Indiana Dunes

We left Indianapolis with a working washing machine but no power cord (it was stolen at the RV park) and no drinking water hose (we trashed it because of a gross neighbor). Needless to say, we were happy to get back on our planned schedule at Indiana Dunes. Along Indiana’s lakeshore is Indiana Dunes State Park, where we camped, and it is surrounded by Indiana Dunes National Park.

The campground would be an excellent homebase for RVers wanting to visit Chicago because the South Shore Line commuter train that links South Bend and Chicago has a stop right outside the park.

We started with the very popular 3 Dune Challenge. It is interesting how forested the dunes are here in northern Indiana.

A nice amenity at the State Park is a rooftop restaurant with great views of Lake Michigan and Chicago.

To visit the National Park, we chose to hike the Cowles Bog trail.

One major reason for the dunes’ National Park designation is their historical significance of being the birthplace of ecology, when University of Chicago scientists studied plant succession here in the 1890s. For decades conservationists fought to protect the area from the industry until it finally became a National Lakeshore in 1966 and then a National Park in 2019.

Other places in the National Park that we visited were Mount Baldy, a huge dune that is taking over the parking lot, and the historic district of homes that were initially debuted at the Chicago World Fair. The homes are privately owned and you can only view them from the street.

Next, we headed back to the Shipshewana RV Service Center because we had a minor warranty item that couldn’t be fixed during our July appointment. I booked the same campsite along the road so that we could watch the Amish buggies go by.

Before leaving Indiana we wanted to visit the RV Hall of Fame museum in Elkhart, and it was fun to see many of the original RVs and trailers made in this area.

Next up is Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Cleveland, Ohio!