Well I guess we should have expected that on the east coast. Another National Park that is set in an urban environment…3 weird facts: 1) there is also a State Park of the same name, and the National Park wraps around it; 2) in between the N.P. campground where we stayed, and Lake Michigan, there is an entire small community of privately owned homes (Beverly beach); 3) The US Steel mill, in Gary Indiana , and the Port of Indiana, both on the lakefront where there before the N.P. was created and still operate. (interesting side read: Gary Works – key highlight: “For many years, the Gary Works was the world’s largest steel mill, and it remains the largest integrated mill in North America”)
While the soil is sandy, these are vegetation covered dunes. The highlights of our stay there were having lunch on the shore of lake Michigan in Gary, and then walking the Paul H. Douglas trail that ends at the beach.