Top 10 Indiana Dunes Outdoor Dining Experiences
The top 10 outdoor dining experiences locals love in the Indiana Dunes.
Do More in the Dunes
Bikes, brews, best stays, places to play, and so much more. Define your Dunes getaway for yourself with the help of our local stories.
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Locals Love
Wildlife
Is That a Viceroy or a Monarch?
A native plant expert explains the subtle differences between monarchs and viceroys that can help you identify one from the other in the field.
Beaches
Which Indiana Dunes Beach Should You Visit?
Thinking about visiting the Indiana Dunes and wondering which beach you should visit? This guide will help you decide!
Wildlife
The Upside-Down Bird With the Strange Song
Bobolinks have color unlike most birds and have a strange, metallic sounding song.
Things to Do
Mask-Uerade Video Contest
Take a photo or video of yourself or someone you know wearing a mask outside in Porter County and be entered to win prizes!
Visitor Center
Our Hoosier Hospitality Promise
The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center has taken the Hoosier Hospitality Promise to help keep our staff and visitors safe and healthy.
Attractions & Recreation
49er Drive-In Theatre: Family Fun With a 1950s Feel
The 49er Drive-In Theatre is Northwest Indiana’s only drive-in theater. Enjoy all the aspects of a 1950s drive-in merged with modern-day convenience.
Eat & Drink
The Port Drive-In: A Chesterton Icon
As Porter County’s only drive-in restaurant, The Port Drive-In is a blast from the past and is one of the Indiana Dunes area’s must-sees & dos.
Wildlife
Sedges Are a Buffet for Bison in the Indiana Dunes
Kankakee Sands bison spend much of their grazing time consuming sedges; allowing a young bison calf born at just 40 pounds to mature to a 1600-pound…
Places to Stay
Valparaiso Inn Bed & Breakfast
Each of Valparaiso Inn's suites is furnished with period antiques and private bathrooms with features like clawfoot soaking tubs or two-person…
Wildlife
Dung Beetles and Bison!
We often talk about the types of plants that our Kankakee Sands bison are eating, and how that will affect the prairies. What we rarely talk about is…
Wildlife
Bison Calves at Kankakee Sands
Bison calves arrive at Kankakee Sands in the Indiana Dunes.
Doing the Dunes - Family Hikes in Indiana Dunes
By Heather Tallman
Every summer my family of four travels the Midwest in search of adventure. Last summer, while on our traditional summer weeklong trip to the Indiana Dunes area, I stumbled upon something new. Uncharted territory. A new adventure.