Great visitor center with friendly park rangers available to answer questions. They offer maps,…read morebrochures, and passport stamp stations for National Park Passport holders. The center also has a gift shop, coffee shop, clean public restrooms, and a nice selection of local artwork for sale. A great first stop when visiting the area!

This visitor's center is geared to the National Park. The grounds are beautiful with many native…read moreplants to see. There is a free theater on site that shares dunes history and current facts on a continuous loop. Gift shop is great. You might find National Park logo gear, local distillery non alcoholic merch and a small satellite Fluid Coffee Shop. There are a few park rangers on site to give advice on walking/hiking trails. They are also happy to answer any questions about the Indiana Dunes National Park. The lakeshore has two separate parks - a National Park and a State Park. Each park has a lot of similar attractions and a few different. If you have a yearly National Park Pass, I recommend going to the National Park. If you are an Indiana resident the State Park is a $7 admission per vehicle or $20 for out of state visitors.

We always use this nice rest stop for its bathrooms when driving from Illinois to Michigan because…read moreit's always clean, has enough parking and the staff are very friendly. Sometimes they have exhibits in the area space inside the rest stop, which are nice to walk through. Usually for Christmas they have had nice exhibits there.

07/19/26 - Stopped at da Indiana Vistor center & dey had DA UNMITIGATED GALL TO HAVE A SIGN OF DA…read moreHAMMOND BEARS. . All I Ave to say is OH HELL NO!! I have been a lifelong fan of Da Chicago Bears & Dey betta not move from DA City to Hoosiervile or I might become a Packer Fan (No Way In Hell). This is actually kind of a cool Visitor center

The Monee Reservoir, is part of the Forest Preserve District of Will County. The 255-acre forest…read morepreserve has a 46-acre reservoir lake. This was our first time at the reservoir, they had a special fishing event called "Midnight Madness." They have this event three times per year, allowing fishing after dark. They open the park from 7pm until midnight and it's free! It is mostly forest around the lake, but has some nice coves to fish. The lake is 24 feet deep and stocked with Channel Catfish, Northern Pike and Largemouth Bass. I caught only one Largemouth, not many anglers said they caught fish, but it was pretty windy and hot... I released mine and am planning on going back to get him! The park itself is really nice, clean, well kept, has places to picnic, tables and benches along the lake. They have a really nice visitor center and a concessional stand.

Great place to escape this crazy world very peaceful if you just to come and relax...great for…read morefishing or taking a boat out they also have a nice picnic area. It is very well maintained and clean washrooms

Attended the Choose Chicago Open House this year and very happy with my experiences. Able to check…read moreout 5 really cool establishment: Mindworks, Chicago Symphony, Federal Reserve, Wintrust Vault and Red Building (333 S. Wabash). All in all a very good experience. I wish that I would have gotten started earlier in the day. I liked the ventures on the app which allowed me to set up an itinerary. Some locations that I wanted to see were closed on Sunday. Favorites spots were the Federal Reserve and 333 S. Wabash. This event only happens once per year but really a good opportunity to check out over 120 buildings in various neighborhoods for free. Very neat experience and if you love history, architecture or sight seeing then this free event is for you.

This visitor center is a great place to start your visit to Chicago. They have docents that offer a…read morenumber of free tours of the area including a great two hour tour of Millennium Park. They are also knowledgeable about other excellent tours by the Chicago Architectural Foundation and other Chicago highlights. The Chicago Architectural Foundation is a few blocks south on Michigan Avenue and is also very worthwhile.

