West Beach and the Dune Succession Trail

The bathhouse has restrooms and showers, and picnic areas with grills are close by. The Dune Succession Trail starts here as well. From the parking lot, walk north to the bathhouse to pick up the trail.

The Dune Succession Trail traces how the land changes over thousands of years. Waves, wind and shifting plant communities turn bare beach sand into a dune covered in oak trees. This process is called ecological succession, and it happens as plants slowly alter their surroundings until other species take their place. The trail passes through the four stages of dune development. In the late 1800s, University of Chicago professor Henry Chandler Cowles brought his students here to study succession, and his work showed that plant communities follow a predictable pattern. The dunes became known as the Birthplace of American Ecology because of it.

The trail's most strenuous section is a climb of 270 stairs, and the reward is a view of Lake Michigan and Chicago from the top. Along the way you pass through a pinery of jack pines. These are some of the most southern jack pines in the world, a result of Lake Michigan and glaciers that carried their seeds into the area.

Other parts of the West Beach trail network reward a slower pace. Birders can watch for wildlife along Long Lake, and the Long Lake loop covers about 2.2 miles. For a longer outing, the three loops together make a 3.4-mile hike that takes around 2.5 hours, with wildflowers and wildlife along the way.

After hiking, swim or relax at the beach. Stay on designated trails, since the dunes and ponds are fragile and are being restored.