Instead of shopping on Black Friday, opt outside for an expert-led, family-friendly hike at Indiana Dunes National Park on Friday, November 25, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at West Beach. Co-sponsored by Save the Dunes, the hike will be led by regional experts in fields such as birding, botany, insects, geology, and ecology.

   The hike will be up to 3.5 miles in length with easy cut-offs back to the parking lot for shorter hikes of 1 mile and 2 miles. The hike is moderate in difficulty with 270 stairs and some sections of loose sand.

   Please meet at the West Beach parking lot, located at 376 North County Line Road in Portage, about one half mile north of U.S. Highway 12. For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Park, call (219) 395-1882. You can also visit our website, download the official National Park Service app, or view our Facebook page. For information about the Save the Dunes organization, please visit their website and Facebook page.

   The national park began charging an entrance fee starting on March 31, 2022. The fee is $25 per car for a 1–7-day pass. A $45 annual pass for the Indiana Dunes National Park is also available. Holders of the following federal passes will not pay an entrance fee: Annual, Senior, Veterans/Military/Gold Star Family, 4th Grade, Access (disability), and the Volunteer Passes. For more information on other national park passes and details about the new fee, go to http://www.nps.gov/indu. Please purchase passes or pay entrance fees at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center or at http://www.recreation.gov/sitepass/indu. When parking, display pass or receipt on the rearview mirror or dashboard.

  Indiana Dunes National Park is one of more than 400 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Located in Northwest Indiana, the park includes 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 15,000 acres of biodiverse beaches, woods, prairies, and marshes. Over 3 million visitors come to the Indiana Dunes each year.   back...