Tezels on the Road

Category: Travel Blog

Tezels on the Road is our family’s travel journal—capturing the adventures, mishaps, and magic of life on the move. From scenic drives and national parks to hidden gems and roadside surprises, we share stories, tips, and snapshots from the journey.

  • RANGER PAMPAW’S GUIDE

    Effigy Mounds National Monument

    Ancient Mounds, Sacred Ground, and 300 Feet Above the Mississippi

    ▶ A Note from Ranger PamPaw

    “I’ve stood on a lot of park ground over the years. Effigy Mounds is different. There’s a weight to it that has nothing to do with drama and everything to do with time.”

    Most people who visit northeastern Iowa are passing through. The drive along the Great River Road is beautiful, Marquette and McGregor are pleasant river towns, and Effigy Mounds sits right there on the bluffs above the Mississippi. But I’ve noticed something over the years: a lot of visitors treat it as a quick stop. Walk up to the first mound, snap a photo, move on. That’s a mistake.

    The mounds themselves are understated. They are low, grass-covered earthen forms rising only a foot or two from the forest floor. You have to slow down and actually look before they come into focus. And once they do, the scale of what you’re standing next to begins to register. Someone shaped this ground — deliberately, carefully, over generations — more than a thousand years ago. Twenty federally recognized tribes have cultural ties to this place today. The NPS takes that seriously, and you should too.

    Hike to Fire Point. Stand at the overlook. Look out over the Mississippi from 300 feet up. Then turn around and look back at the mounds in the forest behind you. That’s when this place really lands.

    — Ranger PamPaw

    ▶ Quick Facts

    Location151 Highway 76, Harpers Ferry, IA 52146 · Allamakee County, northeastern Iowa
    EstablishedOctober 25, 1949 — proclaimed by President Truman
    Size2,526 acres across three units: North Unit, South Unit, and Sny Magill Unit
    Mounds206 known prehistoric mounds; 31 are effigies (bear and bird forms)
    AdmissionFree — no entrance fee
    Visitor CenterOpen daily 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. · Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day
    Phone(563) 873-3491
    Trails14 miles of hiking trails; no paved vehicle roads in the park
    PetsLeashed pets permitted on all trails
    Nearby ParksPikes Peak State Park (13 min south) · Yellow River State Forest (16 min north) · Upper Mississippi River NWR (adjacent)

    ▶ The Mounds

    10,000 Years in the Upper Mississippi Valley

    People have lived along this stretch of the Mississippi River for at least 10,000 years. Around 500 B.C., the cultures of the Woodland Period began burying their dead in simple conical mounds. Over centuries, the practice grew more elaborate, and by roughly A.D. 650, people in this region were building mounds in the shapes of animals: bears, birds, deer, turtles, and water spirits. No other culture in the world built effigies quite like these.

    The practice was largely unique to a region spanning parts of what are now Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois. At its peak, surveyors counted more than 10,000 mounds across that region. By 1900, 90 percent of them were gone — plowed under, built over, or simply lost. Effigy Mounds National Monument was established in 1949 to preserve what remained in this corner of northeastern Iowa.

    What’s Here Today

    The monument preserves 206 known mounds across three units. Of those, 31 are effigies — the animal-shaped forms that give the park its name. The rest are conical, linear, or compound mounds serving various ceremonial purposes. The North Unit (67 mounds, adjacent to the visitor center) and South Unit (29 mounds, across the Yellow River) are the most accessible. The Sny Magill Unit, about 11 miles south, holds more than 100 mounds but has no visitor facilities.

    The largest effigy at the monument is Great Bear Mound in the North Unit: 42 meters from head to tail, rising just over a meter above the surrounding ground. On the trail beside it, you read the bear’s shape in the way the earth rises and falls through the trees. Many visitors walk right past their first mound before they realize what it is. That adjustment — learning to see the landscape differently — is part of what makes this place worth the time.

    Sacred Ground

    The NPS formally recognizes 20 culturally affiliated American Indian tribes with ties to this landscape and the people who built these mounds. That relationship shapes how the park operates. No excavation of mounds takes place here. Remains previously removed are being repatriated under NAGPRA. Rangers ask visitors to stay on designated trails, to treat the mounds with respect, and to understand that this is not simply an archaeological site — it is living sacred ground for communities whose ancestors built what you’re looking at.

    ▶ The Landscape

    The Driftless Area

    Effigy Mounds sits within the Driftless Area — a region of the upper Midwest that glaciers never reached during the last ice age. While glaciers flattened most of the surrounding landscape, the Driftless Area kept its ancient topography: steep river bluffs, narrow valleys, cold-water trout streams, and ridgelines that feel more like Appalachia than the Iowa most people picture. The Mississippi River here cuts between bluffs that rise 300 to 400 feet from the water.

    That geological setting made this a particularly rich environment for the people who lived here. The transition zone between eastern hardwood forests and central prairies meant access to a wide range of plants, animals, and waterways within a compact area. The Mississippi itself was a highway for trade and communication across the entire continent. The mound builders were not isolated — they were connected to cultures stretching from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes.

    Wildlife and Ecology

    The monument’s 2,526 acres include hardwood forests, tallgrass prairies, wetlands, and river corridor — all within a few miles of each other. Bald eagles are common year-round, and during winter months hundreds congregate along the river. Golden eagles appear in late winter. Peregrine falcons nest on the bluffs. The accessible wetlands boardwalk near the visitor center puts you into the riparian ecosystem immediately, before any significant hiking.

    ▶ Touring the Monument

    Start at the Visitor Center

    The visitor center on Highway 76 is where the North Unit trails begin. Museum exhibits cover the archaeology, cultural history, and natural ecology of the monument. Rangers here can orient you to current trail conditions and let you know if any guided programs are scheduled. There is no admission fee. Pick up a trail map before you head out — the trail network is straightforward, but knowing where the major mound groups sit relative to each other helps you plan your time.

