My sister and her husband are renting a beach house in Dune Acres, IN next week, and we’ll be spending a couple of nights up there. Dune Acres is a small gated community just west of the Indiana Dunes State Park. I spent some time today looking for biking opportunities.
First, I’d like to find something for my wife, and possibly the kids, to ride. We can tool around the neighborhood just to enjoy the morning air, but I’d also like to get them out a little bit. We could head next door to the park and visit the beach. Or we could try one of the hiking/biking trails there in Porter County.
We had a family reunion/camping trip at the park about six or seven years ago. My sister, her boyfriend, and I headed east on the trail that runs next to the South Shore tracks between Chesterton and Michigan City. A ten mile trail sounded like a nice ride. Unfortunately, it was a gravel cart path used to access the high tension power line towers, and was full of potholes. We quickly jumped over to US Highway 12 and rode the shoulder to Washington Park in Michigan City. I doubt if I could get my wife to ride on the highway, and she won’t let the kids anywhere near it.
I found reference to a couple of other trails, possibly rail trails, that start in Chesterton and head down to South Haven. I’ll give them a look and see what shape they are in.
I’ll take some pictures and give a nice report.