Tuesday was the 104th anniversary of the National Park Service. Chance and I got an early start for a beach walk at Indiana Dunes National Park—only an hour drive away! The website said West Beach was open after earlier Covid-19 closures, and dogs (Bark Rangers) were welcome. However, the gates were locked when we got there. A look on Google Maps showed a trail nearby called Tolleston Dunes, so off to an inland dunes hike. What a wonderful detour. The trail starts in an oak savanna.
The trail was giving clues that some early autumn colors would await us as leaves of sassafras were turning a brilliant red.
Tolleston Dunes is a couple miles inland from the current Lake Michigan shore. 10,000 years ago, the Lake was 25 feet higher, and this was the shoreline. The high ridged dunes are now covered in vegetation and offer a bit of climbing in the usual flat area, and even some overlook views to the black oak savanna and the marsh area next to it.
Further away from the lake are a third and fourth wave of ancient dunes. Caught between these dunes lines are marsh areas. Indiana Dunes is the seventh most biodiverse national park site. Not only are there these closely packed geologic changes, the park sits on the western edge of the eastern hardwood forests and the eastern edge of the Great Plains, and is on the great flyway for the birds migrating north and south along the Lake Michigan shore.
The marsh grasses are huge. Fortunately, Chance was available to provide a sense of scale.
Prairie flowers and grasses were being to show their autumn character.
Chance seemed to say, “make sure to see these yellow ferns.”
We were delighted to stumble across this wonderful trail and be surprised by unexpected summer and fall color and diversity, and have a great walk to celebrate the park system anniversary. When we got back home, I checked the park website again to see if there was more information about the West Beach access. Sure enough, I had failed to see before that beach didn’t open until 8 a.m. Chance and I will need to take another trip to try the beach, but for now he asked, “do I look best surrounded by white, yellow, or red?” He also says, “You can follow my adventures on Instagram at Bark.Ranger.Chance. “
