One Day in Indiana Dunes National Park | Ep. 83

Watch as we spend one day in Indiana Dunes National Park. It's one of the newest National Parks, only becoming a National Park in 2019. Indiana Dunes is our 4th National Park of 50 that exist in the continental US, follow along on our road trip as we take our self-converted Ram Promaster to visit the 46 that remain!
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Traveling is embedded into our relationship as we met on a Spring Break cruise in 2016. Since then, we haven't stopped traveling together in the United States and abroad. We left New York in July 2019 to travel the world and we took work with us, including starting a travel vlog. We have made it our mission to slow travel for 16 months throughout South America and Asia and to create travel videos along the way.
Due to the pandemic, we changed course and bought a van to convert into a campervan (#vanlife) to travel to all 50 National Parks in the lower 48 states (excluding Hawaii and Alaska) before Christmas. We are Brandon and Erin, follow the journey and stay tuned.
#roadtrip #nationalparks

[@HELLSPAWN-hl6dq]

Wow that place has changed so much in the past thirty years. Now there is a walk way to get to the lake. I remember having to walk up and down the dunes.

[@stevegantz8620]

We live near the Dunes. Our favorite thing is to drive over (about 1/2 hour from our house) and sit and watch the sunset in the summer, swim, gaze at Chicago, etc. When the waves perk up this place gets wild. Glad you discovered them.

[@stevegantz8620]

By the way, the lake is to be respected. Rip currents are very real and drownings occur every summer in waves just like what you saw that day.

[@travelingatlas]

Sounds like a beautiful way to spend an evening. Yes the current seemed very intense, I'm sure it's dangerous.

[@stevegantz8620]

@@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800 Don't be an idiot. It's not knee deep everwhere. Rip currents are real in the Great Lakes and kill dozens every year.

[@dblazer321]

had no idea Indiana!? of all places had a national park. thank you for sharing!

[@travelingatlas]

Right? We had no idea before we started planning the trip. It used to be a state park but was recently upgraded!

[@dc76384]

Trail 9 at the State Park...don't miss it. The best of the hiking trails in the Indiana Dunes. Cowles bog trail is a hidden gem of the park

[@gabrielledennis549]

What a lovely review with great hikers. This really helps because I plan on going here for spring break.

[@travelingatlas]

I'm sure you'll love it! We were thrilled with the park such a unique spot!

[@angelaandglenn3573]

Enjoying working our way through your trip. Great content and quality videos andvery personable presenters, we're surprised the subscriber and views levels aren't much higher. We are amazed at the sandy 'ocean' so far inland, especially coming from such an arid continent that we do.

[@travelingatlas]

Thanks so much! We would love to have a larger audience but all we can do is put out quality videos and hope that people enjoy them! Thanks so much for watching!

[@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800]

Yes. Very good videography plus very descriptive and insightful, my videos are lame compared to yours. Haha

[@axelpaff3306]

Nice National Park, enjoy it ! greetings

[@travelingatlas]

Thanks, we really did enjoy this one! We had no idea what to expect.

[@thebuddymoon]

well done on the video. Will be subscribing to see more. hope to take the leap of faith and travel like you guys did. hopefully 2021 will be our year.

[@travelingatlas]

Awesome! You won't regret it, it's a wild ride but 100% worth it. Best of luck to you guys!

[@fossil-bit8439]

Great video! Good to hear from people who actually really liked the park! A lot of the other videos I watched seemed like the people were disappointed and didn’t understand why it was a national park. I think that most people hear the words national park and expect huge mountains. But the Dunes has one of the most complex and diverse ecosystems in the entire world! And needs to be preserved and has a better chance at that with national park status. It also actually receives about the same amount of visitors each year as Yellowstone!

[@travelingatlas]

Whenever we go to a new park we try to lower our expectations and just enjoy the park for what it is. When you start comparing it to other parks then it's a slippery slope... All the parks are just so different! We really did enjoy indiana sand dunes, I think it was really unique!

[@kayd731]

I live in Ohio were people complain about cvnp but it's Ohio. National parks are supposed to save nature. They don't have to be extravagant.

