Indiana Dunes State Park Campground, near Chesterton, Indiana, is a fantastic spot for those looking to enjoy the great outdoors with a touch of comfort. With spacious sites featuring asphalt driveways and concrete pads, it’s a solid choice for both tent campers and RV enthusiasts alike.

The campground is known for its clean facilities, including heated bathrooms and showers, which are a big hit, especially during the cooler months. Visitors have highlighted the convenience of electric hookups and the availability of water fills, making it easy to settle in and enjoy your stay. One camper noted, “The sites are decent sized and have asphalt driveways with concrete pads,” which adds to the overall comfort.

Just a short walk away, you’ll find a beautiful boardwalk leading to the stunning shores of Lake Michigan. Many campers rave about the biking trails and the scenic views, with one reviewer mentioning, “We enjoyed riding ebikes on the trails.” The beach is perfect for a relaxing day, though swimming is only allowed when lifeguards are on duty.

While the campground can get busy, especially on weekends, the friendly atmosphere and well-kept grounds make it a great place to unwind. Whether you’re here for a quick weekend trip or a longer adventure, Indiana Dunes State Park Campground offers a blend of nature and comfort that’s hard to beat.

Camping options:  Dunbar Group Site and General Camping

Dunbar Group: The Dunbar Group Site holds up to 30 people and is located less than 500 feet from the beach. The site overlooks the Great Marsh and Lake Michigan. Parking and restrooms are located in the Dunbar Beach parking lot, 400 feet from the site.


Indiana Dunes consists of 2,182 acres of primitive, beautiful, historic, and unique Hoosier landscape. It lies at the north end of State Road 49 in Porter County and includes more than three miles of beautiful beach along Lake Michigan’s southern shore. In the early 1900s scientists, recreationists, and nature enthusiasts, recognizing the value and potential of the Indiana dunes area, fought to have the region preserved. As a result, in 1925, the state park was established.

Large sand dunes, located beyond the entire shoreline, have taken thousands of years to form, and tower nearly 200 feet above Lake Michigan. A wide range of habitats and plant species are found in the park, with vegetation stabilizing some of the sand. These habitats provide homes for many types of plants and animals. The lake also provides a habitat for many aquatic species, as well as a constantly changing fishery.

Indiana Dunes State Park Campground

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, IN is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in, as well as sights to see and explore. Find the best campgrounds near Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, plus reviews and photos from other campers like you.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

The Best Camping Near Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

This is a state park which has an entrance fee and camping you can reserve. The area is beautiful. Big dunes, lovely water. On clear evenings you can see the skyline of Chicago across the lake. The state park has many well maintained hiking trails and cross country skiing trails in the winter. Be careful in the lake, because rip current often take young visitors out too far and into dangerous waters. 

Lovely Lake Michigan

The campsite is your usual state park site. Potable water, toilets and showers available in the off season. Pretty crowded even when it's chilly out. Great hiking, pretty hilly if your from anywhere in the Midwest

Hilly Hikes

All pads seemed nice and level. Only offered electric service. Beach access is close by. Lots of geocaching and challenging hikes, including the three dune challenge. Bath house was always clean and grounds were well-kept.

Selfishly, it would have been nice if they offered a reserve section of the beach for campers, it got a bit crowded while we were there.

The best state park in Indiana

Nice Campground, sites are somewhat level. Electric only on the sites do offer fill sites on way to your site. Bath houses were nice and cleaned every day. Being a holiday was a bit busy. Sites are far enough apart afforded a little privacy. The beach was not usable due to the high number of visitors... All in all not a real bad place to visit for on your toes and adaptable campers. Would recommend at least 1 visit. To see for your self.

Holiday camping on the 4th

We came in on Sunday at check in time and it was wicked busy as 5 pm check in on Sunday’s is also 5 pm checkout. The spots are pretty level and paved however they are are fairly close to each other and there is no privacy between the spots around you. We don’t mind that however! The facilities  are well taken care of and the people in the front office to answer questions and help with check in were really nice. 

The only 2 issues I had with our spot (97) we were almost directly in-front of a large dumpster so all day people walk by and throw their trash in. And Monday morning at around 750 the dumpster service came around and that was very loud. Another issue with the campsite is there is a train near the state park. It runs all day it seems but especially in the morning you can hear it from 6 am onward. I don’t particularly mind it but it did wake me up a few times especially if you are tent camping or have pop outs. 