    The accessible wetlands boardwalk begins just outside the visitor center and extends into the riparian wetlands near the Yellow River. It’s flat, paved, and open to all visitors. Worth the ten minutes even if you’re headed straight to the bluff trails — it puts you in the landscape immediately.

    North Unit: Fire Point Trail

    The Fire Point Trail is the signature hike at Effigy Mounds — a roughly two-mile route from the visitor center that climbs into the bluffs, passes through the major mound groups of the North Unit, and ends at two overlooks above the Mississippi. The climb is legitimate: the trail gains about 300 feet over a moderately steep ascent through hardwood forest. Sturdy footwear is worth it.

    • Three Mounds Group: Located just above the visitor center, this cluster of conical and linear mounds is often the first visitors encounter. A good introduction to what you’re looking for before the forms become more complex higher up the trail.
    • Little Bear Mound: A smaller bear effigy partway up the Fire Point Trail. The outline is clear once you’re oriented to how the mounds read — a low, deliberate rise that traces the animal’s form through the forest floor.
    • Great Bear Mound: The largest effigy at the monument, 42 meters head to tail. The trail runs alongside it. Given its scale, the mound’s form is most legible from slightly above — step back from the trail edge if the vegetation permits and look along its length.
    • Fire Point and Eagle Rock Overlooks: At the end of the trail, the forest opens to two overlooks 300 feet above the Mississippi. Eagle Rock looks south down the river; Fire Point faces west across the river to the Wisconsin bluffs. On a clear day the view extends for miles in both directions. This is where the Driftless Area topography makes its full impression.

    South Unit: Marching Bear Group

    The South Unit entrance is about half a mile south of the main gate, across the Yellow River. The main draw is the Marching Bear Group — ten bear effigies and three bird effigies arranged in a formation across the upland prairie. Getting there requires a four-mile round-trip hike through forest and tallgrass prairie. This is a more demanding and more isolated experience than the North Unit, and the mound group here is one of the most striking concentrations of effigies anywhere in the monument. Allow at least three hours if you plan to make the South Unit hike.

    ▶ Trails at a Glance

    The monument has 14 miles of hiking trails and no paved vehicle roads beyond the parking areas. All trails are foot-traffic only. There is no drinking water on the trails — bring enough for your full planned hike, especially in summer.

    • Wetlands Boardwalk (0.25 mi., accessible): Flat paved boardwalk from the visitor center into the Yellow River wetlands. Open to all visitors. Good birdwatching year-round.
    • Fire Point Trail (2 mi. round trip, moderate): The primary North Unit hike. Climbs 300 feet to the major mound groups and the Fire Point and Eagle Rock overlooks. Guided ranger hikes follow this trail mid-June through Labor Day weekend.
    • Twin Views Trail (3 mi. round trip, moderate): Extends beyond Fire Point for additional river overlooks and mound groups. A good option if you want more time in the North Unit.
    • Third Scenic View Trail (4 mi. round trip, moderate-strenuous): Continues further north along the bluffs for a third overlook and access to additional mound groups.
    • Hanging Rock Trail (7 mi. round trip, strenuous): The longest North Unit route, extending to the monument’s northern boundary. For those who want a full-day hike with maximum solitude.
    • Marching Bear Group / South Unit (4 mi. round trip, moderate-strenuous): Crosses upland forest and tallgrass prairie to the most dramatic effigy concentration in the monument. No facilities at the South Unit trailhead.

    ▶ Know Before You Go

    • No water on the trails. The visitor center has restrooms and water. Fill up before you head out. A two-mile hike in Iowa summer heat is more demanding than it sounds.
    • Bug spray is not optional in summer. The trail system runs through hardwood forest and wetland edges. Ticks and mosquitoes are present from late spring through early fall. Treat your clothes and check yourself after every hike.
    • Guided ranger programs run mid-June through Labor Day weekend. The standard guided hike follows the Fire Point Trail and includes a talk at the Three Mounds Group near the visitor center. Rangers also offer atlatl demonstrations — an ancient spear-throwing device that’s a consistent hit with visitors of all ages. Check the NPS website or App for current schedules.
    • No lodging or camping inside the park. Pikes Peak State Park (13 min south) and Yellow River State Forest (16 min north) both offer camping. The towns of Marquette and McGregor, just south of the monument, have motels, restaurants, and services. Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, directly across the river, has additional lodging options.
    • Stay on the trails. The mounds are fragile earthen features. The NPS asks — and the law requires — that visitors stay on designated trails and do not walk on or disturb the mounds themselves.
    • Photography. Early morning on the Fire Point Trail, with mist in the valleys below the bluffs, is one of the better landscape photography situations in the Upper Midwest. The overlooks face west, which means late afternoon light on the river is exceptional. The mounds themselves photograph best in raking light — early morning or late afternoon — when the low angle picks up the subtle surface relief.

    Why This Place Matters

    At its peak, the effigy mound tradition produced more than 10,000 earthworks across the upper Midwest. Ninety percent of those are gone. What survives at Effigy Mounds is not a sample or a representation — it is the real thing, in the original landscape, maintained in something close to its original condition. That kind of preservation is genuinely rare.

    The mounds also complicate the story many Americans carry about pre-Columbian North America. These were not simple hunter-gatherer societies leaving isolated traces. The Woodland Period cultures that built here were part of continent-wide trade networks, had sophisticated ceremonial lives, and shaped the landscape with precision and intent over hundreds of years. The effigies are evidence of that — of people who looked at this bluff above the Mississippi and decided to put bears and birds in the earth, in forms that are still recognizable a thousand years later.

