The campground is amazing! Our campsite had so much room. It was easy to back our trailer into and had room for an extra guest. The beach walk is beautiful! We played on the beach with the dog and took a 7 mile hike through the woods and onto the beach. The hike was very difficult once we hit the beach but my 8 year old pushed through. Lesson learned. I highly recommend this campground!
Nicely wooded spot with ample space between spots. Decent showers ran out of hot water though. Quick drive to points of interest in park but no good walking to those points. Plenty of last minute availability on a weeknight in October. Very few mosquitoes left by this time. Would come back!
If you’re looking to go camping with the conveniences of the modern world nearby, this is the place to be. Located off of golf way rd and duneway pkwy, this campground is located roughly about an hour from Elkhart, if that’s where you’re coming from. They have a few options as far as sites go. Sites 1-34 are reservable online and the remainder of the sites are first come, first served. Also keep in mind, sites 1-54 you’re able to park your car/RV. However, sites 55-67 are walk in only. There are showers and restrooms located center of both areas. There are also water stations which are very convenient. Most of the campsites are fairly close, but far enough where you are not sitting on top of each other. This time around I opted for the walk In. For starters, let’s just say to be prepared for whatever weather may come. My luck, it poured the entire time and was windy. Furthermore, each site has designated fire rings that have a grill. The experience was awesome, it’s $25 a night that you pay at the automated kiosk. There are rangers that drive around during the day and there are signs posted with all the latest updates, rules/regulations. Overall, great experience, definitely look forward to coming back!
We followed the signs for Indiana Dunes National Park and found ourselves here. There is also a campground directly in the park but this one is just down the road. I think it’s still part of the same place but with a self-check-in there wasn’t anybody to ask.
The camp host left a list of available campsites on the check-in kiosk. We found just two sites still open and took one of them. Our site was a large pull-through with a separate area for the picnic table and a tent. Right across the road was the large restroom complete with showers and flushing toilets. After setting up camp, I heard people in the woods right on the other side of the hill. I walked up the path and found that the neighboring campsite winds back there. We could sort of see them, and definitely hear them, but we still felt separate. The camper and car in the pull through spot provided a nice barrier so our dog didn’t get distracted by people walking by.
The National Park entrance is a few miles down the road. The beach was packed but the trails were emptier. We enjoyed hiking to the summit of 2 dunes. We stopped at the picnic area to have lunch in the shade. There’s also a trail that leads out from camp. However dogs are not allowed on the entire trail so we skipped it.
This is a nice National Park that’s only an hour from Chicago.
You gotta love Indiana dunes national lakeshore! A quick drive from chicago this campsite is a real good place to get away from the city and enjoy the outdoors. It’s one of my favorite places to go within an hour’s drive. The campsite has everything you need. Modern bathrooms and showers, running water. Good for tent camping. It’s clean and a quick drive to a quiet beach at Beverly Shores. I highly recommend!
We enjoyed our stay at Indiana Dunes National Park with a few exceptions. First of all, as many of the other reviewers have mentioned, the bathrooms and showers were dirty. The noise from nearby trains was very loud, and it definitely felt like an urban camping experience. The campsite was clean and spacious, with plenty of room for our two tents and a hammock.
We really enjoyed hiking the Long Lake Trail through dunes and woods and the Cowels Bog Trail to a secluded beach. We watched the sunset from the nearby Kempil Beach. It was so lovely, but we spent much of the evening picking up trash, which was everywhere. I'm glad I paid a visit to our newest national park, but I'm not sure I would go out of my way to return.
We’ve stayed at Indiana dunes every year on our road trip. We’ve stayed here in the past because it was beautiful, quiet, and clean. This year we got in a little late on Tuesday evening and the entire campground was packed and the showers and bathrooms were FILTHY. We’ll never go there again. The only change we could see was the put huge advertisements for the campground everywhere which obviously attracted the wrong crowd. It’s a shame.
Reservations can be made online as of 2019 so expect fewer FCFS sites. This is an always full, very popular campground. Being close to the Indiana Dunes is the draw. The campground does offer shuttles on some days from the campground to the parking lot near the National Lakeshore making it accessible to campers when the beach parking lots are full (every weekend). This is a noisy campground. Surrounded by train tracks they roll through late and early and you will hear them. The property itself needs some serious maintenance and the descriptions for spots are WAY off, with sites being listed as RV that are way too small and the pictures and occasional sizes listed to individual sites are not correct. Our friends have a large pop up and were unable to fit in the spot. Bathrooms closed for cleaning at 8:00am on Sunday morning!!?! Also the Mather loop bathroom showers are DISGUSTING. I think the Mather loop is older and the sites and facilities are more worn out. They desperately need to be power washed. There is mold everywhere. Finally, while I know there has been a ton of rain and there isn’t anything that can be done, the entire area behind our campsite was a cesspool of mosquitos with no maintenance to improve low ground areas. Site 32 described as 35 foot pad, too short and too narrow for large popup camper with pickup. Someone needs to go through and do a better designation as most sites look to be park and tent sites.
Love the campground however a separate entrance for re-entry to the campground would be a great idea for this place
My calves still hurt from hiking up these massive sand dunes. The view is stunning which makes it feel worth it. The place has a lot of geological history that’s neat to look into. Good place to teach a person how to skip rocks.