The state park has a lot of trails through the swampy woods and out to the dunes which are really cool. Some are 5 miles long while others are .75. There is also a short walk to the actual lake which is nice as well. 

All in all this state park is a 4/5! Great hiking trails, predominantly quiet besides the trash and train, friendly neighbors! 

Not a bad spot for 2 nights 

PROS:

\- Great job marketing and managing the 3 Dunes Challenge. Loved the shirts and the vinyl stickers (available for purchase at the Visitor's Center).

\- Clean park with not a lot of trash to pick up

\- Felt safe with lots of COVID masks and face coverings by both staff and guests

CONS:  
\- Nature Center and camp store was not staffed for a few days we were there (we were told due to budget cuts and COVID).

\- Some staff appeared to be more interested in their phones than greeting us and answering questions.

Nice experience, but some drawbacks

I love this camp site.  It’s a great place to set up the tent, enjoy the fire, look for animas, and stargaze!  You are only a short, but difficult, hike up and down the dunes before you have a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.  Pack a lunch and enjoy it on top of the dunes!

Cozy little paradise

This campground was very nice and clean and for a packed park was very quiet and we did not feel too close to the sites next to us.  We spent 2 nights here and went mountain biking at Imagination Glen Park in Portage just a few miles down the road which was awesome.  We stopped for a beer at Chesterton and Hunter's Breweries.  The sunset on Lake Michigan from the dunes was awesome.  We walked between the state and national parks.  This was originally a convenience stop along our route but I was impressed with the parks and everything there was to do, very glad we crossed this National Park off the list!

  

PROS: was very clean, well spread out, had a bathhouse, firewood and basics for sale.  Nice hike to the dunes and Lake Michigan with several trails to choose from.  There is also the Dunes-Kankakee bike trail that leads from the park and ties to the Calumet trail that also connects to several other trails offering miles of bike trail options.  Two dump stations made wait minimal.

  

CONS: not a whole lot, as is with most IN state parks there is no water hookup so you need to fill you tank up but it was set up really nice.

  

Did not really scout out an "ideal" site since they all seemed nice and pretty spread out for a state park.  I liked our end of the park that was close to walking path to dunes and beach.

  

NOTE: This was our second IN State Park campground(first was Clifty Falls) as part of out trip from GA to MN via TN-KY-IN-MI-WI-northern MN before staying in MSP for a week, then return via MN-IA-MO-IL-KY-TN-Home.

Nice State Park Campground

The state park is located within the boundaries of the Indiana Dunes National Park (formerly National Lakeshore), so don't get confused by this. There also is a national park campground, but it's closed in the winter.)

  

This state park has a nice layout because the sites seem to be staggered so that they don't back up to each other. Also, there is a good buffer space behind the sites and decent space between each site. 

  

All sites have 20- 30- and 50-amp service available, plus almost all are a combination of a concrete pad and asphalt apron. Note that just because they're paved doesn't mean all of them are level. Each site has a fire pit and it appeared they all have grill grates on them.

  

One nice touch is that some sites have wider asphalt aprons so if you have a longer rig, you can put your towing vehicle or your towed vehicle off to the side once your rig is in place. Also, the ADA sites are nicely laid out with larger concrete pads so that even the fire pits are in the concrete section for ease of access. 

  

**Note that after Nov. 1**, the water is shut off and bathrooms are shut down until spring, although there are vault toilets available. 

  

You will hear a pretty regular stream of train whistles at this campground, but they aren't so loud as to be disruptive. 

  

You can hike to the 1929 Dunes Pavilion and a large beach on Lake Michigan. The best hiking activity, however, and also easily accessible by walking from the campground, is the series of dune trails. The Nature Center, which sits between the campground and the trails, has some good visitor's information about the dunes, the flora and fauna, and the history of the area. 

  

Once you finish seeing what you want in the state park, there's still the entire national park to see. Plus, there's a multi-use trail that runs for 9 miles along the state park and into the national park. 

  

Cell service for Verizon was two bars but speeds seem to be good. Less signal and speed for Google Fi, but not terrible.

