Ahhh, summer and the ideal get-away – a place with plenty of sun, sand between the toes and the rhythmic sound of waves – is calling. And it’s calling from the nation’s newest national park on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan.
Long established and known as Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, this spring, the lakeshore received a new name – Indiana Dunes National Park. It is a change that many anticipate bringing in new visitors and new ideas to a familiar place for generations of families in the region.
“Local and state tourism boards are very interested in promoting the park as a ‘National Park’ since the visiting public tends to have a greater understanding of what a ‘National Park’ is compared to a National Lakeshore and has the perception that a “National Park” is of a higher quality than the other park designations,” said Supervisory Park Ranger Bruce Rowe.
Indiana Dunes is the 61st national park and the first in the state of Indiana. Encompassing 15,000 acres of non-contiguous land on the shores of Lake Michigan, Indiana Dunes is well known for its beach access, an attraction that fills parking lots during the summer. But there is more to the park than the lakeshore. There is a trail system and soon to be completed river access to the Little Calumet River.
”From a resource protection, management and funding standpoint, the name change will have no effect on the park,” Rowe said. “All 419 National Park Service sites, no matter what their name is: National Park, National Lakeshore, National Seashore, National Battlefield, National Monument, etc. are managed under the same policies. For example, there will be no increase in the size of the park, in air quality standards, or the size of our budget based on the name change.
“We do believe that the name change will increase the profile of the park as far as publicity is concerned. For instance, there are some guidebooks that only list the 61 parks who have “National Park” in their name – Yellowstone National Park, for example,” Rowe explained. “They do not include National Lakeshores, National Seashores, etc. Also for example, the Ken Burns PBS documentary on the national parks only included the (then) 59 ‘National Parks,’ but not any mention of the National Lakeshores, National Seashores and others in the system.”
That view is shared by the national park’s neighbor, Indiana Dunes State Park.
“The change will certainly bring new guests to the region who have a passion for visiting sites with the “national park” designation,” agreed Ginger Murphy, Deputy Director of Indiana State Parks.
Murphy is hoping that those visiting the “new” national park will also visit the state park. There, the state has set aside three miles of beaches, 17 miles of hiking trails and a Lake Michigan observation tower that is often used by birding enthusiasts. The state park adds an additional 2,182 acres of dune and wetland habitat to the area.
Attendance in 2018 totaled almost 1.5 million visitors to the state park.
Aerial view of most of the Indiana Dunes shoreline and acreage. [Photo by NPS]
Because the state park has a designated entrance gate, attendance is easily measured. The national park’s spread out locations make the task of determining attendance a little more complicated, Rowe said. Still, an estimated 3.5 million visitors visited the national lakeshore last year.
These visitors’ experiences help raise awareness of the ecological treasure of the duneland region, Murphy said.
“Nearly 1,600 acres of the state park is protected as a designated state nature preserve because of the unique natural resources found there and trails through these preserves allow guests to understand the region’s ecological significance,” Murphy said.
She describes the relationship between the state park and the national park as cooperative.
“The state park has an excellent cooperative relationship with the national park,” Murphy said. “We are of one mind in valuing the natural and historic resources and in providing outstanding guest services. We share information and frequently partner on events and activities.”
While the state park lands are packaged in one parcel, Indiana Dunes National Park includes sites in several communities, including near Michigan City, Beverly Shores, Chesterton, Portage and Miller’s Beach. This feature presents some challenges for the national park, Howe said.
“This segmented park land makes it more difficult to prevent invasive plant species from getting into park habitats,” he explained. “Roads and borders with towns or industry are conduits for these non-native plant species to enter an area and then start to crowd out native plants. While all parks are affected by this problem, ours is a little bit more extensive due to the nature of this park. We have an extensive restoration program that removes the invasives and restores native plants when needed. We also have restored the hydrology and native plants of portions of the Great Marsh within the park.”
While there are no plans to expand the park, there are some positive projects in the works. One of these will make it easier and user-friendly in drawing people to the national park.
“We implemented a reservation system this spring for some sites in our Dunewood Campground,” Howe said. “Previously, all of our campsites were first come, first served, but many people said they didn't dare take the chance of traveling a long distance here without a reservation. We are also allowing the reservation of some park picnic shelters for the same reason.”
The national park is also planning ahead in anticipation of what is hoped to be rising attendance figures.
“There is a possibility, with the greater publicity for the park, that there could be an increase in attendance, but this is not certain,” Rowe said. “But, we are planning for it and we are already dealing with crowding in some beach parking lots during summer weekends. We have been experimenting with a beach shuttle system over the past couple summers and plan to expand it this summer.
The shuttle service provides free rides from two of the South Shore Railroad stations near the park to national park beaches. The South Shore provides direct railway service to Chicago.
“We hope to encourage some people to leave their car at home when coming to the beach,” Rowe said.
Emphasis is also being placed on raising awareness that Indiana Dunes National Park is more than the beach and the dunes.
“Volunteers and partner groups are helping to clear long-time log jams on the last couple miles of the Little Calumet River that runs through the park,” Rowe said. “This summer we will offer the first kayak and canoe programs on this river in many years.”
To promote year-round use, the national park hosts many diverse events. One of these, the Outdoor Adventure Festival, takes place Oct. 4-6. This is the third year for the festival, which offers more than 60 hikes, bikes, paddles, photography workshops, and camping events. The purpose, Rowe said is to “encourage visitors to go beyond the beach and enjoy the 55 miles of trails and other places in the park.”
Other popular events include the Indiana Dunes Apple Festival, Sept. 21 – 22 and the Maple Sugar Time Festival, March 7 - 8 and March 14 - 15, 2020. These two take place at the park's historic Chellberg Farm.
“Both events celebrate the natural and cultural history of the area and draw a few thousand people each,” Rowe said.
In May, birders come to the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival, celebrating the 370 bird species that can be found in the Indiana Dunes.
“There are so many guided field trips that they take place at the park, the nearby state park and other locations around the region, “Rowe added.
And the national park is welcoming the return of the Northwest Indiana Symphony for an evening concert in the dunes at West Beach.
While the national park designation is creating a buzz, state officials will be monitoring their own attendance figures for possible increases, Murphy said.
“It is the metric we use at our state parks to gauge trends and changes in visitation, so we will certainly be able to look at it over the next few years to see if the change in designation for the national park affects state park attendance,” she said.” Of course, weather conditions such as rainfall and temperature, along with when holiday weekends fall are also factors in attendance as well.”
The park became part of the National Park System in 1966 when a bill was passed by Congress and signed by President Johnson designating about 8,400 acres of land as Indiana Dunes National Park. Over the next few years, additional land was added by Congress to the park.
“In 2016, the 50th anniversary of the national lakeshore designation and the 100th anniversary since the first director of the National Park Service proposed a national park in the Indiana Dunes, the Indiana Congressional Delegation proposed renaming us as Indiana Dunes National Park,” Rowe said. “This past February, the legislation to fund the federal government included a section renaming the park as Indiana Dunes National Park and our Miller Woods Trail as the Paul Douglas Trail in honor of the late Illinois Senator who helped pass the 1966 bill establishing the national lakeshore.”