Indiana Dunes became the 61st national park on February 15, 2019, when Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was renamed by Congress. It was designated as a national lakeshore in 1966. At just over 15,000 acres, it is one of the smallest national parks as it stretches along 25 miles of the southern end of Lake Michigan between Gary and Michigan City. However, it is one of the most visited national parks with over 2.1 million visitors in 2019. In addition, it completely surrounds the much smaller Indiana Dunes State Park.
Dorothy Buell was a long-time advocate for preserving the dunes. According to the national park service,
Dorothy Buell directed her enthusiasm, determination, and fearlessness toward a single goal—saving the Indiana dunes! And for fourteen arduous years, she fought under her famous quote: “We are prepared to spend the rest of our lives if necessary to save the dunes.” She raised funds, recruited volunteers, obtained public support, and worked persistently to protect the dunes from bulldozers.
The visitor center is located in Porter, Indiana, and is shared with the Indiana Dunes State Park and the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission. Parking is available for over ninety passenger vehicles and over a dozen buses or RVs. In addition, there are four accessible spots and two electric vehicle charging stations.
The visitor center has all of the usual amenities including an information desk, theater, exhibit/museum space, bookstore, and restrooms. In addition, it has several racks of promotional materials for other local attractions. Two movies alternate in the theater with the US Department of the Interior's Child of the Northwest Wind playing on the hour and half-hour and Porter County's Our Natural Wonder playing on the quarter-hour and three-quarter-hour. We visited in late October 2019, long after the swarms of summer tourists had returned home.
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Visitor Center
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Picnic area
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A small section of the nearly empty parking lot
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The theater has seating for over 110 people
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Information desk
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Tourist brochures
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Bookstore and gift shop
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Replica of Octave Chanute's 1896 glider
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Temporary touchable museum exhibits
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More temporary exhibits
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Enclosed exhibits
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More birds and mammals
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Permanent biodiversity display
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Entry to Indiana Dunes National Park is free. However, an expanded amenity fee of $6 daily is collected at West Beach from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend through the Monday of Labor Day weekend from 8:00 am to as late as 7:00 pm Central Time. This fee is used to provide the bathhouse and lifeguard service.
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