Nice layout and a ton of nature activities

We pulled in around 4:30 in the evening.  The sight was spacious with plenty of room in between sites.  Since the weather was cooler , it was pretty sparse with other campers.  We stayed 2 nights over the weekend.  You are within walking distance to the beach within the park.  The buildings have great architecture.  The sight had 50 amp electric hook ups but no water or sewer connections, and we knew that going in.  We had a back in sight #69.  There was plenty of space on all sides.  We have a 37’ motorhome and pulled a Jeep behind it.  There was plenty of room to maneuver around.  The sight also had a wood picnic table and fire ring for a wood fire pit.  We will definitely be back!  I wish I had taken more photos from the beach and beach pavilion.

Clean & Spacious

We arrived on a fall night, after the sun had set and we were thrilled to wake up to such an amazing display of Northern Indiana fall foliage. Campsites, facilities and trails were all super well maintained. 

Great Spot, Conveniently Located

For being a state park and relatively inexpensive, you’ll be delighted. I was very surprised and happy to see a beautiful beach area at this state park. It’s a wonderful place to go to during the summer and the kids will have a blast.  Also,there are sand dunes around the area. Definitely bring lots of water with you if it is hot outside. It’s a good place by yourself or with friends and family and the kids will love it!


Definitely 5 star

The scenery is beautiful and participating in the 3 dunes challenge was exciting and got the blood pumping. The campgrounds were pleasant and had nice bathroom and showers. 





My 1st time camping!! Not bad at all  

Arrival was interesting. We followed the signs to the campground (CG) area and bypassed the park office for the gate, as there was no where to park towing a rig. At the gate we found out we should have just pulled over on the road and registered before getting to the gate. We did not see any signs to indicate this was the procedure. The gate attendant charged us a $12 non resident state park fee and directed us to park in the adjacent parking lot, and walk back to the park office to check-in. We pulled into the very large parking lot, but it turned out to be a tight turn for our 39’ 5th wheel to get out of the parking lot. We then headed on to the campground to our electric only (50/30) AMP back-in site 94. We got a very good variety of OTA channels and 2 bars on Verizon and AT&amp;T. This campground is electric only and sites are placed consistently nearby each other throughout the CG. Where you would think sites would be more private there is usually a trail entrance nearby or like site 94, a concrete sidewalk to the nature center right beside the site. Site 63 would be about the most private and would be an easy back in for a larger rig. Site 91 has a steep incline after the main pad down to the site entrance. I wouldn’t put anything larger than about 30 feet in there even though its a large pad overall. We included a picture of this site. There’s a great trail system throughout the park. However, there are steep sandy trails that will tax your abilities unless you are in better than average health. The dump station is dual and well maintained. We enjoyed our stay at this well maintained CG.

Interesting State Park

Lovely! Affordable, super convenient, gorgeous hiking trails and beach/ this was a dream! Loved every minute of it!


My favorite place ever to hike!

Great visit to Indiana Dunes. Our first time there. The campground was smaller than expected for such a popular place, and the campsites were a decent size. Very quiet campground and I suspect it being a “dry” campground may have something to do with that. The swimming beach was always busy, but we learned quickly to hike trail 7 to get to the quiet part of the beach. While the beach off of trail 7 is a no swimming beach, the kids enjoyed playing in the water. Enjoyed trail 2 and the walk on the boardwalk through the marsh. My only issue is the bathrooms and showers were crazy nasty, and you had to deal with the urine odor while showering.  Met a lot of friendly people from all over the country.  We camped with a small group of three families. All sites were well shaded for most of the day, with site 124 being full shade for the whole day. All sites were level and clean. 

Indiana Dunes State Park 6/8/21-6/12/21

The campground was full, but not overcrowded. Very friendly neighbors and camp staff. There is a nice nature trail to the beach. If you are able, do the 3 dune challenge. It wasn’t easy for this old body, but I was glad to have marked it off my list.  The nature center is right next to the campground.  The pavilion is being renovated, the ice cream shop was open, but they were still doing construction on the rest. I hear that it will be grand when finished.  I will definitely go back to this campground. I just won’t pick the tent site again. The sand is very dirty there.  