    And the affiliated tribes are still here. This is not a story only about the past. Twenty nations maintain cultural ties to this landscape. The monument’s preservation serves them as much as it serves the visiting public — maybe more. That’s worth holding onto when you’re on the trail.

    Park Map

    ▶ First Encounters

    PLACEHOLDER-YOUTUBE-URL

    ▶ Resources & Further Reading

    Ranger PamPaw Podcast — Tezels on the Road

    Hear the Story on the Ranger PamPaw Podcast

    Parks, perspective, and stories earned from a lifetime in the National Parks — from someone who was actually there. The Ranger PamPaw Podcast goes deeper on the history, the landscape, and the meaning behind the places that define America.

    Listen to the Podcast

  • Trail Guide – Nugget Falls Trail

    Tongass National Forest

    Ranger PamPaw’s Trail Guide

    A 377-Foot Waterfall, a Receding Glacier, and Nine Years of Change

    The Nugget Falls Trail in Tongass National Forest delivers an extraordinary amount of Alaska in under two miles. Starting near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center outside Juneau, the trail follows the shore of Mendenhall Lake through a stretch of southeast Alaska rainforest, opens onto wide views of the glacier across the water, and ends at the base of a 377-foot waterfall powered by meltwater from the Nugget Glacier high above. It is a hike where geology, climate, and pure scale come together in a way that even seasoned hikers find genuinely arresting.

    Trail Facts

    • Distance: ~1.9 miles (out-and-back)
    • Elevation Gain: ~114 feet — essentially flat throughout
    • Difficulty: Easy
    • Trail Type: Out-and-back (compacted gravel)
    • Typical Hiking Time: 45–60 minutes
    • Accessibility: The graded gravel surface is largely wheelchair-passable to within 100 yards of the falls; the final approach to the base crosses uneven rocks
    • Pets: Allowed on leash
    • Managed by: USDA Forest Service (Tongass National Forest)

    The Nugget Falls Trail is one of several walking routes within the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area. The Visitor Center, Photo Point Trail, and the Trail of Time all branch from the same parking area, making this a hub where a short hike to the falls can easily extend into a half-day of exploring the larger glacier landscape.

    Getting to the Trailhead

    The trailhead sits at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, about 12 miles north of downtown Juneau on Glacier Spur Road. From the parking area, follow the paved walkway down toward the lakeshore. A signed junction directs hikers right toward the Nugget Falls Trail, which then traces the lakeshore east toward the falls. The Visitor Center itself is worth a stop before the hike — its exhibits on glacier dynamics and the Juneau Icefield add real depth to what you see on the trail.

    Most visitors arrive by cruise ship to Juneau and reach the glacier by shore excursion, the Blue Bus glacier shuttle, taxi, or rental car. Renting a car from the cruise port is the most flexible option — it lets you set your own pace, linger at the falls, and add other nearby trails like Sheep Creek or Mendenhall Lake Loop without watching the clock. Rideshare apps are not reliably available at the Visitor Center, so plan your return transportation in advance.

    Hiking the Trail

    From the Visitor Center, a paved path descends toward Mendenhall Lake. After a short distance, the Nugget Falls Trail breaks right onto a wide, level gravel surface that hugs the north shore of the lake. The first views of the glacier open almost immediately — a wall of ice cradled between Mount McGinnis and Bullard Mountain, fronted by the milky blue water of the lake. On clear days, the scale is hard to take in all at once. The terminus appears smaller than expected because the surrounding mountains are so much larger than they look in photographs.

    The trail itself winds through a classic stretch of southeast Alaska rainforest — Sitka spruce and western hemlock overhead, devil’s club and ferns at ground level, mossy boulders left behind by the retreating glacier. Wildlife sightings are common here. We have spotted a porcupine on this trail, and on the nearby Sheep Creek Trail we once watched a black bear sow with two cubs from a careful distance. The Tongass is the largest national forest in the country, and its biological richness is on full display along this corridor.

    About a mile in, the trail emerges onto an open shoreline area near the base of the falls. The roar arrives before you can see the full plunge — a sound that builds steadily as you cross the last stretch of gravel and bedrock. From here, you can walk right up to the lakeshore directly opposite the falls, with the face of the Mendenhall Glacier filling the view to your left. The mist drifts across the water on still days. The deep glacier blue in the ice cliffs is something photographs never quite capture.

    Trail Map

    Screenshot

    Highlights Along the Way

    Mendenhall Glacier

    The Mendenhall flows about 13 miles from the Juneau Icefield down to its terminus at Mendenhall Lake. Since the end of the Little Ice Age, the glacier has retreated more than two and a half miles, and the lake itself only formed in the 1930s as the ice pulled back from the basin. Recession has accelerated in recent decades. The glacier is now losing roughly 48 meters of length per year, and in November 2025 its terminus officially separated from Mendenhall Lake for the first time in modern recorded history. What you see today from the trail is a glacier in active retreat — a landscape changing on a human timescale.

    Nugget Falls

    Nugget Falls drops 377 feet down the side of Bullard Mountain in two distinct tiers — an upper drop of 99 feet and a lower drop of 278 feet. The water comes from Nugget Creek, fed by the Nugget Glacier, a smaller hanging glacier high in the mountainside east of Mendenhall Lake. Before the larger Mendenhall Glacier began its long retreat, the falls actually landed directly on the surface of the ice. Today the water lands in open lake water on a sandbar that simply did not exist a few decades ago — a small, vivid illustration of how much the surrounding landscape has changed.

    The Tongass Rainforest Corridor

    The wooded section of the trail is a short but immersive sample of the temperate rainforest that defines the Alaska panhandle. Look up for Sitka spruce towering above the path, down for thick moss carpets covering bedrock that the glacier polished within the last few centuries, and to either side for the dense understory of ferns and devil’s club. Wildlife is unpredictable but rewarding for those who slow down — porcupines, eagles, and the occasional black bear all use this corridor.

