One Great Day in Indiana Dunes National Park

One Day in Indiana Dunes National Park: A Great Itinerary for the Off-Season

Indiana Dunes National Park is one of the newest national parks in the United States National Park System. It is located in northern Indiana on the shores of Lake Michigan, about 50 miles from Chicago, Illinois. This national park is small and doesn’t need a lot of time to explore its corners. With this one day itinerary, we share a great way to spend 24 hours in Indiana Dunes National Park…in the off season!

Indiana Dunes is located adjacent to steel mills, which many say takes away from the experience. Sure, as you drive through the park the massive mills are pumping out smoke and the scene might not be what you expect on the shore of a national park, but it didn’t take away from the experience for us at all. It’s a park in a generally highly populated area, just 50 miles from the city of Chicago.

When we went

We were in the area in early March, not exactly an ideal time to visit northern Indiana. The weather was all over the place – the 10 day forecast alone showed rain, snow, wintry mix, as well as sunshine! During our two day visit we experienced rain, snow, and sleet…as well as sunshine and blue skies . While we can’t control the weather, we layered up and set out to explore this national park!

Where we stayed

Hilton Garden Inn | Chesterton

This hotel was a great place to stay during our short duration of visiting Indiana Dunes. It had a really nicely stocked “pantry” in the lobby as well as a full bar and restaurant on site. Our room was comfortable with a microwave, mini fridge, and Keurig.

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL PARK FACTS

Indiana Dunes is known as the birthplace of ecology

LOCATION: Northern Indiana
CLOSEST CITY: Chicago, Illinois
ANNUAL VISITORS: 2.7 million (2024)
13th most visited US National Park (out of 63)
BECAME A NATIONAL PARK: 2019
TOP THING TO DO: Hike the 3 Dunes Challenge

DAY 1

On Today’s Agenda:

Arrive in Chesterton, Indiana
Visit the Bailly Homestead and Chellburg Farm
Dinner: Lucrezia

We drove from our home in Kentucky to Chesterton, Indiana, arriving in the afternoon. After checking in to our hotel, unpacking, and a quick gym session, we had just enough time to check out both the Bailly Homestead and Chellburg Farm before sunset. The reason we held off on our visit to the park until this point in the day is because we had dreary weather! In a short period of time, we experienced rain, wind, snowflakes, and sleet on arrival into Chesterton. There was a window of no precipitation in the early evening, so we headed out to visit these historical areas during the short dry spell!

PARKING FOR CHELLBURG FARM AND BAILLY HOMESTEAD: The parking lot to reach both Chellburg Farm and Bailly Homestead is the Bailly-Chellburg Lot located on Mineral Road. From the parking lot take the trail 0.1 miles to the right to reach the Chellburg Farm. Take the trail 0.3 miles to the left to reach the Bailly Homestead. It is about 1 mile total to walk from the parking lot to Chellburg Farm, from Chellburg Farm to Bailly Homestead, and from Bailly Homestead back to the parking lot, completing a loop.

Chellburg Farm and Bailly Homestead

We were the only people here on this chilly early March evening! Not only did we appreciate the historical aspect of the Chellburg Farm, but along the walking trail we saw numerous large tins attached to maple trees, a sign of the season.

The Bailly/Chellburg Trail, with sap collectors on the maple trees

That’s right, the tins were collecting maple syrup! I peeked into a tin and it was about half full with this sugary goodness…yum! We also saw some interesting set ups for maple surgaring from the trail.

Early spring is a great time to see maple sugaring processes

Continuing down the path, we checked out the home and the farm. The home was closed at the time of our visit, but we read the signs on the property to learn about it.

The Chellburg Farm

After visiting Chellburg Farm, we headed back down the path to where we started and continued on in the other direction to the Bailly Homestead.

The Bailly/Chellburg Trail

The homestead was under construction, hence the pics! The ground was muddy and saturated, thanks to the rain and wintry mix from earlier in the day.

The Bailly Homestead, under construction during our visit

We checked out the small cabins on the property and then headed back to the car as dusk was setting in.

Historical cabins on the Bailly Homestead

As soon as we arrived back at the car, rain began to fall. Perfect timing!

WILDLIFE AT CHELLBURG FARM: During our visit, we saw a massive raccoon ambling across the field. When walking from the Chellburg Farm to the Bailly Homestead along the trail we heard owls hooting in the distance and spotted them in a far off tree. One owl flew off while the other stood its ground on the tree branch. Huge gray squirrels also frequently crossed our path.