Beautiful Lake Michigan sunsets

The Indiana Dunes area is beautiful and this campground is a great location for exploring both the state and national park. 
The pit toilets near our site were not kept clean and they were smelly. The showers were also not clean, but the water was hot. 
The fire ring at our site was in bad shape and in an odd location. There was garbage left in and near the fire ring ( foil and corn cobs) from the previous campers.

Beautiful area, campground just OK

This is a perfectly nice park, but aimed at the rv and trailer crowd. Not many tents or vans. Spaces are close together with families set up for weekend holidays. Nice enough facilities near the park. Clean bathrooms and nice playgrounds for the kids but nothing special overall.

Nice family style park for the rv or trailer crosd

Wonderful park ! Bath house’s are clean and nice. All sites have concrete pads mostly level. Great trails. Very nice beach. Quite camping but always booked! Book months ahead of you want to get in this great campground !

Great time !

Very busy place but no issues with neighbors or noise. The beach is the big draw obviously. We'd return for sure.

Great Location

Campground quiet and bathroom and showers very clean.  Our site was close to the trails leading to the dunes. Loved watching the waves on Lake Michigan and climbing the sand dunes.



Great state park

The park is clean,  quiet, has a camp store,   and average shower and restrooms.  The beach is a short half mile walk away,  and the 3 dunes challenge hike trailhead is here.   We were only able to get one night here,  and the next place we stayed at in the area was a big letdown.

Close to the dunes and Lake Michigan

We arrived on a busy July evening without reservations to find a single-nigth cancellation already paid for by a camper who left early. Our luck! We spent the afternoon on the lakeside and drove back to the site to set up for the evening. Our site had a picnic area/firepit a short walk away from the parking area, which is great for tent camping, but less suitable for our camper van. Nonetheless, friendly staff, clean bathrooms, and lots of privacy make this gem worth booking.

Lush and unique

Enjoyed this campground, love the dunes trails, pretty challenging, gorgeous beach, large campsites. Very sandy though, but it is the Dunes after all, so it’s expected!

Great Campground!

Was rainy, but still enjoyed walking the beach. Staff extremely pleasant &amp; helpful. Pavilion services was closed for construction. There is an area on the Beach where you can walk your dogs.

Great place!

Clean park. Lots of things to do wish we were there for longer than an overnight. There are lots of trails to explore. 

Nice location

    Many are still under the impression this state park turned into a National Park. Untrue! This has been a state park since 1925 &amp; it's beautiful. The most beautiful state park in Indiana IMO. We've camped here before, but not since they completely redid the campsites &amp; put in brand new bath houses sometime in the early 2000s. 

  

          There's 140 campsites. All with 50 amp. They are typical state park sites, which means yes, your neighbors will be close. The bath houses are nice. I recently walked through the campground on my way back from a hike &amp; I took pictures of what I think are the best sites. I would stay out of the interior sites. They are close to each other&amp; there's no vegetation to shield you. The outer sites are pretty good. Watch for pit toilet &amp; dumpsters though.

  The best site in the campground is site 63. The most private &amp; faces the woods &amp; ravine. Your neighbors aren't as close. 

  Sites 26 &amp; 62 if you have kids. You can watch them from your site in the playground. Site 8, 100 &amp; 113 are the best outer sites.

  The worst site is site 25. Right by the trail to the beach, which gets high foot traffic &amp; is right next to  a pit toilet.

  

         All of the trails, the beach &amp; the Nature Center can be accessed from the campground. Trail 4s trailhead is actually IN the campground. Of course some walking is involved. 

Enjoy the sunsets &amp; fabulous Lake Michigan! We visited Indiana Dunes State Park, no overnight stay

Best State Park in Indiana!

Great location right next to various hikes, close to the main road for work and to visit other cities. It was very quiet due to the winter conditions, but the people there were friendly and safe. Beautiful location!

Winter Wonderland 

If you’re willing to pay a little more to camp, this is a great campsite for you! Well kept grounds, clean bathrooms and showers, open year round, SUPER close to the National park. I personally prefer driving a bit out of my way to find cheaper and more secluded campgrounds/places to stay, so a total of $73 for a three night stay was not my favorite thing about this site. However, the proximity to the National park and the Chicago made it worth it for me. As a solo female traveler, I never felt unsafe.

