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&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.

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.

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.

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!