I wheeled the Prairie-Duneland Trail during my 25th Anniversary Tenderness Tour event that started…read morein the Lake County area of Indiana. This is a 10.3 mile asphalt trail that goes through both Lake and Porter counties. It is for the most part a wheelchair friendly trail and you can see walkers, runners, and bicyclists on the trail quite frequently as it tends to go through multiple populated areas. The trail is a few miles south of the Michigan Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes National Park. You can probably guess from the name that you will see lots of both prairies and dunes on the trail. You see lots of ponds and woods, though there's lots of a more urban trail vibe as you go through Chesterton and Hobart. I actually started my journey in Hobart. If you want to detour about a mile off trail in Chesterton, there's an old train depot where you can still watch trains pass by. It's pretty darn cool. The trail connects to other trails including the Dunes Kankakee Trail and the Iron Horse Heritage Trail (which I also wheeled). Parking for the western trailhead is available in Countryside Park. Parking for the eastern trailhead is available on Jackson Boulevard in Chesterton. I really enjoyed my time on this trail. It's a mostly level trail and offers a nice mixture of urban and rural trail experiences. I like seeing nature, but for safety I also do like the occasional human encounter. This trail offers both. If you're the type who likes to also visit towns, this is also a great trail for doing so. Both Hobart and Chesterton are nice cities to visit with both tourist options places to grab a meal.

As good as it gets for community trails! The rails to trails program and IndianaTrails.org put…read moretogether this great 10.4 mile path through Lake and Porter counties in NW Indiana. The trail connects to several other trails (Iron Horse Heritage/Calumet) in the area and takes you through some terrific scenery. Some parts of the trail are shaded with beautiful tree lines and others are sunny and open through a field. The best part of this trail, WATER! Take this to the Calumet trail and end up at the Dunes. Fantastic day planned for you, I'll be here all week.

What a fun visit. I wasn't sure what to expect, however the park proved to be a very good visit. We…read morestopped by one of the beaches, interesting to see how the dunes looked like they were advancing in on the parking lot. Sand, sand everywhere! The walk to beach looked like you were going for a walk to the ocean! The beach itself was a pretty beach, the water was a glistening blue. We also took a ranger led hike at Pinhook bog located in the park. The only way to hike in the bog area itself, is through a ranger led hike. This was definitely a very fun and very educational hike! We learned the history (and folklore) of the bog. There were carnivorous plants there- like the pitcher plant!! This hike is definitely worth taking. Another interesting side trip, when in the area, is the 1933 Chicago Word's Fair - Century of Progress homes. They are along the lake. Just a short trip from the park proved definitely worth a visit. There are some very interesting architecture in those homes.

This has been one of the prettiest national parks that's driving distance from me. We were on the…read moreway home from Milwaukee and wanted to see a new national park. What makes this park different compared to the others in the East Coast is the fact it's mainly sand dunes. Some of the hiking trails were the sand dunes themselves which made for a good work out. There is also one of the lakes so it felt like I was at the beach. The only downside was it was too cold at the time to get in the water. If you visit any national parks in the east coast, make Indiana Dunes a priority.

A beautiful park, playground and experience. I came here for a few hours because the Plugshare app…read moreindicated that they have Level 1 power outlets here. Yes, they do. All along the fenceline. While the Sprinter van was charging, I took the time to enjoy this space. It was originally a fully functioning farm that was purchased by Colonel Robert Heffron Murray and his wife in 1934. After Colonel Murray passed away in 1972, his estate donated the land to Porter County. Now, it has walking trails, an accessible playground, some learning and caption signs and even cross-country skiing. The park offers seasonal tent camping. No RVs or cars or trailer campsites. But the parking lot is huge and you can certainly park here to visit. [Review 20602 overall - 136 in Indiana - 1583 of 2023.]

This is a great park. There are a lot of events in every season. My favorite is Touch A Truck and…read morethe drive thru Christmas tree viewing. There is also a harvest festival in the fall.

During a weekend visit to Indiana Dunes we wanted to get a really good hike in. We stopped by the…read moreIndiana Dunes Visitor Center and we were thankful we did. It seems if you know nothing about the area, you can be easily confused and lost. The State park actually is in the National Park boundary. The volunteer at the visit center gave us many hiking options. We ended up choosing the Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm. Both for the history aspect of it and the great hiking trails. It had three loops, a smaller one about .63 mile, a larger one about a mile, and the big loop approximately 2.4 miles with runs into the Calumet Trail. All are pretty easy walks. If your looking for a great hike in the Dunes area definitely give the Bailly Homestead a look. It has a decent size parking lot and restrooms. I'd also highly suggest stopping by the National Park Visitor Center as it is very close by.

This is one of the better hikes in the Indiana Dunes NP. Better yet, it's perfect for anyone as…read moreit's little more than a walk in the woods. And it's full of history. There's a parking lot, picnic tables, restrooms and other park facilities at the trailhead. Check out the map of the trails-and take a pic for reference on your phone. There are a few different trails and spurs that you can take. I like the loop that takes you through the Chellberg Farm, to the Bailey Cemetery and then have a beer or snack at the Homestead. That's about a two mile loop. If you'd just like to see the Homestead straightaway, park down by the Little Calumet River that it overlooks-three lefts from the parking lot. Easy parking down by the fishing hole and just a short walk up the hill to the Bailey Homestead. This was an 1820s fur trading post. This was the NorthWest back in those frontier days. Can you imagine? You can see what a perfect location it is. For me it's a perfect spot for a boozy picnic. Cheers!

I would give a few more stars but i am beyond ticked that the city of Valpo charges admission for a…read morecity park.

Decent facilities needs some updating. Could use a off leash dog area and walking path.read more