    What Makes This Trail Special

    Few trails in North America deliver a 377-foot waterfall, an active tidewater-style glacier, and a temperate rainforest in a single easy walk. Even fewer offer such a clear, visible record of a changing climate. We have hiked this trail three times — in 2016, 2019, and again in September 2025 — and each visit has shown the glacier further back from the lake than the last. Photographs from the same vantage points across those nine years tell the story plainly. The Nugget Falls Trail is not just a beautiful Alaska hike. It is a place where you can stand and watch a piece of the earth change in front of you.

    Tips for Visiting

    • Start at the Visitor Center. The exhibits explain glacier dynamics and the changing landscape, and they make the hike that follows far more meaningful.
    • Go early or late in the day if you can. Cruise ship arrivals concentrate visitors midday, and the trail can feel busy between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in summer.
    • Bring layers and rain gear. The Tongass earns its rainforest reputation, and the lake amplifies wind off the glacier even on warmer days.
    • Wear sturdy footwear. The main trail is graded gravel, but the final approach to the base of the falls crosses uneven rocks.
    • Consider renting a car if you are arriving from a cruise. The flexibility to add nearby trails and avoid excursion timing is well worth it.
    • There is no food service at the trailhead — bring water and a snack, especially if you plan to combine the hike with the Visitor Center exhibits.

    A Glacier in Retreat

    The Mendenhall Glacier has been retreating since the end of the Little Ice Age in the late 1700s, but the pace of that retreat has accelerated sharply in the last several decades. Researchers at the University of Alaska Southeast estimate that the glacier’s face withdrew the equivalent of eight football fields between 2007 and 2021 alone. The Juneau Icefield, which feeds the Mendenhall and dozens of other glaciers across southeast Alaska, has been losing volume at an increasing rate, with measurements between 2010 and 2020 indicating losses of nearly six cubic kilometers of ice per year icefield-wide.

    The November 2025 separation of the glacier face from Mendenhall Lake marked a milestone that scientists had predicted as early as 2002 — the transition from a lake-calving glacier to a mountain glacier. For visitors who have been coming to the Mendenhall for years or decades, the change is unmistakable. We saw drifting icebergs in Mendenhall Lake on our first visit in 2016. Three years later, in 2019, the icebergs were gone and the ice face was visibly further back. By 2025, the gap between glacier and lake had become the dominant feature of the view. Each visit becomes its own data point in a story that the trail itself is helping to tell.

    Tuesdays on the Trail Video

    This trail guide pairs with our Tuesdays on the Trail video episode, where we walk the Nugget Falls Trail and reflect on three visits over nine years to one of the most quickly-changing landscapes in the National Forest System.

    Final Thoughts

    The Nugget Falls Trail does not ask much of its hikers. Two miles, flat terrain, an hour at most. What it gives back is one of the most concentrated experiences of Alaska you can find on a single short walk: rainforest, glacier, waterfall, mountain wall, and the unmistakable sense of standing in a landscape that is actively changing. We are heading back this August on another Alaska cruise to walk the trail for a fourth time. If you have the chance to come here, take it. If you have already been, come back. The Mendenhall is changing fast enough that what you see today will not be what is here a few years from now.

    Helpful Links & Resources

    Tezels on the Road

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  • Ranger PamPaw’s Guide

    Lassen Volcanic National Park

    Where the Earth Still Breathes Fire

    Mineral, California  |  Cascade Range  |  Est. 1916

    ▶ A Note from Ranger PamPaw

    I’ve stood on a lot of park ground over the years, but there’s nowhere quite like Lassen. The moment you smell that sulfur drifting up from Bumpass Hell — that sharp, unmistakable reminder that the earth beneath your boots is still alive — everything about geology and deep time snaps into focus in a way no textbook can replicate. Lassen is the place where the Cascade Range reminds you it isn’t finished yet.

    Most visitors have heard of Yellowstone’s thermal features, but far fewer realize that Lassen Volcanic holds the most diverse and active hydrothermal system in the entire Cascade Range. And unlike Yellowstone, you can experience it without fighting the crowds. This is a park that rewards the curious and the patient — the ones willing to slow down, read the landscape, and listen to what it’s telling you.

    — Ranger PamPaw

    ▶ Quick Facts

    DesignationNational Park
    EstablishedAugust 9, 1916 (17th National Park)
    LocationMineral, California — Southern Cascade Range, ~130 miles north of Sacramento
    Size106,589 acres (166 sq. miles)
    Highest PointLassen Peak — 10,457 feet (world’s largest plug dome volcano)
    Volcano TypesAll four types: plug dome, shield, cinder cone, composite (stratovolcano)
    Last Eruption1914–1917 (most recent in contiguous U.S. before Mount St. Helens, 1980)
    Entrance Fee$30 per vehicle (Apr 15–Dec 1); $10 per vehicle (Dec 1–Apr 15). America the Beautiful Pass accepted.
    Park HoursOpen 24/7 year-round; main park road typically open mid-June through late November
    Visitor CentersKohm Yah-mah-nee (SW entrance, year-round); Loomis Museum (NW entrance, summer only)
    Trails150+ miles of maintained trails; 90,000+ acres of designated wilderness
    PaymentCashless only (credit/debit card, mobile pay) since May 2023
    NPS Websitenps.gov/lavo

    ▶ A Landscape Born of Fire

    Three Million Years in the Making

    The story of Lassen Volcanic National Park doesn’t begin in 1916 — or even in 1914, when the mountain first shook itself awake in the twentieth century. It begins roughly three million years ago, when the forces of the Cascade volcanic arc first began shaping this corner of northern California. The heat source driving it all is the Gorda tectonic plate, a remnant of the ancient Farallon Plate, pressing downward beneath the North American plate just off the Northern California coast. As that slab of ocean floor descends into the earth’s mantle, it generates the magma that has been pushing upward through the Southern Cascades ever since.

