Indiana Dunes State Park

Indiana Dunes State Park, near Chesterton, sits along Lake Michigan and is surrounded by the larger Indiana Dunes National Park. Its dunes, including Mount Tom, one of the tallest in the state park at around 190 feet, rise steeply from a three-mile stretch of beach. In the 1890s, botanist Henry Cowles conducted pioneering studies here on how plant communities change over time as dunes stabilize, work now considered foundational to the modern science of ecology. The park's mix of beach, dune, and forest supports an unusually wide range of plant life for its size.