Choosing Among the Park's Nine Beaches

Many parking lots serve different shorelines, so it helps to know what each one offers before you pick a spot.

Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk centers on a pavilion of 3,500 square feet. Inside, you'll find public restrooms, a snack bar that runs only part of the year, and a glass-walled room for classes or meetings. The jetty is a favorite spot for fishing, and swimming is available along the lakefront. The land here once held settling ponds for a steel company's industrial waste and a sewage treatment plant, and it has since been restored to dune habitat. The loop trail covers 0.9 miles and is mostly wheelchair accessible, though it runs past the nearby steel mill and power plants.

Kemil Beach and Dunbar Beach lie side by side east of Indiana Dunes State Park, so their views are much alike. Kemil Beach has year-round restrooms and drinking water, and its lot is where the Dune Ridge Trail begins. That 0.7 mile path overlooks wetlands and forest. Dunbar Beach has its own lot, which leads to the beach and to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair Century of Progress Homes. The Kemil lot is paved and can fill quickly on summer weekends, so plan to arrive early.

Mount Baldy feels different underfoot. Pebbles smoothed by water are mixed into the sand, so you can feel them between your toes as you walk.

Whichever beach you visit, stay on marked trails, since leaving them damages fragile dune plants. Ticks are present all year, so take precautions against bites, and watch for poison ivy along parking lot edges and the paths to the sand. Glass and fires are not allowed on the beach. Please leave plants, rocks, shells and fossils where you find them.