    What makes Lassen uniquely extraordinary — and uniquely valuable as a scientific resource — is the sheer diversity of volcanic forms it contains. At least 62 volcanic vents have been mapped within park boundaries. The park is the only place in the United States where all four principal types of volcanoes can be found in a single location: the plug dome (best represented by Lassen Peak itself, the largest of its kind in the world), the composite stratovolcano (remnant of ancient Brokeoff Volcano), the shield volcano (Prospect Peak), and the cinder cone (the dramatic, steep-sided formation that lends its name to Cinder Cone National Monument, one of the park’s two predecessor designations). This volcanic diversity within one protected landscape is virtually unmatched anywhere else in the National Park System.

    The People of the High Country

    Long before European explorers set eyes on the peak, four Native American peoples — the Yana, the Yahi, the Atsugewi, and the Mountain Maidu — inhabited the foothills and forests surrounding what would become the park. The high-elevation terrain, brutal in winter, was not a place of permanent settlement, but these communities moved through it seasonally, hunting deer, fishing mountain streams, and foraging for berries, roots, and acorns. They traded resources with each other, and they understood the mountain’s nature intimately. The Atsugewi knew the peak was filled with fire and water, and they believed it would one day blow itself apart. They were not wrong.

    When fur trappers began exploring northeastern California in the 1820s — still Mexican territory at the time — Lassen Peak became a landmark in sporadic written accounts. By the mid-nineteenth century, westward-bound emigrants were using the peak as a navigational beacon. Two of the era’s major overland routes skirted the area: the Lassen Trail, forged by Danish blacksmith and entrepreneur Peter Lassen, and the Nobles Emigrant Trail, blazed by Minnesota artisan William Nobles. The mountain was formally renamed for Peter Lassen, though his trail proved too arduous for most wagon trains and was eventually abandoned in favor of Nobles’ route — portions of which can still be hiked today within the park’s boundaries.

    ▶ The Eruption That Made a Park

    1914–1917: America Watches a Volcano Wake Up

    The park owes its very existence to an eruption. In May 1914, after what geologists calculate as roughly 27,000 years of dormancy, Lassen Peak began venting steam and ash. The activity started small — minor explosions and new craters — but it escalated. On May 22, 1915, the volcano erupted explosively and dramatically. Lava poured from a new vent near the summit and flowed down the mountain’s flanks, triggering a massive avalanche of snow and rock. The resulting debris flow, carrying volcanic rubble and meltwater, tore through the valley below and destroyed several homesteads along area creeks. A pyroclastic surge — a fast-moving wave of superheated gas and ash — swept across the Devastated Area, leaving a stark, treeless scar across the landscape that remains partially visible today. Thanks to warnings from local observers, no lives were lost.

    The eruptions drew national attention — and they drew national policy. President Theodore Roosevelt had already designated Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument in 1907, but the active volcanic drama of 1914–1917 accelerated the case for full park status. On August 9, 1916 — while eruptions were still occurring — President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation creating Lassen Volcanic National Park, making it the 17th national park in the country and one of the very few established while the landscape it was protecting was still actively erupting. The volcanic activity continued intermittently through 1917, with a final significant blast before the mountain fell quiet again. It would remain the most recent volcanic eruption in the contiguous United States until Mount St. Helens exploded in Washington State in 1980.

    Building a Park in a Young Century

    The park’s early decades were not without turbulence. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, livestock operators mounted a serious campaign to open the park to unlimited grazing, arguing that beef production would support the war effort. The newly created National Park Service — itself less than a year old — sent representatives to defend the park’s integrity before local communities. Their argument: that tourist revenue from a preserved landscape would generate more lasting economic value than grazing ever could. The argument prevailed, helped by congressional funding for park development that made the case concrete. By 1925, the grazing threat had dissolved.

    Infrastructure followed. The 29-mile Main Park Road — still the park’s primary corridor — was constructed between 1925 and 1931, just a decade after the eruption it passes through the aftermath of. Near Lassen Peak, the road climbs to 8,512 feet, making it the highest road in the Cascade Mountains. The Loomis Museum, named for photographer Benjamin Franklin Loomis whose images of the eruptions were instrumental in securing park status, opened in 1927 near the northwest entrance. In 2008, a modern facility opened at the southwest entrance: the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center, named after the Mountain Maidu word for Lassen Peak.

    ▶ Touring the Park

    The 30-Mile Drive: A Journey Through Eruption History

    Most visitors experience Lassen via its Main Park Road — Highway 89 — a 30-mile arc through the park’s western corridor connecting the Southwest Entrance (near Mineral, California) to the Northwest Entrance near Manzanita Lake. The drive takes as little as two hours at speed, but the better approach is a full day, with stops at the park’s fifteen numbered interpretive pullouts. Most visitors enter from the southwest, visit the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center first, then work northward through the park. The drive can also be taken in reverse from the northwest entrance off California Highway 44.

    Key stops along the road include Sulphur Works (the most easily accessible hydrothermal area in the park, just inside the southwest entrance, featuring steaming fumaroles and hissing vents visible right from the road), Emerald Lake (a strikingly green alpine lake colored by algae), Lake Helen (a clear, deep-blue lake with Lassen Peak towering above it — one of the most photographed views in the park), the Bumpass Hell trailhead, the Devastated Area (a landscape still bearing the scars of the 1915 eruption), Chaos Crags and Chaos Jumbles (a massive boulder field left by a rock avalanche roughly 300 years ago), and Manzanita Lake, a serene reflective lake near the northwest entrance with one of the park’s most iconic views of Lassen Peak.

