Wonderful trails. We took the boardwalk which is uncovered and can be super sunny. The walk is easy…read moreand ends at a beautiful pond. There is a tiny bench, but you probably wouldn't sit there for awhile. Back by the entrance, there is a welcome center that has a picnic table in the back if you want to bring some snacks. No mushroom hunting. Parking - there is lots of parking! Bathrooms- there are bathrooms and they are nice.

This is definitely a hidden gem in St. Joseph County! Not far from downtown New Carlisle is this…read moregreat nature preserve. Your GPS may not correctly tell you where to turn, but there is a clear sign for the road to access the preserve. Near the small parking lot is a nature center building with restrooms, but it looked to be closed while I visited. Spicer Lake Nature Preserve has a variety of walking trails, including a nice boardwalk through the wetlands. Our group had fun spotting the birds, frogs and other creatures that call this place home. Note that you cannot access Spicer Lake, but you can view it from the boardwalk.

We really enjoyed this forested park. A nice choice if you don't want to do the beach/ dunes. Not…read moretoo long, well marked trails. We made it last a couple hours by bringing our dog and exploring.

I love hiking in this area. Warren Woods consists of a mile and a half out and back trail that…read moretakes you through the Michigan woods and along the Galien River. If you're looking for hikes along the beach, that's Warren Dunes SP. If it's rained recently you can expect this hike to be muddy as the trail takes you nearer the river. The All Trails app was helpful here as there were spurs off the main trail. There's a parking lot, picnic tables and toilets by the parking lot off Elm Valley Road. If this Southern entrance is closed, you can access the trailhead on the North end of the park along Warren Woods Road, where there is some parking along the side. Since the trail is an out and back, it doesn't matter where you start.

Stop 8 is our favorite stretch of Lake Michigan beach in Michigan City, Indiana. We have been…read morecoming here for 21 years! We rent a cottage twice a year just up the boardwalk, in the Beachwalk community. This is the beach that is most convenient as it is only 500 steps from our rental cottage! The water is clean enough to swim. The sand is warm, clean, and delightfully soft, but also with enough stones to make things interesting! I love collecting stones and sea glass. There are attendants who drive by on occasion. Garbage cans are well tended. The beach is clean and quite pretty with a wall of sea grass behind it. Folks have weddings here on occasion, so that's always fun to see. Parking might be tricky though. We walk here from our cottage rental, so I'm not sure where people park if they are not staying at Beachwalk.

My timing was off when I visited this park. I was hoping to check out the Civil War Monument but…read moreit has been temporarily removed for restoration and been replaced by a Veteran's Plaza that will be rededicated on Memorial Day 2020. I hope the white bronze soldier will be returned to the center of the monument then. But even without the monument, this is a really beautiful park. The main feature here is the stonework that was part of the Works Progress Administration back in 1936-7. The park rests on high ground on the north side of the river, so a series of descending pools framed with colorful stones takes the water from street level down next to the river. There is a small waterwheel, a waterfall, and lots of cascades and pools to enjoy. There is a stairway framing the descent so that you can get a close look at the detail. The is also a lot of shade provided by the mature trees and a relatively new plaza on the east end with a pergola and benches. On the west end are the sports/playground features and an amphitheater with lawn in front. This is a beautiful park that offers a couple points to view the river. Review #3088

One of the Famous Pokemon catching spots.Saw lot of people catching Pokémon walking all around the…read morepark. Pretty good place to spend time in summer.Perfect for photoshoots as the park is on river walk system.Lots of Greenery with beautiful flowers and some statues. Terraced Rock Garden is the main attraction.Picnic Tables,splash pad,Basket ball court,Grills makes this place more fun to hang out. You can go fishing in the river . Free Ample Parking Spaces and Amphitheater to host concerts.River walk connects both sides of the river. Unwind yourself here if you are around here.

Beautiful park for sports, take a nature hike, great place for kids…read more Peaceful. Love to visit around September/October when the leaves change color. Have a open mind and enjoy yourself!

Imagination Glen has some of the best hiking and biking trails in NW Indiana. A great deal of care…read morehas gone into their planning and execution. There are over 10 miles of outback-style single-track bike trails, which range from very easy to quite challenging. The well-paved Prairie Duneland Trail and Iron Horse Trail run along the edge of the park. These easy asphalt trails can be used to hike or bike all the way into Chesterton (to the east) or Hobart (to the west). The backwoods hiking trails are perfect for those who enjoy getting close to nature. I have watched beavers and muskrats working the banks of Salt Creek here. If you enjoy hiking or biking, you will find a wide range of difficulties here, one of which will surely capture your interest.

Great park for all ages of young children. Swings for adults to swing their wee ones. A swing for…read morethe differently abled. Good mix of climbing structures for all ages of children. There are covered picnic tables right next to the playground and the bathrooms a few steps away are sparse but very clean. Playground itself is fenced in restricting entrance from the street to one main entrance or through the larger portion of the park where there are baseball fields and a walking path. Ample seating for adults giving good view of the entire play structure. Have your kids to the scavenger hunt on the red wheel of the USS Scott and find all the sea animals in the boat!

A nice little park with an amazing splash pad and a cool zip line for the kids!…read more They also have a nice covered bench area, along with outdoor restrooms.

I wheeled the Prairie-Duneland Trail during my 25th Anniversary Tenderness Tour event that started…read morein the Lake County area of Indiana. This is a 10.3 mile asphalt trail that goes through both Lake and Porter counties. It is for the most part a wheelchair friendly trail and you can see walkers, runners, and bicyclists on the trail quite frequently as it tends to go through multiple populated areas. The trail is a few miles south of the Michigan Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes National Park. You can probably guess from the name that you will see lots of both prairies and dunes on the trail. You see lots of ponds and woods, though there's lots of a more urban trail vibe as you go through Chesterton and Hobart. I actually started my journey in Hobart. If you want to detour about a mile off trail in Chesterton, there's an old train depot where you can still watch trains pass by. It's pretty darn cool. The trail connects to other trails including the Dunes Kankakee Trail and the Iron Horse Heritage Trail (which I also wheeled). Parking for the western trailhead is available in Countryside Park. Parking for the eastern trailhead is available on Jackson Boulevard in Chesterton. I really enjoyed my time on this trail. It's a mostly level trail and offers a nice mixture of urban and rural trail experiences. I like seeing nature, but for safety I also do like the occasional human encounter. This trail offers both. If you're the type who likes to also visit towns, this is also a great trail for doing so. Both Hobart and Chesterton are nice cities to visit with both tourist options places to grab a meal.

As good as it gets for community trails! The rails to trails program and IndianaTrails.org put…read moretogether this great 10.4 mile path through Lake and Porter counties in NW Indiana. The trail connects to several other trails (Iron Horse Heritage/Calumet) in the area and takes you through some terrific scenery. Some parts of the trail are shaded with beautiful tree lines and others are sunny and open through a field. The best part of this trail, WATER! Take this to the Calumet trail and end up at the Dunes. Fantastic day planned for you, I'll be here all week.