Indiana Dunes trails offer pandemic detox
Northwest Indiana is known for industry, where beaches are usually in sight of a steel mill, oil refinery or power plant. But for scientists and enthusiasts, it’s just as famous for its biodiversity.
Growing up and living all but a decade here, I’m ashamed to say most of my time at the Indiana Dunes State Park was usually spent at Porter Beach, like big crowds this summer.
A silver lining in this pandemic is that it’s given my husband Joe the opportunity to show me around some beautiful trails at the Indiana Dunes National Park and elsewhere that I would have expected in other parts of the country.
In fact, Indiana Dunes is the fourth most biodiverse U.S. National Park, after the Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon and Yosemite, according to the National Park Service. With 15,000 acres, it has over 1,100 plant species with more than 350 different migrating bird species, according to its website.
The pandemic has accelerated my husband’s interest in birds, with a new Indiana Audubon Society book on hand and an app now within reach. We are looking forward to its famous Indiana Dunes Birding Festival when it can resume, as it’s been cancelled this year as a precaution.
As an amateur hiker, I have questions, like, “What bird did we just see?” Or,
“How is this tree growing out the side of a sand dune?” and “Why is this random pine tree growing on the beach?”
Tall, shifting sand dunes accelerate birth and death within the ecosystem. Aside from iconic ones at Porter Beach, habitats stretching from Gary to Michigan City vary and include swamps, bogs, marshes, prairies, rivers, forests and oak savannas.
The hike at Gary’s Miller Woods is always a standby favorite.
Near Chesterton, the 4,000-year-old Cowles Bog Wetland Complex is a jewel, with lush greenery that made me feel almost like we were in Seattle. It’s named for the late University of Chicago botany professor Henry Chandler Cowles, who helped establish the field of ecology, based on his work at the Dunes in the early 20th century.
On a trail in Michigan City, we saw a Great Blue Heron spread its wings and take flight.
Back in Porter County, West Beach’s trails were like a magic sand forest — my personal favorite. Climbing up 250 stairs on the Dunes Trail Succession Loop, you enter this beautiful forest, while hiking out to the beach.
Along the way, we saw prickly pear cacti, pine trees, wildflowers, birds, trains, and a steel mill with Lake Michigan within the same ecosystem. I’ve been lucky enough to see some beautiful nature at Yosemite, the Smoky Mountains, rugged West Texas, and the Black Hills in South Dakota.
None of them involve hiking through a forest out to the beach.
As we all do our best to get through this pandemic, we need a break to detox in nature. I’m grateful to have this so close to home.