    Must-Do Trails

    Bumpass Hell Trail — This is the one trail that belongs on every visitor’s list, regardless of age or fitness level. The round-trip distance is approximately 3 miles (NPS) with an easy-to-moderate rating, a gradual 300-foot climb followed by a steeper 200-foot descent into the basin. The trail delivers you onto a boardwalk above the largest hydrothermal area in Lassen — and one of the most active in the Cascade Range — where fumaroles roar, mud pots bubble with rhythmic persistence, and mineral-stained soils glow in shades of orange, white, and sulfur yellow. The area takes its name from pioneer Kendall Bumpass, who fell through the thin crust into a boiling pool during an early exploration of the basin and lost his leg to the injury. Stay on the boardwalk. The trailhead is 7 miles from the Southwest Entrance; the parking lot fills quickly on summer mornings. Arrive early.

    Lassen Peak Trail — For those willing to earn the views, the summit climb is 4.84 miles round-trip with 2,060 feet of elevation gain to the top of the world’s largest plug dome volcano at 10,457 feet. The route is strenuous — constant uphill with no shade and high-altitude thin air — but the summit panorama of the Cascade Range, Sacramento Valley, and surrounding volcanic landscape is extraordinary. Allow 2.5 to 5 hours. Start early to avoid afternoon thunderstorms and to secure parking. The trail is typically open July through October depending on snowpack.

    Cinder Cone Trail — Located in the park’s more remote Butte Lake area, this hike climbs steeply to the rim of a textbook-perfect cinder cone through loose volcanic pumice and scoria. From the top, the view of the Painted Dunes — multicolored ash fields oxidized into vivid reds and oranges by heat from the cone’s lava flows — is unlike anything else in the park. The trailhead is reached via a dirt road from Highway 44; plan extra travel time.

    Brokeoff Mountain Trail — A 7-mile round-trip hike for experienced hikers seeking a less-trafficked alternative to Lassen Peak. The trail climbs through forest to an open summit with sweeping views of Lassen and the surrounding valleys. Much of the route is exposed to direct sun; start early.

    Mill Creek Falls Trail — A 3.8-mile round-trip hike (less crowded than Bumpass Hell) to the tallest waterfall in Lassen National Park, winding through forest and open meadow before the falls reveal themselves. A strong choice for a quieter day in the park.

    ▶ Know Before You Go

    Seasons, Roads, and Snow

    Lassen is a four-season park, but the seasons have teeth. The main park road typically opens in mid-June and closes in late November, and snowpack near Lake Helen regularly reaches 40 feet — patches can persist into July. Even in peak summer, temperatures at elevation can drop sharply; bring layered clothing regardless of the forecast at lower elevations. Popular trails like Bumpass Hell may remain closed into early July due to snow and ice hazards. Always check current conditions at nps.gov/lavo before departure.

    Winter visitors are not without options: Sulphur Works remains accessible year-round near the southwest entrance, and the Manzanita Lake area in the northwest supports snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The highway between the two visitor centers, however, is not open in winter. The Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center is open year-round, with reduced hours (Wednesday–Sunday) from November through April.

    Hydrothermal Safety

    This point cannot be overstated: the ground in Lassen’s hydrothermal areas is dangerous. What looks like solid crust can be a thin layer over boiling, acidic water. Visitors who have strayed from marked boardwalks at Bumpass Hell and other thermal zones have suffered severe burns. Stay on boardwalks and designated trails at all times in these areas. This is not a guideline — it is a hard rule enforced by park rangers and enforced by the physics of superheated ground. Children and pets require close supervision. The Big Boiler fumarole at Bumpass Hell has been measured at temperatures exceeding 320°F.

    Getting There, Fuel, and Logistics

    From the west via I-5: take California Highway 44 east from Redding to the Northwest Entrance, or California Highway 36 east from Red Bluff to the Southwest Entrance. From the east via I-80: take U.S. 395 to Susanville, then connect to either Highway 44 (northwest) or Highway 36 (southwest). The nearest commercial airport is Redding Municipal Airport. Gas stations are limited near the park — fuel is available at Manzanita Lake (summer only) and in the communities of Shingletown, Old Station, and Chester. Fill your tank before entering. The park is cashless — credit/debit card or mobile payment only.

    Overnight accommodations within the park are limited to campgrounds (Manzanita Lake, Southwest, Summit Lake, and others) and the historic Drakesbad Guest Ranch in the Warner Valley area. Nearby communities offering lodging include Mineral, Chester, Old Station, and Burney; Redding is a reasonable base for those preferring a full-service city option. Wilderness camping requires a permit ($6 reservation fee plus $5 per person per trip) available through recreation.gov; bear-resistant food canisters are required in the backcountry. Pets are not permitted on backcountry trails or at wilderness campsites.

    The park’s main road includes tight curves and steep drop-offs with no guardrails in sections — drive slowly and keep your eyes on the road, not the views. Pull over at designated pullouts. The speed limit on the park highway is 25 mph.

    Why This Place Matters

    Lassen Volcanic National Park is, at its core, a living laboratory. Nowhere else in the lower 48 states can you stand among all four types of volcanoes, walk above an active hydrothermal system that dwarfs anything in the Cascades, and trace the arc of human stories — Indigenous peoples reading the mountain’s warnings, emigrants navigating by its silhouette, a young nation deciding to protect rather than exploit a landscape still erupting beneath their feet.

    The park also matters because it is underestimated. Consistently overshadowed by Yosemite and Yellowstone, Lassen Volcanic receives a fraction of the attention despite offering comparable geological drama — and with far fewer crowds. The 2021 Dixie Fire burned nearly 70 percent of the park’s area, leaving a stark reminder that even protected landscapes are not immune to the pressures of a changing climate. That scar is now part of Lassen’s story too: a landscape that has survived pyroclastic surges, lava flows, and catastrophic wildfire — and is, by any geological measure, only just getting started.

