July 1 2024

What’s to See at Indiana Dunes National Park?

Jen Indiana, National Parks, Travel By State

A NATIONAL AND STATE PARK

Indiana Dunes has both a National Park and a State Park that are blended together nearly seamlessly. Between them, they cover 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, have 50 miles of rugged trails, and a diverse ecosystem of dunes, wetlands, prairies, and old-growth forest. I’m sorry, what?! Wetlands at a dunes park? Yup, I was surprised to learn how diverse this area was! I was kind of expecting a lot of sand and not much to do if you didn’t want to get sand in your shoes. Boy, was I wrong! They have lots of fun hiking challenges, dune challenges, biking, beaches, camping, birding and more. There’s definitely something for everyone!

Make sure to stop at the visitors center. This park covers a lot of territory and has several units to explore.

A note about accessibility for those with limited mobility – while much of this park is for the most active outdoor enthusiasts, there is still plenty to see from the comfort of the car or with a short, paved walk. In fact, my personal favorite part of the park (read below to see what it is) was probably the most accessible part for us. Don’t let this being a dunes park dissuade you from visiting, its totally worth it for anyone!

MOUNT BALDY

This sand dune is one of the tallest at 126 feet tall and moves at a rate of 5-10 feet per year. When the prevailing northwest wind exceeds 7mph the sand moves. I thought I was the only hungry one, but, Mount Baldy is “starving”. Due to beach erosion, there is more sand being taken away by the waves than they are bringing in. This is due to a breakwall that was built for Michigan City Harbor. In 1974 the Army Corp of Engineers began “feeding” the beach with sand trucked in to try to correct the effect. These aren’t just little amounts, in 1996 they brought in a total of 85,000 cubic yards of sand!

An interesting phenomena happened some years ago where a young boy was climbing up the dune and disappeared before his parents eyes. Sand dunes aren’t supposed to have natural cavities (its sand, it fills cavities in!) and this isn’t quicksand. It turns out that the boy fell down a hole 12 inches across that was lined with fossilized old tree bark. The young boy fell down an ancient hollowed out tree! Today, you cannot climb Mt. Baldy without taking a guided tour with the NPS.

: 126 foot tall Mt. Baldy behind the building.

: This sand dune is consuming trees in its path

: This tree was consumed long enough ago it is now dead.

: For scale, you can see the cars and person.

: This is a 12 story wall of sand!

: Mt. Baldy moves at a rate of 5-10 feet per year.

WEST BEACH

On the opposite end of the park from Mt. Baldy is the West Beach area. Here we found people enjoying this beautiful day on the jetty or the sandy beach. The jetty had a great paved sidewalk so people could easily walk out and fish and there was a small lighthouse at the end of it. The jetty provided a nice protected cove that boats were going in and out of.

: A boat in the safe harbor the jetty provides.

: A boat anchored - they were out walking on the sandbar.

: A view of the walkway up the jetty with fishermen.

: The other direction is the beach area where people are enjoying the beautiful day.

: Chicago skyline in the distance.

: A boater enjoying the day.

: The NPS leaves the shore all natural with washed up driftwood and debris as part of the habitat.

: A look at the large area the park covers.

Portage Lakefront & Riverwalk

This is actually a section within the West Beach area and is where the jetty and beach we visited were too. The interesting part of this area is this used to be an industrial area where the National Steel Company used to process hazardous waste. This is 57 acres of dunes and lagoons which were cleaned up as part of the national lakeshores general management plan. They were able to reclaim this area and turn it into a usable part of the park and provide more access to the lake.

: The green area in front was once a toxic dump that has been reclaimed.

: You can see dunes in the background with people climbing on them.

: From rust to recreation.

: From Landfill to National Park land.

: In northern Indiana on the shores of Lake Michigan, a prickly pear cactus grows (I'm confused too)

: A milkweed thats just about ready to burst into bloom.

CENTURY OF PROGRESS HOMES

My favorite part of the park was the Century of Progress Homes built for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair that sit on Lake Front Drive in Beverly Shores. The Chicago World’s Fair theme was the ‘Century of Progress’ which offered millions of people of the Great Depression a hopeful vision that highlighted futuristic changes. A developer brought 4 of these houses to Beverly Shores in 1935 by barge and the Cypress Log Cabin was dismantled and brought by truck.

To save the structures, the Indiana Landmarks leased them from the NPS and then subleased 4 of them to people who have restored them in exchange for long-term leases. All of the restored homes have modern features inside And although they are nearly a hundred years old they remain current by todays standards. There are occasionally tours guided by the NPS.

