Indiana Dunes National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation's 61st national park on February 15, 2019. The park runs for about though even that was a short lived permanency. Beginning in the 1500s, European exploration and trade introduced more changes to the human environment. Tribal animosities and traditional European competition affected tribal relations. Entire populations began moving westward, while others sought to dominate large geographic trading areas. Once again, the dunes became a middle point on a journey from the east or the west. It continued to remain a key hunting ground for villages over a wide area.

It wasn't until the 19th century that native villages once again were scattered through the area, but this was soon followed by European settlement. Joseph Bailly was the earliest recorded settler in the dunes. He moved here from trading villages around Niles, Michigan. Settling along the Calumet River. it was partly built in 1837 but failed that summer, during a national economic panic. The remains of the town, partly carted off to be used as lumber, were located near where the pavilion in the state park now stands, until a forest fire in the 1850s destroyed whatever was left. a movement began to preserve the dunes habitat. In 1916, the visionary National Parks Director Stephen Mather held hearings in Chicago on a "Sand Dunes National Park". Another factor leading to the desire to preserve the dunes was the disappearance of the Hoosier Slide, a particularly large dune along this shore. The sand from this dune was found to be ideal for glass manufacture, and much of this sand was transported to the Ball Brothers and Hemingray Glass Co. plants in Muncie, producing the well-known 'Ball Blue' canning jars and 'Hemingray Blue' insulators. The Hoosier Slide was completely consumed by 1920, and a power plant sits on the site today. In 1926, the Indiana Dunes State Park opened. In the 1950s, a desire to maximize economic development through a "Port of Indiana" spurred interest in preservation. The Save the Dunes Council, including its president Dorothy Richardson Buell and activist Hazel Hannell, began a nationwide campaign to buy the land. Their first success was the purchase of in Porter County, the Cowles Tamarack Bog. Deputy Director of the National Park Service Paul Daniel Smith testified that the Service opposed the redesignation because it would be inconsistent with the Service's naming conventions and the Indiana Dunes have more in common with other national lakeshores and seashores than national parks, which are typically much larger.

H.R. 1488 originally passed in the House of Representatives on November 1, 2017, but it did not receive a vote in the Senate during the 115th Congress. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019 included the bill as a provision and was signed by President Donald Trump on February 15, creating the country's 61st National Park and the first in Indiana.

Geography

The creeks and rivers of the national park include:

  • Dunes Creek is a northwards-flowing stream which drains the flows northward, receiving first the Great Marsh tributary from the east and then the West Branch tributary which drains Cowles Bog. Dunes Creek passes through the coastal sand dunes to empty into Lake Michigan.
  • East Arm Little Calumet River, also known as the "East Branch Little Calumet River", is a portion of the Little Calumet River
  • Salt Creek is a
  • Trail Creek is a north- by northwest-flowing stream

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Indiana Dunes National Park has a hot summer Humid continental climate (Dfa). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the plant hardiness zone at Indiana Dunes National Park at 614 ft (187 m) is 6a with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of −9.4 °F (−23.0 °C).

The primary feature of Indiana Dunes National Park is Lake Michigan. The lake brings with it several weather-related conditions that can create threats to the enjoyment of the area.

  • Winter: Winter months bring the risk of shelf ice. This is a condition where the winter winds push ice from Lake Michigan onto the beaches. As the cold depends, the ice can build up into long ridges creating an arctic dunescape. Much of this ice is floating. It may be dangerous to walk on the ice as there can be air pockets into which you can sink. Rescue is extremely difficult.
  • Summer: During the summer months, rip currents can occur in Lake Michigan. These occur suddenly and can sweep swimmers far out into the lake. Rip currents are most prevalent on days with a strong north wind. Rip currents are created when masses of water are pushed against the shoreline by a north wind. The mass of water becomes trapped between the beach and the first sandbar. As the wind continues, the volume of water increases until weight of incoming water and the mass of the sandbar are unable push back the growing volume of water behind the sandbar. Then, the trapped water creates a narrow channel through the sandbar. The water rushes back into the lake forming a river in the lake. Anything or anyone in the current is taken out into the lake.

Geology

thumb|Glacial [[Lake Chicago, 14,000 years before present. In this map, the present dunes park area is covered by the lake at left. Formation of the dunes is in part due to action of the advancing and receding melt water.]]The Lake Michigan Basin was formed during the Wisconsin Glacial Period. The Michigan Lobe of the continental glacier began its retreat northward over 20,000 years before present (YBP) forming the southern shore of the Lake Michigan Basin.

The Valparaiso Moraine is the dominant geologic form that created the various landscape forms of the Indiana Dunes about 40,000 YBP.

During the periods of glacial retreat, there were periods of stability. During these times, glacial lakes formed along the southern borders of the glaciers, bound into the Lake Michigan Basin by the recessional moraines. Four major glacial lake periods created the Indiana Dunes. They are the glacial Lake Chicago (14,000 YBP), glacial Lake Algonquin (9,000 YBP), glacial Lake Chippewa (7,000 YBP), and the Nipissing Great Lakes stage (4,000 YBP). Once the glaciers had fully retreated from the Lake Michigan basin, after the Lake Nipissing stage, the same factors that created the dunes south of the current shoreline, expanded the existing shoreline.

Rare, threatened, and endangered species

The park includes habitats for several rare plants and animals. The park has more than 1,400 species of vascular plants, ranking it 8th in total plant species among all units of the National Park System. At least two plant species are on the Federal list of Threatened and Endangered Species:

  • Mead's milkweed (Asclepias meadii)
  • Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri)

Several others are on the list of state T&E species. Populations of each plant group are estimated to be around 100–120 individual plants. The species included are:

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|Birds of the Indiana Dunes

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|Reptiles or Reptilia

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