    Lassen asks the same thing of every visitor: slow down, look closer, and remember that the ground beneath your boots has been building this story for three million years.

    ▶ Park Map

    ▶ First Encounters: Watch the Episode

    Watch Ranger PamPaw’s First Encounters episode for Lassen Volcanic National Park — first impressions, key stops along the park road, and what surprised us most about this underestimated gem of the Cascade Range.

    ▶ Further Exploration

    Official Resources

    Recommended Reading

    • Lassen Volcanic National Park: Auto Tours, Trips & Trails — Larry Eifert (Estuary Press)
    • Hiking Lassen Volcanic National Park — Tracy Salcedo
    • NPS publication: Peak Experiences — free park newspaper, available at both visitor centers

    Listen to the Ranger PamPaw Podcast

    Stories, perspective, and park wisdom from a lifetime in the National Parks.
    Available wherever you listen to podcasts.

    🎙 Listen Now

  • Trail Guide – Great Marsh Trail

    Indiana Dunes National Park

    Ranger PamPaw’s Trail Guide

    Where the Dunes Give Way to the Largest Wetland on Lake Michigan

    Create alt text, title, caption, description, short description, and tags for this image

    Indiana Dunes National Park is famous for its sand dunes and Lake Michigan shoreline — but tucked behind Beverly Shores, away from the beaches, is something most visitors never find. The Great Marsh Trail leads into the largest interdunal wetland in the Lake Michigan watershed: a quiet, flat, one-mile lollipop that delivers open water, migrating birds, spring wildflowers, and one of the most compelling conservation comeback stories in the National Park System. The dunes are the headline, but the marsh is the story you didn’t know you were coming to find.

    Trail Facts

    • Distance: ~1 mile (lollipop loop)
    • Elevation Gain: None — flat throughout
    • Difficulty: Very Easy
    • Trail Type: Lollipop (paved path to observation deck; packed dirt and grass on loop)
    • Typical Hiking Time: 25–30 minutes
    • Accessibility: Paved, wheelchair-accessible trail from the north lot to the observation deck overlook
    • Pets: Allowed on leash (6 ft or shorter)
    • Facilities: No restrooms or potable water at trailhead
    • Hours: Open daily, 6:00 AM – 11:00 PM

    The Great Marsh Trail is one of the most accessible and rewarding short walks in Indiana Dunes National Park. Even visitors with limited time or mobility can reach the observation deck from the north lot on the paved path — and from there, the view across the open marsh is reason enough for the stop.

    Getting to the Trailhead

    The Great Marsh Trail has two parking areas, both located north of U.S. Highway 12 on Broadway Avenue in Beverly Shores, Indiana. The south lot is the main trailhead for the full lollipop loop. The north lot — the one closest to the observation deck — has limited parking (one accessible space and one regular spot) but offers the shortest walk to the marsh overlook. We started from the north lot, which puts you at the heart of the experience almost immediately.

    Indiana Dunes National Park is located along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, roughly an hour southeast of Chicago. Beverly Shores sits near the eastern end of the park. If you’re making a day of it at Indiana Dunes, the Great Marsh Trail pairs naturally with the Dune Succession Trail at West Beach — two very different landscapes within the same park, separated by about fifteen minutes by car.

    Hiking the Trail

    From the north lot, the paved path leads almost immediately toward the marsh. Even before you reach the observation deck, the wetland announces itself — red-winged blackbirds calling from the cattails, the soft sound of water, and on the afternoon we hiked it, the distant bugling of Sandhill Cranes somewhere out in the open water. The path is flat and easy, raised just above the marsh surface, with the wetland pressing close on both sides.

    The observation deck extends out over the edge of the marsh and is the one place on the trail where you step off the raised path and feel truly surrounded by it. The view opens across open water, sedge meadows, and low tree lines in the distance — a wide, quiet panorama that rewards patience and binoculars. We spotted Sandhill Cranes at a distance across the water, along with Swamp Sparrows low in the cattails and Northern Flickers moving through the trees on the return loop.

    From the observation deck junction, the lollipop loop continues east and north through a wooded interior — a quiet contrast to the open marsh. This section feels enclosed and shaded, with early spring light filtering through bare branches and the first wildflowers of the season pushing up through the forest floor. The loop completes and returns you to the junction, where the stem path leads back to the north lot. The whole walk is about a mile, with no elevation change from start to finish.

    Trail Map

    Highlights Along the Way

    The Great Marsh Observation Deck

    The observation deck is the centerpiece of the trail — the one vantage point where the full scale of the marsh opens up in front of you. Bring binoculars. The Great Marsh is a designated birding destination, and the deck is the best spot to scan for Sandhill Cranes, Great Blue Herons, egrets, ducks, and the warblers and blackbirds that move through in force during spring and fall migration. In April, the marsh is particularly active — the spring migration is underway, and the wetland fills with birds pausing on their way north.

    The Wooded Interior Loop

    The loop section of the lollipop winds through a wooded interior that most visitors on a quick out-and-back to the deck never reach. It’s a different character than the open marsh — quieter, more enclosed, with the early spring understory just beginning to wake up. Northern Flickers work the tree trunks, Swamp Sparrows hide in the brush at the woodland edge, and the first wildflowers of the season appear along the path in April. It adds only a short distance to the walk and is well worth completing.

    Spring Wildflowers

    An April visit catches the Great Marsh Trail at a transitional moment — the marsh is waking up, the birds are moving through, and the first blooms of the season are appearing along the trail edges and in the wooded loop. Early spring at the marsh brings marsh marigolds and other wetland bloomers pushing through the wet soil, with more variety following through May and into summer. The combination of open wetland and shaded woodland on this trail supports a wider range of plant life than trails that stay in one habitat type throughout.

