Indiana Dunes National Park

On Lake Michigan’s southern shore, this park—one of the best places in the country to see dunes—is less than 50 miles from the metropolis of Chicago but feels a world away.

At 15,349 acres, Indiana Dunes is one of the smaller national parks, and some said it did not meet traditional national park criteria when it was elevated from national lakeshore status in 2019. Regardless, its beaches and fascinating inland ecosystems make it a great escape from urban areas in both directions.

As the glaciers retreated from modern-day Lake Michigan over the last 20 millennia, currents pushed sand to its southeastern shore. Streams draining into the lake produced a countercurrent, resulting in the formation of sandbars. As the waters slowly receded, the sandbars became ridges that have been sculpted by the elements into four dune complexes—Tolleston, Calumet, Glenwood, and the one along the present-day shore—that today constitute this park amid what is often referred to as Duneland.

The dunes aren't the only natural attraction. The park is also home to one of the last black oak savannas in the Midwest. Although these savannas once covered 50 million acres, only 30,000 acres of them remain in the region. The park also has swamps, prairies, and rivers within its boundaries.

The flora and fauna here are also diverse, with more than 1,100 native plants and over 600 animal species, including more than 350 different birds. Surprisingly, this makes Indiana Dunes the fourth-most biodiverse national park.

A "Save the Dunes" campaign led to hearings on the idea of Sand Dunes National Park in Chicago in 1926, the same year Indiana Dunes State Park was established. Congress authorized Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 1966, and Indiana's U.S. Senators were instrumental in lobbying for it to become a national park.