Indiana Dunes: Chicago’s Beautiful Backyard

What relaxes you most when you visit the beach?

“Someday you may happen at the dunes when the silence will be the charm . . . The calm at the dunes is to be felt; it cannot be spoken.” (E. Stillman Bailey)

To begin this latest entry, I must confess that the windswept shoreline of Indiana Dunes National Park appeared at the right moment on Monday. For after driving through a heavily congested Joliet, Illinois and Gary, Indiana corridor on our road trip route on Sunday, I embraced this special place along the open Lake Michigan shoreline with wholehearted satisfaction. How quickly this pristinely beautiful park could easily disappear without continued government protection from such rampant urban development also crossed my mind at this time.

Know then our brief visit the next morning began at the park’s Visitor Center, where we watched an introductory film explaining the historical and ecological significance of this federal/state protected dune region. From there, we headed toward scenic West Beach to take photos as we embraced the calming atmosphere surrounding us of its remote beach locations, windswept sand dune formations and the endless blue sky horizons towering above the lake. As we ended this excursion with a quiet picnic lunch, I felt restorative relief to slow down our pace for the remainder of this road trip. Upon further reflection, Indiana Dunes influenced me to prioritize visiting parks more often. In particular, nature’s  power to heal physical discomfort, quiet my mind and restore a clearer focus perspective that I need at the time might exist much closer to home than I currently realize.