Up until this past February, the Indiana Dunes were a National Lakeshore, which, much like the spots I visited in southern Indiana last October, would have been administered by the National Parks Service, but not quite a full-fledged National Park. This all changed with a bit o' legislation reclassifying the place earlier this year, bringing us Indiana's first and only National Park. Sorry, Pawnee.
I decided to dash up there for a quick overnight since the distance fit just right with my schedule. I stayed in Michigan City, which is in Indiana, although having never set foot in Michigan, I decided to hop over the border as well early Monday morning. We'll get to that in a bit.
In Michigan City, my first stop was the medium-small sized zoo, called Washington Park Zoo:
And some of their animals:
In the middle of the zoo was an observation tower, which gave me a nice preview of the beach where I would end my day:
More animals:
This stupid thing is literally called lama glama:
Next, after some lunch, I made my way to the dunes themselves. If you look at a map:
You'll notice that the park is quite fragmented and spread out. This meant that the afternoon spent in the park involved a lot of driving in short bursts from point of interest to point of interest. You'll also notice that right in the middle there is a spot labeled Indiana Dunes State Park. That is because the National Park contains a State park within it, which is separately administered by the state of Indiana. Confusing!
I began by going fairly far out to the west, the the Riverwalk, then returning slowly east throughout the rest of the day:
Then further inland, into the dunes themselves:
Next, I went over to a spot called Dune Ridge, which was a strenuous hike through steep hills made of sand, but concluded with this view:
Then back to the lake shore, where some old modern houses were:
And the beach:
And faaaaar off in the distance, you could just make out the Chicago skyline:
Next, I made my way to Central Beach, where I finally did some swimming of my own:
Quite rewarding after a day of hiking in that heat.
Last but not least, I made my way to Mt. Baldy, the most prominent dune in the park, which is regrettably closed at the moment, as so much foot traffic has begun to destroy it. So you can only walk around the outside:
And that was that for the park proper. I returned to my hotel and rinsed off before heading out into town to see the sunset and get some dinner:
This ended up being probably the most stunning sunset I've ever seen. The pictures don't quite do it justice:
With the last of it still in the sky, I made my way over to Shoreline Brewery where I had dinner and a beer.
And that was it for the night.
The next morning I made my way into New Buffalo, MI, so that I could say I had been to Michigan. This ended up being arguably the coolest part of the trip. Or at least the nicest looking photo.
First, I made a quick stop at a coffee place for breakfast in the town center:
~car photo~
Then it was off to the park, called Galien River County Park. This park is a brief trail through the woods, then an area of wooden walkways over what is effectively a swamp:
It's like if Lake Michigan had an ingrown toenail into the land. The swampy area of lake runoff is the result.
The first walkway took me over the water at surface level:
But the second was a skyway overlook:
With this as the view:
The best view on the trip, in just some random county park in Michigan.
And that was it for the sightseeing. Went back to my hotel, packed up, and got on the road.