We ended our rainy evening indoors at the lovely restaurant, Lucrezia. Lucrezia is a small and cozy Italian restaurant with friendly staff and delicious food!

Lucrezia in Chesterton, Indiana

Day 2

On Today’s Agenda:

The Indiana Dunes National Park Visitors Center
Hike the Dunes Succession Trail
Visit West Beach
See the Shelf Ice at Dune’s Pavilion
Hike the 3 Dunes Challenge
Picnic Lunch
Visit the 1933 World’s Fair Century of Progress Homes

The Visitors Center

Our first stop of the day was to stop at the visitors center. Here, we secured our national parks pass. We also checked out the exhibits and stopped at the gift shop before heading out for our first hike of the day.

The Indiana Dunes National Park Visitor’s Center

Dunes Succession Trail

We started off our morning at the Dunes Succession Trail, also known as the Diana of the Dunes Dare. Diana of the Dunes was actually Alice Mabel Gray, a lady who shed her city life in Chicago for one of freedom living among the dunes. She earned the nickname Diana as locals believed she was similar to Diana, the Roman goddess of wild animals. The Dunes Succession Trail is also called Diana’s Dare as in do you dare to hike the dunes and explore the ecology of the region as Diana did?!

From the parking lot, this is the beginning of the Dunes Succession Trail

We parked at the large lot below the beginning of the Dunes Succession Trail and started the climb up the stairs.

Stairs at the beginning of the Dunes Succession Trail

When you reach a few flights up, take a look out over Lake Michigan – you can see the skyline of Chicago in the distance on a clear day!

Chicago skyline in the distance

The trail continues to meander up and over the dune, through the woods, and up another smaller dune, finally ending at West Beach.

Scenes from the Dunes Succession Trail

The golden dunes near the beach are beautiful, especially against the deep blue color of Lake Michigan.

Dunes along the Dunes Succession Trail

West beach is beautiful, with its wide stretch of golden sand. In the summer months it is a popular spot!

West Beach

Looking to the end of the beach, you do see the steel mills puffing out smoke. Not a typical site at a national park, but the area that is protected is beautiful for sure.

Steel mills bookend West Beach

Dunes Pavilion & The Shelf Ice

From here, we headed to the Dune’s Pavilion, a historical building that was built in the 1930s. It was closed during our visit in early March, however during the summer season the general store, cafe, and rooftop are all open for business.

Dunes Pavilion

Right at the parking lot is the beginning of a trail called Devil’s Slide.

Devil’s Slide

Along the shoreline are the shelf ice, an interesting phenomenon that also make for beautiful photos. This is something unique to a visit in the winter/early spring months.

Shelf Ice on the shore of Lake Michigan

What is Shelf Ice?

Shelf ice forms when the top of the wave freezes from the beach to the shoreline, with the water below remaining unfrozen. The shelf ice are dangerous, as they look solid, however are very unstable, meaning you should NOT walk on them.

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service

3 Dunes Challenge

From the Dunes Pavilion, we headed into Indiana Dunes State Park to hike the 3 Dunes Challenge.

Indiana Dunes National Park, State Park, and National Lakeshore

Collectively, this area is known as Indiana Dunes. Some areas are part of the national park, some the state park, and other areas are part of the national lake shore. It was easy to go from one area to the next. First, we stopped at the Indiana Dunes Visitor’s Center and purchased our national park pass. As we drove from the national park into the state park, we just stopped at the pay booth on the way in. During our 2025 visit, the cost to visit Indiana Dunes State Park was $12 per vehicle.

We parked at the lot at the beginning of Trail 8 to begin the 3 Dunes Challenge.

The beginning of the 3 Dunes Challenge on Trail 8

Almost immediately the trail started to climb, taking us up the first dune, Mt. Jackson.

The climb up Mt. Jackson

Mt. Jackson features a 31 degree slope with an elevation of 176 feet.

The top of Mt. Jackson

Down Mt. Jackson and up to the next dune, Mt. Holden, which has a 38 degree slope angle and an elevation of 184 feet.

The top of Mt. Holden, with a view of the lake and shelf ice

In between dunes, the trail was a pretty soft dirt path with valleys and trees surrounding us.

It was time for the push up the last dune, Mt. Tom, up all these stairs!