The Rostone House

The Rostone house was built to showcase Rostone, an exciting new material billed as “never needing repairs.” The material was composed of limestone, shale and alkali and showed much promise as a construction material since it could be made in a variety of colors and forms, like slabs and panels, and made to exact dimensions. Most of the house was completed at a factory and the house weighed 120-130 tons, making it the heaviest of the structures relocated from the World’s Fair.

Since it was touted as never needing repairs, how has it held up over the years? Well, by 1950 (less than 20 years!) the air pollutants from the steel mills and refineries nearby, lake-effect snows, rains and quick changes in temperatures proved to be too much for Rostone and it started to severely deteriorate. The Rostone was covered with Perma-stone, a popular concrete stucco. There are still some restored Rostone panels surrounding the front door, the interior entrance area and around the living room fireplace.

: The Rostone House.

: Head on view.

: Looking back.

: Information panel regarding the Rostone house.

The Florida Tropical House

The Florida Tropical House was clearly the most striking of the bunch and exactly what you’d expect to see in modern day Florida. With its beachy appeal and pink exterior it screams Florida. Its tagline was ‘Home, Cruise Ship, and more.’ This was the only state sponsored house and it was meant to lure tourists to the Sunshine State. The home was the most expensive (coming in at $15,000 to build) and luxurious Century of Progress home and was designed for people of means who lived life in style. The home’s centerpiece was its spacious two-story living room, with an overhanging balcony. It was modeled after an ocean liner deck with the building’s flat roof showcasing large open terraces perfect for lounging and sunbathing. The nautical theme continued inside with portal windows and cruise-ship inspired aluminum railings. Over the years, the bright pink color has served as a navigational aid for boaters!

: The Florida house sits relatively close to the Rostone house and both share a beautiful waterfront view.

: The pink pops against the water.

: Front view of the house. I bet the views are amazing from those upper terraces.

: A little further down the street, looking back at the Florida house and its view of the beach and water.

: Information for the Florida house.

: Overview of the historic district.

Armco-Ferro House & Cypress House

The Armco-Ferro house was all about being mass produced and affordable. It was a prefabricated home with the virtues of porcelain, enamel and steel. It’s the only remaining Century of Progress home that met the Exposition Design Committee’s criteria of being “mass-produced and affordable for an American family of modest means.” It was manufactured for $4,500! There is no frame and it was constructed from thin corrugated steel panels connected by steel clips and then finished with a shiny porcelain-coated exterior. It looked much like the traditional four-square wooden homes of the time with 4 bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs and a living room, kitchen, den, and dining room downstairs.

The Cypress house was in contrast to the other homes as it was a log cabin showcasing ‘the Wood Eternal’ it was made from. They used cypress for siding, shakes, structural timbers, walls, flooring, window shades, and furnishings. Due to its construction, it was disassembled and moved by truck instead of by barge like the rest of the homes.

: This sits across the street and uphill from the Florida house and overlooks the water.

: Information about the house.

: The Cypress House - also across the street and uphill but with a commanding water view.

: Information about the house.

The House of Tomorrow

The nickname of this house is ‘America’s First Glass House.’ This house was intended as a showcase of modern design and innovative building materials, this house played a pioneering role in the development of passive solar heating. The construction workers found that the sun streaming thru the glass heated the space enough they could shed their winter coats. This actually worked against what the most touted feature at the Fair was, air conditioning. It even had an airplane hangar tucked into the first floor. The home is currently in a dilapidated state and they are working on restoration and finding a long-term lease tenant to continue maintaining it. I bet it will be amazing when its done!

: The House of Tomorrow is across the street and uphill.

: Currently under renovation.

: Information regarding the Glass House.

: Info on the glass house and Century of Progress homes.

Beverly Shores

Beverly Shores is a resort community on the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. Lake Front Drive stretches several miles along the waterfront with the beach and community access on one side and homes and streets back into the community on the other side. In this area the beach is public so you can walk on it, but you must access it from a NPS site. All of the pullouts along the road say they are for residents with a parking pass. It was a beautiful drive in Smurf-vette with the top down, enjoying the perfect weather.

: Lake Michigan from Lake Front Drive.

: Waves rolling onto the beach.

: I can't get over how tropical the water looks here - totally unexpected!

: A little dune next to Lake Michigan.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Indiana Dunes National and State Parks holds a little something for everyone. I had no idea that there would be such a variety of things to do here, nor did I expect the totally amazing Century of Progress Homes Historic District right on the waterfront that totally made my inner history nerd happy. I also had no idea (I feel like this is a theme here) that the waters of Lake Michigan could look tropical. These pictures are unedited and are the true colors of teals and blues. I’ve been to Chicago and the shores of Lake Michigan and the past and I recall it being a dreary, gray choppy lake…on a good day. We were blessed we a splendid day and it all exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend taking the time to visit this park!

What did y’all think of this park? Let me know in the comments below!