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Indiana Dunes National Park hugs 15 miles (24 km) of the southern shore of Lake Michigan and has much to offer. Whether you enjoy scouting for rare species of birds or flying kites on the sandy beach, the national park's 15,000 acres (6070 ha) will continually enchant you. Hikers will enjoy 50 miles (80 km) of trails over rugged dunes, mysterious wetlands, sunny prairies, meandering rivers and peaceful forests.
There is no one-size-fits-all trip to the dunes. Each season offers new and different ways to enjoy Indiana Dunes National Park. Spring splashes the river banks of the Heron Rookery with an abundance of colorful wildflowers in this birder's paradise. Lake Michigan summer sunsets paint the skies with vibrant rays that offer a picture-perfect picnic setting. In the fall, Maple trees burst with warm red and golden hues crafting a spectacular backdrop for a hike by the Chellberg Farm and winter brings a scenic canvas of virgin white snow begging for a cross-country skiing adventure in the Glenwood Dunes. As the seasons change, so do the recreational opportunities, park facility operating hours and closures and safety concerns. Here is a list of some of the activities that occur in the National Park: Beach-going & Swimming, Biking, Bird Watching, Camping, Fishing & Boating, Hiking, Geocaching, Historical Sites, Horseback Riding, Interpretive Programs, Picnic, Winter Activities and Guided Tours. Check the Calendar page on our website for our list of Ranger-led programs.
Indiana Dunes National Park is a treasure of diverse natural resources located within an urban setting. The national park features communities that have both scientific and historic significance to the field of ecology. In addition, four National Natural Landmarks (including Pinhook Bog and Cowles Bog ) and one National Historical Landmark (the Bailly Homestead ) are located within its boundaries. The park is comprised of over 15,000 acres (6070 ha) of dunes, oak savannas, swamps, bogs, marshes, prairies, rivers, and forests. It contains 15 miles (24 km) of Lake Michigan shoreline spanning the distance from Gary to Michigan City. Lake Michigan is part of the largest complex of freshwater lakes in the world. The national park's beaches are the park's most significant recreational resource. For more information on our natural features visit the Nature and Science page on the park website.
Located close to the campground is Lake View Beach on Lake Michigan which is located 1.5 miles north of the campground. Several other national park beaches are within easy driving distance. Do NOT park in the Town of Beverly Shores' beach parking lot, which is located just to the east of the Lake View lot. You will get ticketed. The town is very strict. A gas station / convenience store is located mile north of the campground at the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and Broadway Avenue. The Beverly Shores South Shore Railroad station with passenger service to Chicago and South Bend is located on Broadway Avenue, mile north of the campground. Indiana Dunes Tourism and LaPorte County Convention & Visitors Bureau have lists of other activities in the area.
$25 / night
In the southwestern-most corner of Michigan, about 100 miles from Grand Rapids, Warren Dunes State Park is home to 3 miles of sandy beaches and windswept dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan. There are 6 miles of short trails for exploring the area, but the main draws to Warren Dunes camping is soaking up rays on the beach and climbing the dunes. The tallest dune, Tower Hill, rises 260 feet above the lakeshore and offers a panoramic view over the surrounding area. Park guides offer a variety of seasonal nature programs that highlight the area’s flora, fauna and natural features. Alcohol is not permitted on the beach at Warren Dunes, and dogs must remain leashed, and are restricted to certain areas only.
The campground at Warren Dunes is located away from the beach, in a wooded area near the highway. On the upside, there’s plenty of shady trees to take cover under on the warmer, sunnier days; on the downside, there’s plenty of highway noise to distract from the peacefulness. The two camp areas—Modern and Semi-Modern—offer a total of 220 tent and RV sites that vary in size and seclusion. The larger Modern area has restrooms with showers, drinking water and playgrounds for the kids; limited hookup sites are available. This area also has three rustic mini-cabins for rent. The Semi-Modern area is more spartan, with just water and vault toilets. A dump station is located between the two areas. Campsite rates range from $25–$45/night; cabins are $52/night.
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.