Quality/Quantity - This is what Indiana is known for! And these are the 3 largest dunes in the…read morestate park! Not an easy hike for me as I was not prepared for it. If only my daughter gave me a heads up. I'm now prepared for our next hike, future Yelp coming. This event was supposed to be for a different day, a weekday. Time permitting, I recommend a weekday to visit. It was an hour wait just to get into the park on a beautiful Saturday. (We were warned by the team at the visitor center, but decided to do it anyway). Few dining choices, but WOW, look at all the beach BBQ set ups. I almost asked to join a few. Atmosphere - What a beautiful day today. The hike got better and easier when we got to the trees with shade. Hiking on the beach was just too hot for me. Well again, I did not dress for this event... 15,000 acres, 50 miles of trails, 300 mile lake. Please see the pictures. Open 7 days a week, Yelp hours differ, check with the park. Swimming hours from 11am to 6pm, well that is when there are lifeguards. Events and activities, see pictures or websites. Public showers and bathrooms - Keep in mind there are thousands of people using these, so the conditions reflect that. Service - Small helpful visitor center, see pictures. Also with a Yelp check-in, you get 5 free postcards. They convinced us to go to the state park rather than the national park. Good thing because I left my annual national park pass in my truck in CA. Price - $12 a car, discount for locals ($7). If you walk from the visitor center, $2 a person, but that is a 2+ mile walk each way, in the hot sun! Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 1986. Next time we will come much earlier and appreciate more of your park.

The Dunes, as we affectionately call them, really proved themselves today. If you haven't visited…read morein the winter, you must. Lake Michigan and the sand dunes are majestic in the wintertime. The bonus of no gate admission was a welcome treat. Although the building near the beach is under construction, the public restroom was available. The new landscaping and building improvements are incredible. It's hard to believe that it's the same place!

Most Chicagoans know of Pullman Train Cars but forget that an entire historic neighborhood exists…read more [Not to mention that many Chicagoans fail to explore or acknowledge that culture and history continues past the South Loop!] This little neighborhood treasure is steps from the Pullman Metra Station and super easy to explore. The visitor's center and museum stands on half of the old Arcade Park (which now only half exists). They take donations to maintain the historic value of the buildings and have a great little "Pullman on Foot" guide for free (a picture is provided in business images). If you prefer something a little more organized, they offer guided tours the first Sunday of each month between May and October. Not to mention, they also have an Annual House Tour the second weekend of October offering an inside look of various private homes. The town was constructed in 1880 in order to create housing and community facilities for the employees of George M. Pullman's Palace Car Company. The neighborhood is architecturally unique with many structures that remain including: Administration Building and Clock Tower, Hotel Florence (under renovation), remnants of Market Hall and its' circular promenade, Pullman Hospital, Greenstone Church, The Greystone Mansion, Arcade Park, Pullman Stables, and various housing projects for executives and craftsmen alike. I hands-down recommend a few sites during your visit: -The fabulous Greenstone Church (the building materials are a rarity and were shipped from Italy). -The abandoned Administration Building and Clock Tower across 111th Street, and it's walking path containing the neighborhood garden and beehives. -Take note of the varied facades of many original, nineteenth-century residences with often maroon and shades of green (Pullman colors) and how the buildings mirror each other from the center of the block. Take advantage of free Chicago ventures such as Pullman!

I've never been here before. One of my MEETUP groups set up an afternoon here…read more We had perfect weather fora walking tour. We were one of 2 groups today. Only about 15 or 20 people per group. Our tour guide wasted a lot of time talking unnecessarily. I walk with a cane and it's very difficult to stand in one spot for 15 minutes. I was expecting a self guided your... I would have preferred it. Disappointed that the HOTEL FLORENCE was closed for remodeling.

It has always been our dream for over 10 years to visit The Farnsworth House. Mies has always been…read moreour favorite architect since we've studied architecture. We decided to make a trip to Chicago to see the house. We stayed in the downtown so it was about an hour out from the city. The drive was enjoyable. It was such a scenic route. We arrived early, so we decided to check out the store. I wish I could buy everything haha. The staff working at the counter was really nice also. Felt really welcome. We were fortunate that there were only 2 other people on our tour. It felt personal and up close. I'm sorry I couldn't remember the name of our tour guide but I very much enjoyed listening to him throughout the entire tour. He was informative, there was a lot of information I didn't know before. It was such a pleasure to be his guest. Thank you for having us! After the tour, you are allowed to walk around the site. We enjoyed every second of it. We enjoyed the tour very much. It was a dream come true. I will always come back here every time I visit Chicago. The Farnsworth House has a special place in our heart.