This camp ground was a federal site that was wonderful. It just had so much to do in the campground and near by as well. We went to look at the light house, sand dunes, lake, beach, and even rode the train into Chicago for the day.
This was a great State Park and loved the sand dune challenge as it got us out hiking. The sand dunes were beautiful. The views were stunning on top of the sand dunes. The trail is well marked and should only be done by those in good shape. It is tricky to walk on the sand.
We have only camped here in the winter as it’s a fun place to bring our dog for runs. The campground is always clean and there is fantastic access to the dunes as they are literally on the backside of the campground.
The campground is definitely set up to favor RVs as all of the sites are pads (with grass surrounding) with power however we found that there is still space to set up a tent when needed.
The dunes is a great place to camp if you’re looking to be close to the water. In just a short hike, you can take in a breath-taking view of Lake Michigan. Definitely a must visit camping spot.
One of my favorite campgrounds in Indiana. Very popular
I love the sunshine!
Go early and wait for a chance to camp, first come first serve! Close to the beach!
Nice campground on Lake Michigan. Lots of hiking. Large swimming beach on the lake. There were quite a few mosquitos, but we managed. The shower house was large and well maintained.
Just need a peaceful place to get away? Perhaps you need some space for your youngest child to learn to ride a bike? We did on both accounts and the IN Dunes fit the bill! We traveled during the week in October so only about 1/2 the sites were filled. This was great for peace and riding space. The roadways are well maintained and easy for a new rider. There are also great spots to ride to from the campground. The Nature Center is very close. Up for a little more distance? Take the paved paths to the beach and reward the new rider with some splash time. It was actually still. 80+ degrees in October before falling into the 50s. Overall, there is much to do with biking or hiking and make sure you walk along the sandy beach!
theres trails and sand dunes to climb clean beach really clean camp ground with newer clean bathrooms
Conveniently located for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore which I used as a scenic layover point in a long drive. It was not very busy (on a Sunday night) and thus was quiet despite the individual camping sites being pretty squished together. However, the quiet at night does mean that you can hear I-94 in the background. The digital registration station for after hours is a modern touch (Credit/debit card only), but it was hard to pick a site since there was no way of knowing what was occupied vs open. $25/night. The bathroom and shower facilities were good. Picnic table and fire circle at each camp ground. Trash, recycling, and dump station for RVs.
The site itself was packed sand/dirt/gravel which was not the most comfortable spot for a tent. Also, it was incredibly buggy and the small gap between my shoes and pant leg got destroyed by mosquitoes.
This is seriously my favorite campground. My family and I have been camping here for more than ten years. We have camped in the walk-ins and the drive-up spots.
The sites are private and the bathrooms are super duper clean. Showers are great.
You can take the train from downtown Chicago and get off at the Beverly Shores stop on the south shore line. The campsite is seriously a quarter mile walk from the stop.
There is an awesome gas station at the corner where you can get coffee and donuts in the morning. Ice and beverages during the day and soft serve ice serve ice cream at night. There are also two wood stove pizza trucks next to the gas station.
There is a nice sandy beach one mile walking distance through an amazing prairie. Great walk at night back from the beach after watching the sunset. Very romantic.
Plenty if things to do in the area. Lots of pick your own berry patches and kayaking spots.
We loved this park. It's a wonderful stop between major metro areas. The dunes are fun to hike through. The beaches are lovely. Many of the sites in the campground are generously spaced with wide vegetation buffers.
We brought a large group of friends to tent camp in this camp ground and it was great! We loved the safety of the park, the community around us, and the facilities offered were exactly what we needed. The bath and shower house was a little dirty most of the weekend but given that the campground was full the whole weekend, I am sure the bathrooms got a lot of traffic. There isn’t many trees on the sites so if you are hammock camping, I would suggest not camping here for risk that there aren’t two trees a good distance together. The staff was very friendly and the camp store had just enough supplies. Not too many things, just the necessary stuff.
We enjoyed this campground, although we would have preferred a more secluded spot. We were out in the open as were most of the spots around us, but there was decent space between each one. The bath house was clean and conveniently close. The beach was beautiful the one evening we went, but our time there was cut short as there were a lot of black flies and they were biting my husband. We also spotted a rough-looking fox who was not afraid of us and clearly used to getting handouts from visitors. Sad.
Overall, I would recommend!
it’s so nice to have a great beachfront in the Midwest. There is so much to do her, wineries and breweries nearby. The beaches are not too crowded. Pet friendly and lots to do for children. This is one of our favorite vacation spots.
Stayed here on a Thursday night and it was quiet, lovely and beautiful. Great sites with table, fire ring, and tent pad. Clean bathrooms with nice showers and kind rangers. Cheapest campsite in the area. 3 min drive to a beautiful beachfront on the lake. Would stay here again.
Campground sites were a little on the small side. Bathhouse was better than other parks. Beach is easily accessible by walking trail. Sand dune trails are amazing!
Definitely tackle the 3 Dune Challenge when staying here! give you a great view of Lake Michigan. Bathroom rooms and shower were super clean. Dog friendly campsite and right next to the lake!
Very clean and very nice. It was quite busy, but only saw a few people on the trails. Which if you're hiking, make sure you're prepared. It's s different element hiking in the sand, every two steps forward is one step back. But the views are so so worth it. Lake Michigan is amazing, and you can see Chicago's city line in the distance.
