Great visitor center with friendly park rangers available to answer questions. They offer maps,…read morebrochures, and passport stamp stations for National Park Passport holders. The center also has a gift shop, coffee shop, clean public restrooms, and a nice selection of local artwork for sale. A great first stop when visiting the area!

This visitor's center is geared to the National Park. The grounds are beautiful with many native…read moreplants to see. There is a free theater on site that shares dunes history and current facts on a continuous loop. Gift shop is great. You might find National Park logo gear, local distillery non alcoholic merch and a small satellite Fluid Coffee Shop. There are a few park rangers on site to give advice on walking/hiking trails. They are also happy to answer any questions about the Indiana Dunes National Park. The lakeshore has two separate parks - a National Park and a State Park. Each park has a lot of similar attractions and a few different. If you have a yearly National Park Pass, I recommend going to the National Park. If you are an Indiana resident the State Park is a $7 admission per vehicle or $20 for out of state visitors.

No welcome here! I have been coming up to the South Haven…read morearea for years since my family had a cottage up here. Now that country home is my full time home. Today was the first time I stopped at the visitors bureau and it will be my last. I had dropped my car off to get detailed at Bodfish-N-Sons and those folks had graciously dropped me off in downtown South Haven where I had breakfast at Phoenix Street Cafe and then did some shopping. Then I noticed that my iPhone battery was almost dead and I needed the phone so Bodfish could call and let me know when my car was finished. I was right by the South Haven Visitors Bureau so I stopped to see if I could plug in my phone for a bit - "Oh no!" said the unfriendly young man at the desk. "That is not allowed - maybe you can go to a coffee shop and they'll let you..." Then a woman walked in from off the street and she suggested the library. I agreed that would work. "Where is library?" I asked the young man. "It's over that way," he replied waving vaguely toward the east. Well I went to the east and never did find the library. Fortunately, I stopped at Fifth Third Bank where Emily, the officer who helped transfer my account from Chicago to my new address said, "Sure! And have a cup of coffee while you're waiting." I can understand that the Visitors Bureau wouldn't have the facilities to help out with this specific problem - but the lackadaisical attitude I encountered can not bode well for anyone coming to them for help or information about South Haven.

From the owner: A quaint visitor information office with a warm, welcoming, and informative staff. Come on in, we…read moreare waiting for you!

As an update I would have to say I love their new offices! I've now officially done the Heritage…read moreTrail over 12 times and can pretty much recite the script from memory, but still enjoy it every single time! They have done so much work on making this so great! Wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone!

We happened upon the Elkhart visitors center as it was directly across from the hotel we stayed at…read moreon a whim. We were SO glad we did. The docents gave us recommendations for a great family diner to grab breakfast down the street (can't remember the name unfortunately) and also suggested a self guided driving tour called the Heritage Trail. We received a free CD that directs you in about an hour and a half long loop (or all day if you take your time at each attraction) to all of the sights and attractions of Elkhart county and the surrounding Amish countryside. My boyfriend and I are young people and it was exciting and fun for us too so put your notions aside and just do it' It takes you through the major cute towns in the area and also to off the beaten country spots like Bonneville Mill Park (the historic mill is open and active Weds-Sunday) which was a real treat. It goes into historical detail of many of the spots and the directions were easy to follow. The visitors center also gave us coupons and had tons of brochures on local attractions. The quilt gardens were also a great tip from the docent to take a look at. We grabbed delicious donuts at an Amish bakery and wandered for hours around the Shipshewana flea market (open Tues/Weds). Even brought the pup along.

Attended the Choose Chicago Open House this year and very happy with my experiences. Able to check…read moreout 5 really cool establishment: Mindworks, Chicago Symphony, Federal Reserve, Wintrust Vault and Red Building (333 S. Wabash). All in all a very good experience. I wish that I would have gotten started earlier in the day. I liked the ventures on the app which allowed me to set up an itinerary. Some locations that I wanted to see were closed on Sunday. Favorites spots were the Federal Reserve and 333 S. Wabash. This event only happens once per year but really a good opportunity to check out over 120 buildings in various neighborhoods for free. Very neat experience and if you love history, architecture or sight seeing then this free event is for you.

This visitor center is a great place to start your visit to Chicago. They have docents that offer a…read morenumber of free tours of the area including a great two hour tour of Millennium Park. They are also knowledgeable about other excellent tours by the Chicago Architectural Foundation and other Chicago highlights. The Chicago Architectural Foundation is a few blocks south on Michigan Avenue and is also very worthwhile.