Great facilities, but a little more expensive

Beautiful campground and very spacious sites. Campers sit on concrete pads but the rest is grass and dirt. Nice tables and fire pit. 

Beautiful Vistas

We stayed two nights in mid-May, at site number 72. Area was gorgeous, well maintained, shady and quiet. Tons of hiking trails in very close proximity to the campground! There is electricity on site, but no water or sewage at each site. However there is a water fill station and a dump station. So just come prepared. Also, they have a very strict no alcohol policy. Not that that stopped people, but don't go walking around with a beer bottle! We would definitely return.

Great stay, come ready

This is a nice park with good infrastructure. The spacing was ok, but not a lot of privacy. The campground although nearly full was relatively calm and quiet. Unlike the craziness of other Indiana state parks I have visited. The bathrooms were good….a solid B+ on par with other Indiana state parks. There is a trail directly to the beach, but the beach was insanely crowded. I left within five minutes of arriving there. I opted instead to drive the national park and hike out to Mt. Baldy beach which was delightfully uncrowded. I took my first swim in one of the Great Lakes!

Walking Distance to the Beach

We reserved a spot in the outer circle. We like having woods on one side. Nice campground camping….parking pad, fire ring, picnic table. Good amount of space between spots. Nice bathrooms &amp; showers. We have a rooftop tent and we’re very happy. Loved the hike over “Mt. Tom” to the gorgeous beach and warmish lake for a swim. 
We choose the State Park vs. National Park so we could hike to the beach. 

Outer Circle 

We’ve always had great experiences staying at state parks. They are well-maintained and managed by happy employees. Indiana Dunes State Park is no exception.

The park features lots of greenery. The restrooms were cleaned regularly, although by the end of the day they were a little rough after so many sandy visitors. The employees were out daily maintaining the grounds. As an aside, remember to secure your trash before going to bed! Raccoons frequent the park.

We never had to unhook our truck during the five days. We were able to bike everywhere, including into town. The people working at the Pavilion were super friendly! We enjoyed having a drink at the rooftop bar overlooking Lake Michigan. Be sure to hike the 3-dunes challenge and visit the nature center!

This is a great park. We will be back.

Most Fun We’ve Had at Camp

Great location to national park and Lake Erie beaches 

Disappointing. Campsites are way too close to one another. If they shoved any more people in there they would have to call it a slum.

The walk to the beach was cool, but you can get that in the National park. 

They will charge you 2 fees for a reservation and another fee just for your car. $12 for a car for out of state. Doesn’t matter if you just paid it in another part of the state for a different park. I’m surprised they don’t charge a quarter for the water, a dollar for toilet use, and another fee to see the beach. Since when did parks get so greedy?

Not sure why this is rated so high. Terrible campground

Beautiful, huge, shady sites! Beautiful walkway to beach. Adequate bathrooms.

Spacious sites

Only stayed one night. The concrete pad was large and included the fire pit and the picnic table. For someone in a wheelchair, that makes a huge difference. There was enough space between the sites so that you didn’t feel like you were on top of your neighbor. I would definitely come again. 

Great ADA (handicapp) site

Great place

Nice park

Recommend e-bike as some hills. Camp ground is clean and feels safe. Beach is nice, but no swimming in lake unless lifeguards on duty. They also don't allow floats b/c it blocks view of swimmers. Small store w/most essentials. Recommend Aldi's stop in town (only 1 other grocery store). 

Great place to bike around 

We enjoyed riding ebikes on the trails. Lunch at the beach front (Lake Michigan) was good and great views. Clean br/shower houses. Would recommend 

First time here- in 40' RV

This is actually our second visit here. It’s only 20 minutes from our home, so we expect to come back many times. It’s a unique location about .5 miles from the actual beach and there’s a path/boardwalk that takes you right there. This is one of the few state parks that has a year-round heated bathroom with shower, so even with our popup camper we were able to take advantage of the decent weather for our first trip of the year. Sites are decent sized and have asphalt driveways with concrete pads. Sites are electric only, but there’s several water fills, even in winter. Very popular campground so you do have to book well in advance during regular season. Be aware that because it shares an entrance to the state park beach, entering on a summer Saturday or summer Sunday can take upwards of 45 minutes or more.

Photos of Indiana Dunes State Park Campground

Real photos from real campers