The Magical Marsh
We’ve written about Indiana’s Great Marsh before, and it remains one of our favorite places for a quick daytime escape from urban confines. While the official hiking and birding trail is just under a mile long, the marsh itself stretches for many miles along the southern edge of Lake Michigan, and there are many fascinating points of access between Gary and Michigan City. You can use hiking trails, bike trails, quiet inland roads, and disused forest double-track to customize your own adventure lasting from just a couple hours, to overnight. Depending on weather and lake conditions, fatbiking is also possible along miles of Lake Michigan beach.
Because this year’s mild winter has created very muddy conditions on unpaved bike trails, we’ve been doing a bit more hiking instead. We have a couple of preferred ways to explore The Great Marsh on foot. One is Cowles Bog, which is a nicely rugged, self-contained trail of about 5 miles. The other is more of a scramble, involving the Dune Ridge Trail, some forest roads, the closed off section of Beverly Drive, and the most enticing footbridge for a tea break and wildlife viewing.
If you drive down from Chicago, you can park at the Kemil Beach/Dune Ridge Trail parking lot off East State Park Boundary Rd.* The Dune Ridge Trail itself is short at 0.7 miles, but climbing to the top of the ridge affords great panoramic views of the marsh, particularly dramatic in winter, when foliage doesn’t obscure its span. In calm weather, the sandy ridge top is also a good place to park yourself and enjoy a picnic, if you brought one (we bring along lunch and hot drinks on many of our day outings, and we find that it really helps makes our brief escapes feel more vacation-like).
From the ridge trail you can easily access a network of old unpaved forest roads which are completely closed to vehicular traffic. These range among the dunes, and some lead to remnants of old homesteads that used to stand here, but have since reverted to federal ownership and nature. These roads are mostly unmapped, and make for a fun exploration on foot or cross country skis (we’ve seen people go by on bikes, but the legality of exploring by fatbike is unknown). You could easily spend several hours following the winding trails. Not much chance of getting lost, as the trail network is adjacent to the Beverly Shores community to the east, and you will eventually be deposited somewhere along the stretch of Beverly Drive. Although Google Maps makes it look like a through road, this street is actually closed to cars between State Park Boundary Rd. and Broadway. However, traveling on foot or by bike, you will come to the afore mentioned small handmade wooden foot bridge, where you can sit in complete solitude, surrounded by the enormous marsh with only the sound of birds to keep you company.
You can move along at a better pace if you bring along a bike. With a fatbike, you may be able to make use of the strip of beach, and the unpaved Calumet Trail. The latter might be dotted with man-eating puddles in rainy season, which can be disconcerting if you’re not prepared, and quite a hoot if you are. On a more traditional hybrid or gravel bike, you can swoop down on the Dunes Kankakee Trail which will take you past the historic Chellberg Farm and Little Calumet River crossing. You can then continue for a short time on the shoulder of Rte 12, and head briefly north on State Park Boundary Rd to access that closed off portion of Beverly Drive. East of Broadway, Beverly Drive is open to motorized traffic, but though the road is narrow with no shoulder, it’s often used by cyclists, as cars generally come slowly and infrequently, and there are plenty of warnings that the road is shared with bicycles.
That section of Beverly Drive has some of the beautiful scenery near Chicago (or anywhere at all, IMO), and offers and intimate, up-close look at the expanse of The Great Marsh and its dauntless return to glory.
Footnote:
*While in many other areas you’re lucky to find an open porta-potty, this parking area features supremely clean, heated, modern bathrooms, with flush toilets, hot water and soap, which —importantly— seem to be open in winter! (NOTE Closed for repairs 2021/22 winter season).