$12 - $44 / night
Nine connecting lakes will be the center of your adventures at Chain O’Lakes. This is lake country and a small boater’s paradise. Paddle through the chain of serene kettle lakes, hike the 23 miles of forested trails, fish the electric-motors-only lakes, stay overnight in a forested hillside family cabin, visit the park's historic one-room Stanley Schoolhouse, or explore the Nature Center. Other facilities available for visitors to enjoy include Chain O' Lakes Campground, beach and picnic shelters.
$20 - $25 / night
Pla-Mor is a beautiful modern campground offering 30 and 50 amp sites with water and electric sites as well as full hook-up.
This large established park has been providing camping services for more than 30 years. Our grounds are blessed with beautiful ponds, mature trees, wooded areas and lush green grasses. Pla-Mor has camp sites available accommodating the smallest tent to the largest Class A motor-homes. Newly graveled 110ft long pull-thru sites. We have group areas available and can handle large rallies.
$42 - $53 / night
Legend
Little four site camping area on the shore of Rivir Lake (not a typo). It can be accessed either by parking and walking in on the wide, well tended trail (#4 on maps) or by boating. The nearest boat launch is Miller lake, a mile west. Sites 3 & 4 are right on the lake with the best access, Sites 1& 2 are across the trail which is along a raised berm with a bridge over the passage to Mud Lake. I'd give this a higher review, but most people wouldn't appreciate the primitiveness of the sites. It's distance from most amenities could be a turn off, but also could be perfect for others
Scout
Horrible owners, non functioning electric and sewer. Please see my detailed Google review for more information.
Scout
I’m very familiar with Warren Dunes but this was my first time camping here. Great walks and hikes and the short drive to the beach is a plus. The sites aren’t too private and can fill up quickly. The bathrooms were clean and stocked. I read lots of reviews about the noise from the road and nearby highway and I didn’t think it would bother me, but I was wrong. I wish I had some ear plugs because I had difficulty falling asleep. Overall great place, especially for beginner campers as there is a small onsite store for camp basics. Three stars due to noise and not much privacy.
LegendLittle four site camping area on the shore of Rivir Lake (not a typo). It can be accessed either by parking and walking in on the wide, well tended trail (#4 on maps) of by boating. The nearest boat launch is Miller lake, a mile west. Sites 3 & 4 are right on the lake with the best access, Sites 1 & 2 are across the trail which is along a raised berm with a bridge over the passage to Mud Lake.
I'd give this a higher review, but most people wouldn't appreciate the primitiveness of the sites. It's distance from most amenities could be a turn off, but also could be perfect for others
LegendWe were a bit surprised that despite having a paid reservation , we still had to pay a $20 Day usage fee to enter the park, but no matter. This is a sprawling and sometimes confusing campground to find your way in. But the sites are generally shady if a bit close together. There are five facilities with showers and running water and six pit toilets. drinking water is accessible throughout the park.
The majority of sites have six person tables, though some, especially in the new 385-416 loop have little four person tables. These are also the least shaded.
Campground and facilities are clean and well maintained.
The General Store is one of the most impressively well stocked I have ever seen. Equipment, toys, tools, food souvenirs, you name it. Good dry firewood is $6.50 a bundle in the store, $7 on the honor system after hours. It burns fast, so you might want to buy more than you think. The store is open until 9:00 Friday & Saturday, but only 2;PM on Sunday and never on Monday. Keep that in mind if you're doing a 3-day weekend as we did. When checking out, look up to see the beautiful wooden canoe with wildlife inlaid wood.
Fire pits are mostly round iron with non-adjustable swing-away grills. Booking is through Indiana DNR/ Reserve America so you can see photos of the site you pick.
This was our second experience with an Indiana state park, and like our first (Pokagon, in the winter) we were impressed with the clear marking of the hiking trails (and canoe trail for that matter) there was a map and guidepost at every junction.
There's a beach, concession stand and boat rentals on Sand lake, the Park's largest. Lastly, there's a fish cleaning shed with running water outside the campground entrance that anyone in the park can use, something I wish more parks would provide.
