2018 - Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

On May 11th we had planned a 3 hour drive up to The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  The weather brought solid rain from Friday into the wee hours of Monday, trip cancelled.  We pushed it back to the 18th.  We stayed in the National Park Campground, the sites were nicely spaced out.  Rain was coming and just as I finished grilling around 7pm it started.  Fortunately, I brought our shelter and the rear awning.  We ate dinner in the shelter, which worked out great.

It must have rained close to 2" overnight and in the morning there was a slight drizzle and some fog.  It stopped so I got the grill going and whipped up some pancakes.  We removed the awning, dropped the top and decided to explore the park.  The Park is along the southern edge of Lake Michigan.  It stretches from the edge of Gary, IN to close to Michigan City.  There are places where outer areas of the park aren't connected.  You have to drive to the different trails.

The campground is approximately 1.5 miles South of Lake Michigan.  The Indiana State Park is also within the boundaries of the National ParkThe town of Beverly Shores is surrounded on 3 sides by the National Park and to the North by Lake Michigan.  It is an interesting place to visit.  Oh ya,  I almost forgot the sand dunes.  The sand dunes run along the shore of Lake Michigan.

Mount Baldy

We drove through Beverly Shores with their mansion lake houses sitting on the bluff above the road.  We stopped at the great marsh and hiked to the platform overlook where we saw an egret, swan, red wing black bird and many other birds.  The Indiana Bird Festival was being held May 17th - 20th.  The headquarters was at the National Park Visitors Center.  They had a large tent and numerous food trucks were present.  Susan and I grabbed a couple of Chicago Dogs.  We got to listen to people discuss the birds that they saw.  Might have to attend next year.

 Great Marsh

Later in the day Saturday, we decided to visit the Baily Homestead and the Chellberg Farm.

Baily Homestead

Chellberg Farm

This was a short weekend trip.  Rain was forecast for late Saturday night and all day Wednesday.  We decided to pack up everything after dinner and hook up the trailer so we just had to drop the top and go.  The rain never came. We left around 8am and were home by noon.  There is so much to explore with over 15,000 acres and many trails.  We will return.