[@fossil-bit8439]

@@kayd731 I really want to see that park one of these days!

[@kayd731]

@Fossil-bit i was the for the first time last month. Definitely recommend!

[@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800]

@@kayd731 hell yeah. Some people are just not appreciative

[@ardengreen3409]

That is so cool that there are such huge and numerous sand dunes in Indiana! It's so close to us -- we will have to check it out!! Very cool, the park looked amazingly beautiful, and so cool that you could see Chicago! (Sh) That is definitely a cool city. Great video!! It's so fun seeing all these places that I didn't even know about!

[@travelingatlas]

Yes you should, it was pretty cool!

[@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800]

My girlfriend and I just made a video of the dunes not too long ago, it took us a while to find Mount baldy. I didn't know there was that many areas you can go to as well. We only found two locations and we struggled to find them, driving back and forth and all. Haha

[@dvferyance]

I just visited the Warren Dunes in Michigan. Perhaps I will visit the Indiana Dunes in the near future.

[@kaydenhart1442]

im bout to go in a few day really exited

[@travelingatlas]

You'll love it!

[@marcushebron5560]

Its definitely SHA CHA GO or SHI Town. Love the video btw!

[@travelingatlas]

Learned that one the hard way... Hahah thanks!

[@lizreynolds0907favs]

Great video! I grew up in this area...moved to Phoenix 25 years ago but I am headed back to my "home" soon

[@travelingatlas]

That's awesome! It was one of those parks that we didn't expect much from going into it and then we absolutely loved it!

[@SantosChronicles]

We just discovered National Parks this year as a family. I really like your cool van. And seeing all the National Parks is quite the goal. How many national parks are there? Love Indiana Dunes. Spent a lot of time there as a kid. New sub to your channel.

[@travelingatlas]

There are 50 national parks in the continental US! It is a pretty hefty goal but we will see. Thanks for the support!

[@musicislife4505]

Please share more insights. Will be travelling this summer

[@zoopiegirl]

Brandon's Dad jokes are killing me

[@travelingatlas]

It's what I do best Gabs...

[@miker8017]

I'm envious of your trip! Regarding AK, 4 of the 8 NPs in AK have no roads or facilities. You have to fly in on a private charter plane or helicopter. Or hike in. 1 in AK is only on water (Glacier Bay NP). I've been to 3, Denali, Glacier Bay and Kenai Fjords. I've been to about 36 or 38 of the 62 NPs. I'm going to Congaree NP in SC in November. Safe travels!

[@travelingatlas]

Wow that makes sense about Alaska, I knew they were remote but i didn't know there were no facilities. Enjoy Congaree! We will be going there sometime in the winter.

[@JeffPattiAkaElliptiVANgo]

Hey guys where did you get you NP check list inside your van near the bed? So cool!

[@travelingatlas]

It was actually a gift from a friend! She got it from the parks project though, I'm assuming they have an online shop you can order from. We love it!

[@pfsrwp]

6:15 oh yeah.... nice

[@our4feettravelers760]

looks like a nice spot

[@travelingatlas]

It was actually a really cool spot!

[@321southtube]

Hey....just watched your video. Looking into heading out there in early September. (Less humans) Grabbing a tent spot for two days. Looking at the different vids make the "campground" look about as "woodsy" as a parking lot. Fill me in.....should I? Thanks for the video guys

[@Framsky]

So glad you liked the Dunes. It was our local secret until it became a national park. Did you get a chance to see Mount Baldy? It's a 126 ft tall living sand dune. It's awesome. We used to have an absolute blast climbing up it and rolling down when we were children.

[@travelingatlas]

No we missed Mount Baldy! Just another reason to come back!

[@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800]

Me and my girlfriend just did a video at mount baldy, but the videography is nothing compared to these folks videos which are pretty great. But how long was the dunes your secret? Are you saying that it wasn't so crowded back in the day? Me and my family been going to the dunes since I was 5 years old. I'm 45 now. But I don't remember how crowded it was back then. I think my sister's mentioned that it is more crowded now than before.

