Great park for all ages of young children. Swings for adults to swing their wee ones. A swing for…read morethe differently abled. Good mix of climbing structures for all ages of children. There are covered picnic tables right next to the playground and the bathrooms a few steps away are sparse but very clean. Playground itself is fenced in restricting entrance from the street to one main entrance or through the larger portion of the park where there are baseball fields and a walking path. Ample seating for adults giving good view of the entire play structure. Have your kids to the scavenger hunt on the red wheel of the USS Scott and find all the sea animals in the boat!

Stop 8 is our favorite stretch of Lake Michigan beach in Michigan City, Indiana. We have been…read morecoming here for 21 years! We rent a cottage twice a year just up the boardwalk, in the Beachwalk community. This is the beach that is most convenient as it is only 500 steps from our rental cottage! The water is clean enough to swim. The sand is warm, clean, and delightfully soft, but also with enough stones to make things interesting! I love collecting stones and sea glass. There are attendants who drive by on occasion. Garbage cans are well tended. The beach is clean and quite pretty with a wall of sea grass behind it. Folks have weddings here on occasion, so that's always fun to see. Parking might be tricky though. We walk here from our cottage rental, so I'm not sure where people park if they are not staying at Beachwalk.

The views here are spectacular. We've often seen the platform as we drove past on Red Arrow. It's…read morea great place to chill and pass some time. There are a few short trails that you can hike and high and low platforms where you can get a good look at the Galien River marshlands. Free to the public with lots of parking

Very nice and accessible friendly park. It's a short stroll but peaceful and beautiful. Great place…read morefor fishing and bird watching. Only thing is that parking is very limited.

State park is $7 per car for Indiana residents and $20 for all other. Great nature views. Dunes…read moreare fun to climb and run/walk down. Beaches are beautiful and water is cold early in the season. The day I went there was a high wave advisory so they didn't let people in the water. Best views of the lake are from observation tower located west of the pavilion. Waves are loud if the wind is blowing from the north. You can see the City of Chicago skyline from anywhere on the beach when it is clear weather conditions. No pets on the beach and it does tend to get crowded when the weather is nice. Walking/hiking paths are available and some go the the highest points in the park where the views are breathtaking.

Driving between Cleveland and Chicago, we like to make time for a stop at Indiana Dunes State Park…read more This time it was a blustery chilly day (Nov 2025), so it wasn't going to be a swimming or hiking day. But we didn't mind the $12 vehicle fee just for the view. South of the park on SR-49, you'll see a Visitors Center, and if we were staying longer, it's a nice stop for local park info, campground reservations, souvenirs, and refreshments. The drive into the state park to Porter Beach takes you through thick woods, and we saw a buck crossing the road, which was a real treat and a reminder that these parks are wild enough. At the end of SR-49, there's an ornate pavilion, and it was closed due to the upcoming holiday, even the cafe and store were closed. The restrooms outside on the boardwalk were open. And we brought our lunch in from Culver's down by I-80. There were only a couple other cars during the time we were there. We pulled up and braved the blowing sand to get a look at the thrashing waters of Lake Michigan. With gusts up to 40mph from an approaching storm, the eaves were spectacular! But it was difficult to stay upright in that wind, not to mention the light sand-blasting we were getting. And we were on the road heading for a holiday visit, so we didnt stay long, only an hour or so. It's a beautiful park, even in the winter. We want to sled down the 170ft dune-canyon known as Devil's Slide!

I just got back from the Washington Park Zoo in Michigan City, and it is a total five-star hidden…read moregem tucked right into the lakeside sand dunes. The workout is real with all the steep dune trails, but climbing the limestone tower rewards you with a crazy panoramic view of Lake Michigan. For a smaller zoo, the animal encounters are incredibly close up; I got right near grizzly bears, wolves, a lion, and an awesome lynx that was acting like a giant housecat, bouncing around and playing with branches. It only takes about one hour to explore, completely skips the exhausting crowds and high prices of big city zoos, and sits right across the street from the beach, making it the perfect kickoff for a lake day.

The variety of animals was nice and it's a good size for a quick trip. It took us about 45 minutes…read moreto go through the whole thing. It's accessible, but I would say not easily accessible. They have signage for an accessible route through the zoo but it was blocked and closed in several places. The free wheelchair rental was awesome but the ground was potholey in a lot of places and the grade of the hills made it nearly impossible to use. It was $12 for adults which I guess is reasonable. I wish that price included something else like parking as well.

I go out of my way to visit lighthouses but this one on Indiana's shore of Lake Michigan (I'll bet…read moreyou didn't know that Indiana had a shoreline!) was well worth the trip. It's a pretty significant walk from the parking area (lightly enforced during offseason) and I went all the way out to the lighthouse and then climbed around to the other side of it. A little crazy, considering the ground isn't level and was slightly wet from spray. But yeah, I'm crazy. Worth it! [Review 20616 overall - 147 in Indiana - 1597 of 2023.]

The ladies were friendly and very knowledgeable about the lighthouse and area around it. Enjoyed…read moretouring from top to bottom for a small fee.

This is a nice little space but it's clearly not the reason you're here. You're here for the beach…read morewith the lighthouse. But on your way, stop here and check out this small plaza that has a view of the drawbridge, some tables with chess/checkerboards on them and a police/firefighter memorial. And maybe you'll luck out and some pretty ship will be going by on Trail Creek. [Review 20617 overall - 148 in Indiana - 1598 of 2023.]

This is a nice riverside plaza that provides a spot to take a break. There are tables at which to…read moresit with a bag lunch or a coffee. You can even watch the fishermen to see how they're faring. There's also a first-responder's memorial up the stairs at the corner of the landing for the bridge that is worth checking out.

Beautiful gardens, very well kept. Has a children's play area. Paved walking paths for a majority…read moreof the gardens. Also has some dirt paths. So many flowers and plants. Definitely worth stoping in. Good for kids and adults.

Absolutely stunning grounds and all the staff I came in contact with were super helpful and…read morefriendly.