FEBRUary 2024
The Indiana Dunes
Where: northern Indiana on Lake Michigan
Directions: Interstate 94, the Indiana Toll Road (Interstate 80/90), U.S. Highways 12 and 20, Indiana State Road 49
Good to Know:
* Dogs are not not allowed on the Pinhook Bog Trail in the national park, but are allowed on the Pinhook Upland Trail
* Dogs are are allowed year round on all beaches with the following exception: the lifeguarded swimming area at West Beach from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend through the Monday of Labor Day Weekend.
Why so good:
After visiting Yosemite in 1900 Indiana businessman Richard Lieber became a leading cheerleader for conservation, thrusting the Hooiser State to the forefront of creating state parks. Indiana Dunes was protected in 1925, four decades before the national seashore was created that surrounds it. And it is protected for dogs to use as well. In 2019 the national seashore was reclassified as America’s 61st national park and the first in the Hoosier State. But the prohibitions against dogs common at the top of the National Park Service food chain were kept at bay.
THE NATIONAL PARK.
The Indiana Dunes are not what your dog is expecting. Yes, there are vast stretches of piles of sand; Mount Baldy in the extreme eastern point of the park rises 123 feet above Lake Michigan. But there are also more than 1,400 plant species identified within park boundaries, ranking Indiana Dunes 7th among all national parks in native plant diversity. That is what the Dune Ridge Trail is all about as it loops for 0.7 mile above Kemil Beach. Growing zones clash here so southern dogwood mixes with arctic bearberry and northern conifer forests thrive alongside cacti. Canine hikes begin on an old roadbed before tackling the sandy dunesland and climbing to views of the Great Marsh, the largest wetland complex in the Lake Michigan watershed. When you reach the oak savanna the footpath under paw transitions to packed dirt. Your dog’s best day in the Indiana Dunes National Park doesn’t end back in the parking lot. Kemil Beach is one of the dog-friendly beaches at Indiana Dunes so there are doggie dips awaiting in Lake Michigan. Heading east on your canine beach hike leads past five refugees from the Homes of Tomorrow exhibit in the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. The quintet of futuristic houses were barged to the dunes with plans to be the centerpiece of a resort community that never came to market. The most prominent house visible from the sand is the pink-hued Florida Tropical House, fashioned in the Art Deco style.
THE STATE PARK.
The only thing to know in Indiana Dunes State Park is not to go on the small swimming beach. Beyond that, the remaining 2,182 acres are all tail-friendly. The star at the state park is Mount Tom, a 192-foot vegetation-covered sand dune that is the tallest in Indiana. A long wooden staircase (Trail 4) leads to the summit and views across Lake Michigan to the Chicago skyline. The descent (Trail 8) sends Seaman hur- tling down the sand pile. Trail 10 is a long 5.5-mile horseshoe trail that connects to either end of the route over Mount Tom. Half the canine hike rolls easily through a mixed-pine and hardwood forest and the other half follows the long, deserted beach. Most of the way the trail mixes sand and dirt but there are also stretches of loose sand. Highlights include the Big Blowout where wind has blown away sand from dead stumps after burying the trees alive. The preferred direction for this canine hike is counter-clock- wise as this leaves the beach walk for the end; you can avoid the hard climb over Mount Tom if so desired.