[@Framsky]

@@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800 We used to go to the dunes after school a lot, and it was never super crowded. Some of the better beaches were crowded, but it was usually locals. I think once it made the news about potentially becoming a new NP in 2015ish, the traffic def picked up a lot.

[@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800]

@@Framsky ah. No shit. As recent as 2015. Very interesting. I possibly remember my uncle saying that he liked going to the dunes, to the spot we used to go to, because not a lot of people knew of the area yet and you had more space rather than a local Chicago beach where there's lots of people in some locals with absolutely no parking

[@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800]

@@Framsky I haven't been back to that beach in 35 years until recently when I made that video. It was too show my girlfriend the area and get some footage for family to reminisce

[@jumanjiwarlord]

There’s more to the West Loop Trail. You went to the main one near the water. It’s continues around the back to a “hidden lake” called Long Lake which is like 3x as long. I’ve been exploring that area for years and still find new trails. I don’t even know where the Bog Trail is where you went. AND that’s just one of the Dunes parks... there’s a way bigger park more East. Haven’t been there in years... somebody got swallowed into a sink hole and died I think. And they had it shutdown for a while!

[@travelingatlas]

We are only scratching the surface on these parks! That's crazy...

[@mikehayman904]

It was a young kid, he didn't die though. He was rescued and made a full recovery after hours under the sand. The Park is the Mt Baldy park in Michigan City. The dune itself is closed, but there are trails to the beach.

[@jessiebasler1149]

Great video! its definitely Chicago (sha-ca-go) lol

[@travelingatlas]

Yeaaah you're right. Not one of my brighter points... 🤣

[@alexx_windycitychi558]

How long did it take you guys to get to the beach from the parking area? I'm trying to find a beach that is a little more higher in altitude I like the large Hills that fall into the water Instead of flat beaches

[@travelingatlas]

If I remember correctly it was like a 20 minute walk?

[@joshphillips7504]

6:16 Chicago

[@TheEliteMemerAlex]

4:12

[@EmmeFen]

Bwahahaha. Im a local and its Shi-cago. Think charades. 🤣 seriously tho lake michigan is so underrated and i go there at least once a week just to defrag.

[@travelingatlas]

Still feel like such an idiot for that 😂 yes it was so cool! Felt more like an ocean than a lake, it's so massive

[@EmmeFen]

@@travelingatlas it really is like a saltless sea. Winter time is great to come btw. If you go to Michigan city at washington park you can see the lighthouse covered in ice. Its absolutely stunning.

[@travelingatlas]

@@EmmeFen so cool! We will have to make another trip. The list of places we want to go (and go back to!) is never ending...

[@THE-DON5]

(Sha-ka-go) Chicago

[@travelingatlas]

Yeah figured that out the hard way 😂

[@Larry37M]

It’s not really a new national park it’s just been now designated a national park . I used to hang out on the dunes every summer in the 80s.

[@travelingatlas]

That's how every new national park starts to be clear, they begin as a state park. But awesome that you enjoyed it in the 80's!

[@PaulSottnik]

... just sayin, it's pronounced "shy" like "shytown". At least, that's how we say it in Chicago (Shicago)! Maybe that's because it's French? You asked! Thanks for doing this video, good luck on your national park tour!

[@travelingatlas]

Haha fair enough! Thanks so much!

[@PaulSottnik]

@@travelingatlas p.s. Just got back from the dunes. Great recommendation!!

[@travelingatlas]

@@PaulSottnik Glad you enjoyed!

[@lorenzell3104]

What is woth the masks? Theres no people around???

[@katybrown5442]

Why the mask outside?🤮🤮

[@jeffhines979]

Hmm, we think it's SHIcago. (Jeff & Patti @elliptivango). PS-We're sitting in Indiana Dunes campsite RIGHT NOW, watching your video so we know what to do tomorrow! Thank you so much!!!

[@travelingatlas]

Definitely Shicago - no doubt haha! Awesome, we are jealous - enjoy the dunes!

[@JeffPattiAkaElliptiVANgo]

Hey @@travelingatlas we have an idea for you, and for us. How can we reach out to you?

[@travelingatlas]

You can email us at [e-mail]

[@markrichardsocioprojectgo1800]

How is the campsite there?