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| West Beach on Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes National Park. NPS photo. |
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| Dunbar Beach at Indiana Dunes National Park. NPS photo. |
America’s newest national park features seven major beaches (listed here from west to east):
• Miller Beach – The Paul H. Douglas Trail (formerly the Miller Woods Trail) runs 2.1 miles (one-way) through forests to Miller Beach in Gary, Ind. While the Lake Michigan beach doesn’t always offer the greatest views – industry sits on either side of it – is is the closest park beach to Chicago and if hiking to reach it you get to cross incredibly high dunes, a fun adventure on its own. The trail starts at the Douglas Center for Environmental Education. Be aware that temperatures on the beach can be significantly colder or hotter than in the trail’s wooded portion.
• West Beach – Not all of the park’s beaches sit on Lake Michigan. Loop 2 of the 1.2 miles-round trip West Beach Trail heads to a beach on Long Lake; it’s a great spot for birding as well with a viewing platform for watching. If you prefer a beach on the Great Lake, however, no worries; just take the West Beach Trail to the 0.7-mile Dune Succession Trail (which is Loop 1 of the West Beach Trail) and follow it to a Lake Michigan shoreline perfect for sunbathing, building sand castles, or flying a kite. Pick up either trail at the parking lot off of West Beach Road east of County Line Road. The Lake Michigan beach also can be accessed via the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk. This 0.9-mile loop allows hikers to explore the eastern end of West Beach. A fishing pier and 900-foot breakwater leading to a lighthouse adjoin the beach. Both surfing and suntanning are popular on the beach. Start the hike by parking in the second lot off of Riverwalk Drive east of Midwest Steele road.
• Porter Beach – A quarter mile of Lake Michigan beachfront can be hiked near the park’s center. Park in the lot at the end of Waverly Road north of U.S. Hwy. 20. The lot allows you to walk the beach at neighboring Indiana Dunes State Park to Porter Beach’s east. That stretch, if walking northeast, offers industry-free views on the horizon. The west end of Porter Beach also can be accessed via the Cowles Bog Trail, the third or westernmost loop of which runs 0.2 miles along Lake Michigan; you first have to pass vast fen and major dunes, but the reward is an incredible amount of privacy on the beach.
• Kemil Beach – Immediately east of Indiana Dunes State Park, Kemil Beach offers far more than sands and waves. You can take a little time away from the beach umbrella and hike a dune or go birdwatching on the Dune Ridge Trail. A parking lot is off of East State Park Road north of U.S. Hwy. 12.
• Dunbar Beach – Immediately east of Kemil Beach, visiting Dunbar is like going back to the future. In addition to swimming and suntanning, you can walk past five historic homes of tomorrow featured in the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair. Park in the lot off of Lakeshore Drive east of East State Park Road.
• Lake View – While not much different from the adjacent Dunbar Beach, Lake View does offer covered picnic shelters that overlook Lake Michigan. Use the parking lot on Lakeshore Drive west of Broadway; do not park in the Town of Beverly Shores’ private beach parking lot just east of the lot, though, as it’s not part of the national park and can result in a ticket.
• Central Beach – This is one of the better beaches, as it’s far from industry, unlike those on the park’s west side. During spring and summer, bank swallows nest in the dunes. You can access the beach a couple of ways. One is to park at the end of Central Avenue north of U.S. Hwy. 12. For the more adventurous, instead take the Beach Trail, which leads to 0.4 miles of Lake Michigan beachfront at the base of Mount Baldy Dune; the 1.12-miles round trip begins at the parking lot off of Rice Street north of U.S. Hwy. 12 just west of Michigan City, Ind.
