Plan on spending a few hours here, exploring the grounds, having lunch or a snack at the Garden View Café, and shopping for unique items in the Garden Shop. Just one hour north of Chicago sits Chicago Botanic Garden, a haven for plants and flowers from around the globe. Stop by the Visitor’s Center to map out your adventure. Also, park rangers can lead tours throughout the park. Travel Tip: Kids can become Junior Rangers and visit the park with a Discovery Guide. The Indiana Dunes Visitors Center is on Indiana State Road 49. Highways 12 and 20, or other state roads. Getting There: To get to the park, take Interstate 94, exit 26 north the Indiana Toll Road (I-80/90), exit 31 north U.S. History buffs will enjoy visiting one of the sixty historic structures-the Bailly Homestead, Camp Good Fellow, Chellberg Farm, and a handful of houses from the 1933 World’s Fair are the most significant. Get the Geocaching app on your phone and find hidden containers while also enjoying nature and being outside. The Great Blue Heron rookery can be found along the national lakeshore as well.Ĭamp overnight at Dunewood Campground or fish in the Little Calumet River during the warmer months.

Keep your eyes out for threatened Pitcher’s thistle and snap photos of white-tailed deer, the largest herbivore found here. Play on 15 miles of Lake Michigan’s southern shore, watch for migrating and regular nesting birds-hawks, wetland birds, woodpeckers-and hike on 50 miles of trails that cut through and over dunes, wetlands, prairies, forests, and rivers. Swim and hike in the summer or snowshoe and cross-country ski in the winter. Our country’s 61st National Park, Indiana Dunes National Park, has much to offer in a tight package.

Day trips from chicago