A Beach Paradise Between Two Power Plants: Indiana Dunes National Park
Park #3 of 63
When I think of Indiana, I don’t usually think of a beach vacation — but that’s exactly what I ended up experiencing when I visited this past week!
As some of you probably already know, I have a goal of visiting every national park in the US. I had already visited Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and for the last couple of months, I’d been trying to decide which one to add next. I was considering several closer to the East Coast, but instead, I ended up seeing one of the relatively few Midwest parks due to a trip to visit friends in Chicago (Indiana Dunes is about a one-hour drive from the city or a two-hour train ride).
I started off at the visitor’s center, where I watched a short film about the park. I love beginning my visits this way because it provides a bit of history and context for what I’m about to see on my hikes.
From there, I headed to the far eastern edge of the park, which is where the tallest dune, Mount Baldy, is. While it’s a beautiful section of the park, the view is unfortunately marred by a power plant, which brings me to some sad history.
