page_title: Indiana Dunes State Park
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Indiana Dunes State Park / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Stephen Mather and Richard Lieber at what would eventually become Indiana Dunes State Park in 1916.
context_page_description: Indiana Dunes State Park is an Indiana State Park located in Porter County, Indiana, United States, 47 miles east of Chicago. The park is bounded by Lake Michigan to the northwest, and is surrounded on all four sides by Indiana Dunes National Park, a unit of the National Park Service; the national park owns the water from the ordinary high water mark to 300 feet offshore. The 1,530-acre Dunes Nature Preserve makes up the bulk of eastern part of the park, and includes most of the park’s hiking trails and dune landscape. This was one of the first places Richard Lieber considered when establishing the Indiana State Park system. Like all Indiana state parks, there is a fee for entrance. Indiana Dunes State Park was established in 1925 and designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974.
  Preserving the Indiana Dunes has resulted from the efforts of many citizens and politicians.
context_section_description: Native Americans used the area for years, primarily the Potawatomi and Miami people. The Dunes were along trade routes used by Native Americans.  In the early 19th century, the state park area was home to the settlements of Petit Fort and City West.
caption: Richard Lieber (front right) with NPS Director Stephen Mather at what would become Indiana Dunes State Park in 1916
exif: {}