Stairs up Mt. Tom

The stairs were definitely easier than hiking up the sand. This final dune had a nice view over Lake Michigan (along with steel mills in the distance). Mt. Tom’s slope angle is the largest at 43 degrees with an elevation of 192 feet, the highest of the three dunes.

We did it! Completing the final dune, Mt. Tom

The entire 1.4 mile loop took us just about 45 minutes. From the top of Mt. Tom, we headed down these stairs, a short path in the woods, and ended at the nature center where we enjoyed a picnic outdoors.

Stairs leading down Mt. Tom

After our picnic we had one more stop in Indiana Dunes, the 1933 Century of Progress Homes.

1933 Century of Progress Homes

These five homes were featured at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago, a time during the Great Depression where people were hopeful about better times ahead. At the time, these homes featured some innovative elements such as solar warming, air conditioning, dishwashers and new types of building materials. Each of the homes has a unique story. The Armco-Ferro House was the first creation of a pre-fabricated home, a home style that would soon grace many suburbs in America.

Contrasting against blue Lake Michigan, the bright pink Florida Tropical House was designed to bring the indoors and outdoors together with large windows and outdoor terraces.

The Florida Tropical House

The Cypress Log Cabin was made of what was thought to be “eternal wood”, as the cypress is resistant to rot and decay.

The Cypress Log Cabin

These homes were moved to the Lake Michigan shoreline and incorporated into the national park due to their historical aspects. The homes can be viewed from the outside only as they are privately owned. You can read the signs outside each home to learn about that particular home.

INFORMATION ON VISITING THE 1933 CENTURY OF PROGRESS HOMES

PARKING: Parking is located right on W Lake Front Drive. There are limited spots available, so if you visit during high season, arrive early or expect to wait. Visits to the homes take generally 15-20 minutes so vehicle turnover is frequent. During our early March visit, we were the only ones here! Another benefit of visiting in the off season!

TOURS: Every year, Indiana Landmarks sponsors a tour of the interior of the homes. According to the national parks website, tickets to the event are held on the last weekend in September. Tickets go on sale sometime in August and sell out very quickly. For more information, check out the Indiana Landmarks website.

About Our Off-Season Visit

We were visiting family nearby so we decided to knock Indiana Dunes National Park off our list. The exact dates of our visit were March 7 and 8, 2025. On March 7, we were met with rain, snow, sleet, and wind, with a small pocket of dry weather. We knew we didn’t want to be hiking on wet sand after the wet day nor did we want to get stuck hiking in case the weather turned again, so we opted to visit the historical sites of the Chellburg Farm and Bailly Homestead. This worked out great because the parking lot to visit these two areas was relatively close at 0.1 miles to the Chellburg Farm and 0.3 miles to the Bailly Homestead. If it suddenly started to rain, we could get back to our vehicle quickly. The ground was a bit mucky, but luckily the rain held out and we had the entire site to ourselves.

The next day, the temperatures were mid 30s-40s but the sky was a brilliant shade of blue and we were very comfortable while hiking. It was late winter/very early spring so we had low expectations and were thankful for the great weather on our second day!

Because we visited in early March, though, the trees and flowers were not in bloom, which is why we skipped some of the trails that take you through beautiful woodlands. They were brown and dry at this time of year.

So what is our final verdict on visiting this park in the off-season? Well, sometimes life takes you nearby a destination and a visit is worth it no matter the time of year. We had great weather on our second day during our hikes. The weather was comfortable for hiking and we sure enjoyed the blue skies and sunshine even though it was only in the 40s. We also got to see the ice shelves, which is unique to the winter months. And seeing maple surgaring going on at Chellburg Farm is something that happens only in the early spring months. Our verdict – go when you can! Each season has its special aspects. Not only that, but the crowds were relatively low, which is always nice when parking and hiking trails. All in all we had a great visit to Indiana Dunes National Park!

OUR PACKING LIST

Here is our packing list for Indiana Dunes National Park:

Our go-to hiking backpacks are Osprey brand. They are very lightweight and comfortable and carry all our essentials. You can find the backpacks in a variety of colors and capacities.
Camelback water reservoirs are a must when hiking.
I really like these Black Diamond trekking poles. These fold up and are lightweight, especially great for packing when traveling and taking along on hikes. These were especially helpful when climbing the sandy dunes!
No hike should be without a mini first aid kit!
Bug spray & bug bracelets: We are frequent users of Cliganic bracelets, which you can find here.