I have a new favorite trail at the Indiana Dunes National Park. Actually it is a composite of a National Park designated trail Dune Ridge (green), an adjoining series of trails in Beverly Shores (orange), and an abandoned portion of Beverly dr. (magenta) through an area known as the Great Marsh. This section of what was once an extensive marsh between parallel dune ridges has been reclaimed from residential use by the park and it is currently undergoing restoration, so the area is an interesting mix of wetland and abandoned roads.
Until this year the Dune Ridge trail is one I have visited somewhat infrequently. Not that there is anything wrong with the trail itself, just that it is short ( 0.7 miles) and at the far end of the park for me. However while hiking the ridge trail you get a nice view down into the Great Marsh as shown in the photograph below.
The abandoned road which passes through this area had always looked really interesting, but I was not sure if it was considered open to the public until I asked a park ranger about it and was assured that it was ok to go exploring in this area. While hiking the Dune Ridge trail in March I realized that one could get down to that abandoned stretch of Beverly rd. via the Beverly Shores trails. So down I went. Now what once was a nice but short trail became a very satisfying 3.5 mile loop that transitions through several different ecosystems and which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite loops in the park.
I’ve done this loop three times in 2023; mid-spring, mid-summer, and early autumn. The road bed provides for a very accessible path through the heart of the marsh. It has been a lot of fun to watch how the appearance of the land along Beverly dr. changes with the season, which I illustrate over several posts in this series.