Indiana Dunes is听no stranger to homemade signs. Folks along the south shore of Lake Michigan have been hoisting Save the Dunes听placards听. But last Friday, a new sign was made.听It was cardboard, with Park听written in Sharpie. A ranger held it for a photo at the entrance to听the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, so that it read Indiana Dunes National Park. It was the end of a century-long battle that, in true Midwest fashion, concluded modestly. No big to-do, just a few smiling faces and that sign.
The dunes climb听200 feet above freshwater beaches听and descend听into swales and pine forests filled with hundreds of bird species听and endangered prairie. The park鈥檚 1,100 native plants make it the fourth most diverse in plant life within the entire National Park System. The Great Marsh restoration has brought back migratory birds听like sandhill cranes. But the most unique area of the park is its oak savannahs鈥攚here mature black oaks grow scattered among Midwestern wildflowers鈥攚hich once spread across 50 million acres from Michigan to Nebraska.
Just 50 miles from Chicago, the park saw 2.1 million visitors in 2017; its听new designation makes it the 14th most visited national park in the country. The preserve听protects 15 miles of shoreline, and within its 15,000 acres are 50 miles of hiking trails听with equestrian and cross-country-ski routes. Kayakers can enjoy paddling on the lake or join canoers inland on the newly restored Little Calumet River waterway.
Those looking for something more relaxing can watch the sun ease behind the Chicago skyline from one of the park鈥檚 eight beaches. The eastern ones听are dog friendly, as are most of the park鈥檚 trails. Its campground is听just a quarter-mile from the South Shore electric train听(running between Chicago and South Bend)听and has 66 campsites听with gas and convenience stores nearby.
The redesignation as a national park was written into听,听a controversial spending bill signed by President Donald Trump that increased border-security funding and threatened to shut down the government.听The inclusion is odd鈥攖he Trump administration 听making the area a national park last summer鈥攂ut it marks the end of听an effort started in 1916 by , the first director of the National Park Service.
In a hearing Mather held two months after the National Park Service听was created, he advocated for the creation of Sand Dunes National Park along the Indiana shore. Industrial interests spent the next four decades fighting for a larger port in the area instead. They met their match in 1952, when Dorothy Buell鈥檚 aggressively organized for federal protection. Eventually, Illinois senator Paul H. Douglas joined the protection听cause, and in 1966 the Indiana Dunes 听managed by the National Park Service.
As a national park, the Indiana Dunes aren鈥檛 expecting increased attendance, according to Indiana Dunes听public information officer Bruce Rowe,听who cited听the fact that Cleveland鈥檚 Cuyahoga Valley saw no major increase in visitors when it went from a natural recreation area to a national park in 2000.听Rowe says听the only change will be renaming a trail after Senator Douglas, which will join听the existing Dorothy Buell Visitor Center to honor their efforts in protecting the park.
Rowe hopes the new name will pull people beyond the beach. 鈥淲hile the beach and sand dunes will always be our primary draw for the public, we want visitors to get a chance to experience more of this great national park,鈥 he says.
Sometime in the near future, the national park will get a new (formal) sign. Officials say听they don鈥檛 have anything planned to celebrate yet, but in the meantime, visitors to听Indiana Dunes can continue to find the same things they always have: lots of sand, waterfront views, and an experience in nature unique to the Hoosier State.