Had a great experience both in the house tour & the walk around the grounds…read more (More words more words, darn yelp wants more words, so here they are)

The Prairie is beautiful. I didn't see the Bison when I went but it was beautiful nonetheless. So…read moremany birds and critters.

Midewin is worth the drive from Chicago -- 90 minutes…read more The visitor's center is closed during the pandemic. We followed the signs and went there, thinking we'd find the trailheads. We didn't. We eventually found a man moving grass who recommended we drive north to the Iron Bridge and park there. That was good advice. Not only is there parking, pit toilets, and picnic tables, but the trailhead, and connections to several trails. I recommend everyone start at the Iron Bridge trailheads. We did not see the bison, but we did enjoy a few hours of walking on flat trails. We admired the prairie grasses and flowers, reveled in the sunshine and breeze on this cool day, and just loved every minute we were there. Hikers, remember to wear a head covering. You are on the prairie, after all. Officially, this is a national park, and I brought my national parks pass, but we saw no rangers at all. Nobody checked for park passes or any kind of entrance fee.

We only had a morning to explore the park and enjoyed our short journey. There was construction…read moregoing on so we had to detour to make it to the beach but it was worth the drive. There was a large parking lot, showers to remove sand and restrooms near the beach. It was beautiful scenery and my kids loved looking for "beach treasures". Perfect for a beautiful September day.

A family beach day at Indiana Dunes on August 9, 2024, became a humiliating and traumatic…read moreexperience. My husband and I brought our four children, ages 9, 7, 3, and 1, along with my sister and her 9-year-old son. After lifeguards warned us to stay knee-deep because of strong waves, my nephew went slightly too far into the water twice. We apologized and understood the safety concern. Instead of simply asking us to leave, security escalated the situation: my husband was detained on the beach, and I was repeatedly prevented from returning to our children, who were only 30-40 feet away. I watched my 9-year-old daughter cry while a stranger comforted her and tried to help her wrangle my 3 and 1-year olds. When another National Park law-enforcement officer arrived, I asked whether I could return to my children. He immediately said yes, making the first officer's refusal even harder to understand. The situation was humiliating and frightening for our family, especially over a minor safety violation involving a 9-year-old child (and again - this child was not even ours, it was my sister's son). We later requested records and video through FOIA so the incident could be independently reviewed. Despite our efforts, they never provided us with the footage. We fully support enforcing water-safety rules. If we needed to leave, we would have left. But there was no reason a simple safety issue had to become detention, separation from our children, and public humiliation. Our family experienced none of the judgment, proportionality, or basic humanity that day. We will never return to Indiana Dunes. When we want a beach day now, we drive past Indiana and continue to Michigan.

As an update I would have to say I love their new offices! I've now officially done the Heritage…read moreTrail over 12 times and can pretty much recite the script from memory, but still enjoy it every single time! They have done so much work on making this so great! Wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone!

We happened upon the Elkhart visitors center as it was directly across from the hotel we stayed at…read moreon a whim. We were SO glad we did. The docents gave us recommendations for a great family diner to grab breakfast down the street (can't remember the name unfortunately) and also suggested a self guided driving tour called the Heritage Trail. We received a free CD that directs you in about an hour and a half long loop (or all day if you take your time at each attraction) to all of the sights and attractions of Elkhart county and the surrounding Amish countryside. My boyfriend and I are young people and it was exciting and fun for us too so put your notions aside and just do it' It takes you through the major cute towns in the area and also to off the beaten country spots like Bonneville Mill Park (the historic mill is open and active Weds-Sunday) which was a real treat. It goes into historical detail of many of the spots and the directions were easy to follow. The visitors center also gave us coupons and had tons of brochures on local attractions. The quilt gardens were also a great tip from the docent to take a look at. We grabbed delicious donuts at an Amish bakery and wandered for hours around the Shipshewana flea market (open Tues/Weds). Even brought the pup along.