Indiana Dunes National Park protects a fifteen- to twenty-mile stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline in northwestern Indiana, preserving beaches, dunes, marshes, creeks, prairie, and bogs shaped over thousands of years by retreating glaciers, shifting lake levels, wind, and water. Long used by Native peoples, the area later saw early settlement, including Joseph Bailly and communities such as Chesterton and Porter, while the planned town of City West quickly failed in 1837. Preservation gained momentum after Henry Chandler Cowles highlighted the dunes’ plant life and after Hoosier Slide was destroyed by mining. Expanded through repeated legislation, the preserve became Indiana’s first national park in 2019.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Porter, Indiana · USA