Legend
You use Gate 2 to get to the registration office. Check-in was quick and we proceeded to back-in site 444 with FHUs. Our back-in should have been smooth but we were out of practice. The utilities are at the far end of the sites. In most areas, the sites back up to each other and share a utility post(separate outlets for each site) and share the water spigot. As we had come out of the Brinkley Service Center, we did not need to dump. If we had hooked up sewer, we would have needed about 25’ of hose to reach a hole in the ground(no screw in adapter). Water pressure was okay depending on if both rigs are pulling water. They have wifi(4H Public) that was pretty good but there were not many rigs in the fairgrounds. We have 4 bars on Verizon. If you are allergic to train noise, this is not your place as trains run all day, all night, at regular intervals, and the tracks are adjacent to the FHU campground(CG) areas. Sites are quite close together but far enough that you can get your awnings out. As this CG was near the Brinkley Service Center and they had to come back out to us to finish repairs, this place worked for us. We would stay here again if we come back for service center work. They are very flexible with cancellations/reservation changes as they realize the majority of people are here for RV service.
Guide
Lovely area and there’s so many beach areas nearby. Not on the lake but close! Best hike nearby is Mount Baldy! It’s short and you have the beach to yourself!
ScoutConvenient to Indiana dunes, each site is easily accessible and spacious. The facilities are fairly clean and showers are available though we didn’t use them. Would recommend as a stop over. As a solo female traveler I felt safe.
LegendElkhart County 4-h Fairgrounds: (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
(72 yr olds in 27’ trailer.)
Overall Rating: 4 for access to the area, very clean facilities, and not too many campers thus time of year.
Price 2024: $35 for water/electric only.
Security: No
Usage during visit: Very light
Visual Privacy Between Adjacent Sites: none
Site Spacing: very close
Pad surface: our area was grass
Reservations: Yes
Campground Noise: Quiet except for one day of motorcycle raises at the nearby track.
Outside Road Noise: Not most sites
Through Traffic in campground: Some for activities at the fairground
Electric Hookup: Yes
Sewer Hookup: some sites
Dump Station: yes
Potable Water Available: At sites
Bathroom: Very nice flush toilets
Showers: yes
Pull Throughs: Yes
Cell Service (AT&T): Varied throughout campground
Setting: open grass fields around very well manicured county fairground.
Recent Weather: 70s and rain.
Insects:None
Host: I am not sure.
Rig Size: Large
Sites: full hookups and water/electric only
Scout
The"real" owner said in a recent meeting that he's flipping the place. He said the sewers were need of major repairs. Already raised the price appx$500. It's old out dated and the drunks are terrible. I think the place and"new? Owners and management" are NOT good people. I already reached out to y several times and I was there to relax not do your work. Maybe spend as much time in the place as the previous owner did and still does. Maybe owning and/or managing a campground is just not for you. I hope my review helps motivate you into becoming a better person owner and/or manager whichever one or all you are. Best of luck but my rating is one and if I could give a zero I would
Scout
Hit a little rough patch in life and needed a break from sleeping in the car and hotels . All the staff at the park were very friendly and understanding of our situation. At $20 a nite for tent site ,showers ,clean toilets ,whole park is very clean ! Lots of things to do here and the waterfall was our fav part ! Deff will be back when in the area . Our site was right down the Rd from the waterfall so had a great view !
TravelerAdvertised as $25 a night, but you must have an Indiana Dunes park pass, which is only good for this specific park. Site was fine, facilities were decent.
Legend
We took I-80 all the way to near Shipshewana where the roads took us about 7 miles into the campground (CG). Check-in was quick and easy because we had paid ahead online. We proceeded to pull through site 37 with FHUs. The utilities were in the center, which made it nice to dump our two black tanks in order to go to the Brinkley Service Center the next morning. Water pressure was good at about 50 psi. It was nice that the utilities were on the center of the pad. We got 4 bars on Verizon. If we wanted to put out satellite, we could have as there are not many trees in the central area to block the signal. We tried to sign into the free Wifi with no luck. The website wanted us to sign up for paid internet, which we did not do. The sites in the CG are for the most part very close together. We were here overnight to take our rig into Goshen for warranty work. Coming from the West, stay on I-80 to IN-13(exit 107) as it makes for an easier route than on the local roads versus following your GPS or Waze which may have you exit off in Elkhart. Check out the great selections at Yoder's Meat& Cheese just down the road. This CG was okay for an overnighter or short stay.
