点评:Indiana Dunes National Park was an incredibly unique park—it’s one of the first we’ve been to that’s spread out amongst a more urban/industrial environment. But it’s a park that had a lot of diverse things to see. We hiked the dunes and along the lakeshore, which were beautiful, but I will say that they’re not as awe-inspiring if you’ve been further north to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore. We also hiked around the wetlands and saw a lot of different birds. We stopped and visited the world showcase homes, which was very interesting. We visited the farm, where a small fall festival was going on. The Visitor Center is very nice and the rangers were very helpful.
Probably our favorite part of the day was in the evening, the Rangers were hosting a fireside chat at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk part of the park. We asked if it was ok to bring supplies to roast marshmallows and were told it was fine, so we brought plenty to share. It was so much fun listening to the Ranger’s stories and meeting and chatting with everyone else who was there. The sunset over the lake with the Chicago skyline in the distance was gorgeous. And the s’mores were delicious! It was a perfect end to the day.
This definitely won’t make our top 5 NP list, but it was a unique experience and we’re glad we visited it on our quest to hit all 63!
翻译:印第安纳沙丘国家公园是一个非常独特的公园——它是我们去过的第一个分布在城市/工业环境中的公园之一。但这是一个有很多不同的东西可看的公园。我们沿着沙丘和湖岸徒步旅行,那里很美丽,但我想说的是,如果你去过更北的睡熊沙丘国家海岸,它们就没有那么令人惊叹了。我们还在湿地周围徒步旅行,看到了很多不同的鸟类。我们停下来参观了世界样板房,非常有趣。我们参观了农场,那里正在举办一个小型的秋季节日。游客中心非常好,护林员也非常乐于助人。
也许我们一天中最喜欢的部分是晚上,流浪者队在公园的波蒂奇湖畔和河滨步道部分举办炉边聊天。我们询问是否可以携带烤棉花糖的用品,并被告知可以,所以我们带了很多东西来分享。听护林员的故事并与在场的其他人会面和聊天真是太有趣了。湖上的日落和远处的芝加哥天际线非常美丽。而且 s'mores 很好吃!这是这一天的完美结束。
这绝对不会进入我们的前 5 名 NP 名单,但这是一次独特的体验,我们很高兴在我们的任务中参观了它,以达到全部 63 个!