Quality/Quantity - This is what Indiana is known for! And these are the 3 largest dunes in the…read morestate park! Not an easy hike for me as I was not prepared for it. If only my daughter gave me a heads up. I'm now prepared for our next hike, future Yelp coming. This event was supposed to be for a different day, a weekday. Time permitting, I recommend a weekday to visit. It was an hour wait just to get into the park on a beautiful Saturday. (We were warned by the team at the visitor center, but decided to do it anyway). Few dining choices, but WOW, look at all the beach BBQ set ups. I almost asked to join a few. Atmosphere - What a beautiful day today. The hike got better and easier when we got to the trees with shade. Hiking on the beach was just too hot for me. Well again, I did not dress for this event... 15,000 acres, 50 miles of trails, 300 mile lake. Please see the pictures. Open 7 days a week, Yelp hours differ, check with the park. Swimming hours from 11am to 6pm, well that is when there are lifeguards. Events and activities, see pictures or websites. Public showers and bathrooms - Keep in mind there are thousands of people using these, so the conditions reflect that. Service - Small helpful visitor center, see pictures. Also with a Yelp check-in, you get 5 free postcards. They convinced us to go to the state park rather than the national park. Good thing because I left my annual national park pass in my truck in CA. Price - $12 a car, discount for locals ($7). If you walk from the visitor center, $2 a person, but that is a 2+ mile walk each way, in the hot sun! Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 1986. Next time we will come much earlier and appreciate more of your park.

The Dunes, as we affectionately call them, really proved themselves today. If you haven't visited…read morein the winter, you must. Lake Michigan and the sand dunes are majestic in the wintertime. The bonus of no gate admission was a welcome treat. Although the building near the beach is under construction, the public restroom was available. The new landscaping and building improvements are incredible. It's hard to believe that it's the same place!

Went to the West Beach part of the Indiana dunes. Very cute, nice beach area, not overly crowded…read more At the visitor center all the employees were helpful and overall just very friendly. We didn't get to walk the trails, but seen what looked like some neat paths to walk on.

A family beach day at Indiana Dunes on August 9, 2024, became a humiliating and traumatic…read moreexperience. My husband and I brought our four children, ages 9, 7, 3, and 1, along with my sister and her 9-year-old son. After lifeguards warned us to stay knee-deep because of strong waves, my nephew went slightly too far into the water twice. We apologized and understood the safety concern. Instead of simply asking us to leave, security escalated the situation: my husband was detained on the beach, and I was repeatedly prevented from returning to our children, who were only 30-40 feet away. I watched my 9-year-old daughter cry while a stranger comforted her and tried to help her wrangle my 3 and 1-year olds. When another National Park law-enforcement officer arrived, I asked whether I could return to my children. He immediately said yes, making the first officer's refusal even harder to understand. The situation was humiliating and frightening for our family, especially over a minor safety violation involving a 9-year-old child (and again - this child was not even ours, it was my sister's son). We later requested records and video through FOIA so the incident could be independently reviewed. Despite our efforts, they never provided us with the footage. We fully support enforcing water-safety rules. If we needed to leave, we would have left. But there was no reason a simple safety issue had to become detention, separation from our children, and public humiliation. Our family experienced none of the judgment, proportionality, or basic humanity that day. We will never return to Indiana Dunes. When we want a beach day now, we drive past Indiana and continue to Michigan.

We wanted to take a tour of Notre Dame. It is here the tour starts and ends. We arrived early to…read morecheck in. The receptionist was very personable. She recommended Einstein Bagels just across the way while we were waiting for the tour to start. We followed her suggestion then came back to look around. The Eck Center is very modern and features art and information about the campus. There is also a theater that has an introductory film about the history of Notre Dame. The tours start at set times and can take up to a couple hours.

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.

Indiana Dunes State Park was the first stop on my road trip across America, and unfortunately, it…read morewas a pretty disappointing experience. I came here really excited and ready to hike, but visiting in the summertime meant dealing with an unbelievable number of mosquitoes. I expected bugs, but I have never seen anything like this! My friend and I were completely covered in mosquito repellent, and it honestly felt like we were walking through a fog of mosquitoes. We were literally trying to run down the trail to get away from them. There was hardly anyone else around, which we quickly understood because the conditions were so difficult. We kept going for about 20 minutes hoping the bugs would eventually clear up, but they never did, so unfortunately, we had to turn around. The beach itself was nice, but I didn't come here for the beach I came to hike and experience the trails. I was really disappointed that we couldn't actually enjoy the hike because of the mosquitoes. Maybe it would be a completely different experience at another time of year, but based on our summer visit, I can only give it

We always use this nice rest stop for its bathrooms when driving from Illinois to Michigan because…read moreit's always clean, has enough parking and the staff are very friendly. Sometimes they have exhibits in the area space inside the rest stop, which are nice to walk through. Usually for Christmas they have had nice exhibits there.

07/19/26 - Stopped at da Indiana Vistor center & dey had DA UNMITIGATED GALL TO HAVE A SIGN OF DA…read moreHAMMOND BEARS. . All I Ave to say is OH HELL NO!! I have been a lifelong fan of Da Chicago Bears & Dey betta not move from DA City to Hoosiervile or I might become a Packer Fan (No Way In Hell). This is actually kind of a cool Visitor center