
Climb the dunes and check out beaches this holiday weekend at Indiana Dunes National Park
It's also a spot to enjoy miles of sandy beaches and nature preserves. Here's a look at what you should know if you're heading up to the lake this holiday weekend.
The Dunes, now a national park, has a diverse range of wildlife over its 15,000 acres. According to the National Park Service website, among other activities, visitors can:
It'll take you less than 3 hours to travel to the Dunes from Indianapolis via I-65.
An entrance pass is required to enter the state park or national park area at the Indiana Dunes. It's $15 per person; $20 for a motorcycle; or $25 for a private vehicle, and can be purchased on site or online. There's also an annual national park pass for $45 and a National Park Service pass for $80.
Find more information about fees and passes at nps.gov.
The state park includes more than 1,500 acres of nature preserves and landmarks. The daily entrance fee is $7 per vehicle for Indiana residents; and $12 for nonresidents.
Click here for a list of alerts and information about conditions at the Dunes.
Fourth of July celebrations are taking place in communities near the national landmark, including Hebron, Portage, Porter and Valparaiso.
A recent study by a company called Chicks Gold named the Indiana Dunes National Park one of the most photogenic in the U.S. Its research looked at Instagram hashtags to rank sites based on the highest "hashtags per acre," according to a news release.

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