Traveler
Not much to do in surrounding area, but a local get away for us
ScoutI had a seasonal spot last year and I absolutely loved it! We went camping as much as we could(cause of work) owners and other campers are friendly. They do crafts and other things on almost every holiday
ScoutThis place is quite beautiful and cool, clean and moreover the air is very fresh https://tiny-fishing.com really like coming here
Guide
Small campground. 13$. No reservations, but sites seem readily available, even on weekends in the summer. Spacious sites. Fairly wooded. Firewood only available Mon - Friday 8-3.
GuideThis park is under new ownership. They have gotten the pool repaired and open and have cleaned up much of the park with more to come. The creek flowing through makes it so cool and peaceful and the animal life is beautiful. Saw a huge crane in the creek today along with a whole duck family…the folks there are friendly. There’s a dog park, playground, bounce pad, basketball court, pavilion and a great big dam across the street where the fishing is great! Boats are welcome and the staff is great!
ScoutThis is a nice national park campground and has all that you would expect from that, but the mosquitos here are insane!!! I came back with giant welts from the bites even with bug spray on. I honestly couldn’t wait to leave!
Guide
I love staying by the Wabash River at Tall Sycamore. It’s a true community where everyone helps one another and the carry in dinners are fun and delicious!
TravelerStayed for 3 days/2 nights. Place was a little crowded, but once it got dark it was quiet and peaceful. Most spots were fairly out in the open, but we had a nice spot with a few trees hiding us on 3 sides and not too far from water or bathroom trail. Bathrooms were decent and we liked the private showers, warm water!
Overall, great walking paths, hiking and the beach was a great bonus after an afternoon climbing the dunes!
The only major downfall was the price of everything at the little store. $6 for an ice cream sandwich!?! No thanks! However, be sure to visit The Beach Bucket for your ice cream cravings on those hot days!! They also have firewood which burned so much better than what the camp store offered.
Guide
We arrived late, and the friendly park security directed us to the campground.
The vault toilets were acceptably clean. Spots were close to the river. The campground has cabins, trails for hiking and horseback riding.
As other reviews have stated….the mosquitoes are prolific and abundant! We left early.
TravelerThis was a very nicely managed site. All services you might want, even showers. Our spot wasn’t very closed off from other sites, and you’re not likely to get much privacy here
GuideStayed at site 201 at the Hildebrandt campground. Sites are smallish. Most sites have some shade, but little privacy in between. The scenery wasnt that great, mostly vine like trees you'd see in a flood plain. The water pump was out during our stay and needed to go to the station near the modern campground.
We were scheduled to stay for 3d/2n but plans changed due to weather from hurricane beryl. It started to rain in the first evening and we had a mini creek running through our site. With the amount of rain projected to be on its way we could only imagine it being completely flooded.
Mosquitoes were awful even before the rain. Vault toilets were well taken care of.
If you want quite or the sound of nature, this campground is not for you. You can hear road traffic and trains at all times, especially at night. The general store near the campground entrance is a nice convenience if you forgot something or need ice/fire wood.
It is wonderful though how close the Campground are to Lake Michigan/warren dunes, which is why we stayed.
ScoutNobody complaining it's big enough if you want to be loud late you can the people that have a rv all year round are all nice and cool I ran in to just about every one all nice I recommend Ruperts resort in Indiana Plymouth 😉 they have showers and restrooms too if it's raining they have huge spots to go out of the rain you can bring corn hole or any game you like to bring plus more than I can say 4th July was grrreeat!
GuideOnline reservations is a bit confusing. Map designated tent sites with numbers. When you book campsites they have letters with no map or site pics. You have to book a site but it says first come first serve. Good place for fishing from bank and launching kayak, canoes.
GuideWent with my in laws who have a camper (I typically camp rustic). The site we were at was smaller and narrow. There was also a lot of noise from the I-94 freeway nearby while trying to sleep.
While the hiking was good and the beach beautiful, they don’t allow alcohol which is my favorite post hike/beach activity.
Overall I’d do a day trip for the hiking and beach, but stay elsewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
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