mi
Half Day Adventures · 15 mi
Campgrounds
Central Avenue Walk-in Sites ↗ · 5 sites · first-come
Dunbar Group Site ↗ · 1 sites
Dunewood Campground ↗ · 66 sites · dump station
Visitor centers
Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center (Indiana Dunes Visitor Center)
Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education
Accessibility
3 accessible campground(s)
2 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Parking
Central Avenue Beach · 68 accessible spaces
Dunbar Beach · 26 accessible spacesaccessible
Kemil Beach · 98 accessible spacesaccessible
Lake View · 27 accessible spacesaccessible
Mt. Baldy · 92 accessible spacesaccessible
Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk · 106 accessible spacesaccessible
Porter Beach · 72 accessible spacesaccessible
West Beach · 642 accessible spacesaccessible
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Indiana Dunes National Park — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Indiana Dunes National Park — each spans a cross-park journey.
Alice Gray
— Diana Of The Dunes, Diana Of The Dunes Dare, Alice Maybel GrayBarbara Plampin
— Barbara Eleanor Wykes Plampin, Barbara Wykes Plampin, WomenBess Sheehan
— Women, Wonder Women Of The Dunes, Engaging With The EnvironmentCharlotte Read
— Indiana, Indiana Dunes, Indiana National ParkDorothy Buell
— Indiana, Indiana Dunes, Women's HistoryDrusilla Carr
— Women's History, Women Of The Dunes, Women And PoliticsEdwin Way Teale
— Naturalist, Nature Writing, PreservationEmma Pitcher
— Naturalist, Naturalist History, Women's HistoryPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center (Indiana Dunes Visitor Center)
🎫 Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education
🎫 Paul H. Douglas Trail through Miller Woods
Places to see
Bailly Cemetery
Bailly Homestead
Bailly Homestead, Chellberg Farm, Little Calumet River, Mnoké Prairie Trails
Calumet Dunes Trail
Central Avenue Beach
Century of Progress District
Charles and Mathilda Nelson House
Chellberg Farm
Cowles Bog Trail (North)
Cowles Bog Trail (South)
Dunbar Beach
Dune Ridge Trail
Audio & media
🎧 Nelson House - The Reeds Family ↗ · 3 mintranscript
🎧 Nina Grauley Journal Reading ↗ · 1 mintranscript
🎧 Robert Robbins Journal Reading ↗ · 1 mintranscript
🎧 Beth-Ann Wilson Journal Reading ↗ · 0 mintranscript
🎧 Chellberg Sugar Shack ↗ · 2 mintranscript
🎧 Kuhn Hong Journal Reading ↗ · 1 mintranscript
🎧 Chellberg Overview ↗ · 1 mintranscript
🎧 Pronunciation of Mnoké ↗ · 0 mintranscript
🎬
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Learn more
Recipients of the 2010 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards
On behalf of the Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers Directorate, we are pleased to congratulate the national recipients of the 2021 George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Through their extraordinary work and dedication, these volunteers have made an exceptional contribution to their parks and communities.
Travel back in time to Indiana Dunes in 1916. Learn about American crows in the region through passages and etchings by Earl Howell Reed, an early artist of the Dunes.
Eleven years after President Lincoln's assassination, grave-robbers broke into his tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery as part of a plot to hold the president's remains for ransom in the Indiana Dunes.
In 1958, Senator Paul Douglas introduced a bill to preserve the Indiana Dunes, receiving powerful support from writer Carl Sandburg, who called the Dunes a "signature of time and eternity." This sentiment became a rallying cry for conservation efforts, explored in Ron Engel's book Sacred Sands: The Struggle for Community in the Indiana Dunes.
A summary of amphibian monitoring data collected at Indiana Dunes in 2019.
A summary of amphibian monitoring data collected in seven Great Lakes Network parks as of 2019.
Alice Mabel Gray boarded a train in Chicago on October 31st, 1915. She left the city behind to pursue a life of simplicity and solitude at Indiana Dunes. Travel back in time and read an article written by Honor Fanning, a reporter who found Alice among the sands in the summer of 1916.
How Indiana Dunes National Park connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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Activity
Topic
State
Campground
VisitorCenter
ParkingLot
PassportStamp
Trail
ThingToDo
Alert
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