This Sandy 1.5-Mile Hike at Indiana Dunes State Park Is Worth the Challenge

When I close my eyes and whisper the name "Indiana," I see a kaleidoscope of beachy blues and beiges streaked by wind-blown greens—core memories from a rewarding Indiana hiking trail. A core memory that evaded me for almost 40 years, until my Midwest kids (raised by the sea) begged me for a beach trip on a 3-day weekend.

Prior to their pleas, I had zero inclination that it was possible to satisfy beach vacay cravings with just a few hours' drive. But, on that warm spring break morning, as I scoured the map for the closest replica of an ocean in the Midwest, my finger paused on Lake Michigan. Indiana’s unexpected shoreline beckoned me like the sea, offering the promise of lapping waves and sand between our toes. From home to shore, the drive was less than four hours. 

As we drove across the Mississippi River and the Illinois plains, carefully avoiding Chicago’s rush hour, it was hard to believe we weren’t about to be duped. Cornfields, congested toll roads, and deserted back roads didn’t feel like a beach trip. However, as a seasoned backup plan artist, I can usually avoid road trip disappointment by strategically including a variety of experiences. I scheduled our day to visit several key areas of the urban shoreline, a drive through Indiana Dunes National Park, and an iconic Indiana hiking trail, The 3 Dune Challenge at Indiana Dunes State Park.

We spent hours wandering Porter, Indiana; hiking the Dune Ridge Trail inside the national park, and then at Beverly Shores, where the turquoise waters and endless beaches sufficiently enamored us. But we were saving the best for last, although we didn’t know it at the time. Sunset was already looming, so we booked a hotel and saved The 3 Dunes Challenge for the next morning. None of us knew how lucky that would be, as a 1.5-trail is generally a breeze for us, taking us 30 minutes, tops, to complete. But not this time.

About 100 steps into The 3 Dune Challenge, we realized this wasn’t a typical Indiana hiking trail. The dunes were no joke, and we immediately doubted our shoe and apparel choices. Straight from the parking lot, our soles sank into powdery soft sand that quickly turned from a flat deer trail into a full-on vertical wall of beach, except we couldn’t see the water. For a moment, it seemed best to ditch the shoes and hike barefoot, until the trail dipped into sandy, forested ravines riddled with sticks, thorns, and rocks. We put our shoes back on, only to have them fill with sand in two steps.

Around the half-hour mark, when we initially thought we’d be finishing, we encountered several groups of hikers, of all ages and athletic abilities, walking towards us. Their brows were dripped in sweat, shoes thrown over their shoulders, and exasperation painted across their faces. “Not worth it,” said one. “Better go back now,” said another. Then, “Good luck with the kids,” and a chuckle. The rest couldn’t get a word out and merely grunted as they went back up the trail the wrong way.

Our kids huddled at our hips, wide-eyed with the challenge, before bursting into a sprint up the next dune. My husband and I agreed that running was the only way. And so we raced, first over Mount Jackson, then over Mount Holden, before summiting Mount Tom, too. Each one rises to over 700 ft in elevation before descending again into the valleys that link them together. By then, we were desperate for the shore and took the Trail 8 Detour that rolled us down to the 15-mile stretch of Indiana Dunes State Park Beach.

The 3 Dunes Challenge took us nearly an hour to complete. We spent a few hours playing on the beach and then took the easy route back to the parking lot along Trail 4, which took approximately 15 minutes. In retrospect, we were thankful that we took this Indiana hiking trail in the morning, not at sunset. It was a full-day adventure, not the 30-minute hike we expected, and it was also the most memorable part of our beach trip to Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline.

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