    What Makes This Trail Special

    The Great Marsh Trail earns its place not by distance or drama but by what it shows you and what it represents. This is the largest interdunal wetland in the Lake Michigan watershed — a habitat type that once stretched twelve miles along the Indiana lakeshore and was reduced to a fraction of that by draining for farms and development in the early twentieth century. The National Park Service began restoring this portion in 1998, and what you walk through today is the result of more than twenty-five years of patient recovery. The fens, sedge meadows, and wet prairies are thriving again. The birds have returned. The water is cleaner. It is a short walk with a long story behind it.

    Tips for Visiting

    • Bring binoculars — the observation deck rewards them, and birds at the marsh tend to be spread across open water at a distance.
    • Visit in spring or fall for the best birding; migration periods bring the greatest variety of species through the marsh.
    • Complete the full lollipop loop — the wooded interior section is easy to skip if you’re short on time, but it adds worthwhile variety and wildlife.
    • The trail can be wet and muddy after rain; waterproof shoes are a good idea in spring.
    • Check yourself for ticks after the hike — tick season in the dunes area runs from spring through fall.
    • There are no restrooms or water at either trailhead; plan accordingly, especially if combining with other trails in the park.

    A Marsh Restored

    The story behind the Great Marsh is as worth understanding as the marsh itself. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this entire wetland system — which once extended from Gary to past Michigan City — was systematically drained through a network of dikes and ditches, converted to farmland and residential lots as the region developed. By the time the National Park Service began acquiring land in the area, the Great Marsh had been reduced dramatically from its original extent.

    Restoration began in 1998 with the removal of drainage infrastructure and the reestablishment of natural hydrology. Over the following decades, the fens, sedge meadows, and wet prairies gradually returned — along with the birds, amphibians, and plant communities that depend on them. The marsh now serves as a natural water filter for the surrounding watershed and as critical habitat for both breeding and migratory birds. Walking the trail with that history in mind changes the experience: what looks like a peaceful wetland walk is also a record of what’s possible when land is given time to heal.

    Tuesdays on the Trail Video

    This trail guide pairs with our Tuesdays on the Trail video episode, where we walk the Great Marsh Trail and take in the sights and sounds of the marsh on an April afternoon at Indiana Dunes National Park.

    Final Thoughts

    The Great Marsh Trail does not ask much — a mile, no hills, half an hour. What it offers in return is a window into one of the most biologically rich and ecologically significant habitats in the Great Lakes region, and a quiet reminder that restoration is possible. Indiana Dunes National Park contains multitudes — dunes, beaches, forests, and wetlands within a few miles of each other — and the Great Marsh Trail is one of the best ways to experience a side of the park that most visitors drive past without knowing it’s there. Plan for an hour. Bring binoculars. Let the marsh be unhurried.

    Helpful Links & Resources

    Tezels on the Road

    More trails. More stories. More perspective.

    Tezels on the Road | Tuesdays on the Trail Channel

  • Ranger PamPaw’s Guide To

    Big Bend National Park

    Brewster County, West Texas  ·  Where the Desert Meets the Sky

    Entrance sign for Big Bend National Park along a paved road, featuring a large brown panel with white lettering and a stone base. The sign includes the National Park Service emblem and text noting “Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River” and “A U.S. Biosphere Reserve.” Surrounding the sign are desert plants, rugged hills, and a partly cloudy blue sky.
    Rocky pinnacles and rugged Chisos Mountains landscape viewed from the Lost Mine Trail in Big Bend National Park, Texas.
    Casa Grande Peak rising above the desert landscape in Big Bend National Park beneath a clear blue sky

    ▶   A Note from Ranger PamPaw

    I have a connection to Big Bend that stretches back further than I can remember — literally. In 1964, my family brought me to this park when I was just one year old. My grandparents, who were travelers at heart and had explored parks and landmarks across the country and around the world, made sure Big Bend was on that list. My grandmother captured the whole trip on 8mm film, and I still have that footage today. There is something quietly extraordinary about watching those faded, flickering frames — knowing that the canyon walls and desert skies in the background are the same ones I have returned to dozens of times since.

    In November of 1995, I brought the woman who would become my wife to Big Bend for the first time. We camped in the Chisos Basin, climbed Emory Peak, and wandered every corner of the park we could reach. We have always looked back on that trip as one that brought us together. We have never made it back to Emory Peak — but it remains our spot. Then in 2005, we brought two of our sons on a spring break trip, and watched them discover their own favorite corner of the park: the big sandhill at the mouth of Boquillas Canyon, where they could have played for hours. In 2014, our daughter spent the summer as an intern at Big Bend — another family first, another generation of Tezels finding their footing in this remarkable place.

    There is one image that never leaves me: sitting up in the Chisos Basin as the sun drops toward the horizon, watching the light pour through The Window and spill out into the Chihuahuan Desert below. It is the kind of moment that stops you cold and reminds you exactly why these places exist. Big Bend is not convenient. It is not easy to get to. But I have never once regretted the drive.

    — Ranger PamPaw

    ▶   Quick Facts

    DesignationNational Park
    EstablishedJune 12, 1944
    LocationBrewster County, West Texas
    Size801,163 acres (1,252 sq mi) — larger than Rhode Island
    Entrance Fee$30 per vehicle (7 consecutive days) · $25 per motorcycle · America the Beautiful Pass accepted
    PaymentCashless — credit/debit card only at all entrance stations
    Best SeasonSeptember through early May (avoid summer — desert temps can exceed 115°F)
    Nearest CityAlpine, TX (~80 miles); Midland, TX (~230 miles)
    Park HeadquartersPanther Junction Visitor Center
    UNESCO DesignationInternational Biosphere Reserve · Globally Important Bird Area
    NPS Websitenps.gov/bibe

    ▶   Texas’ Gift to the Nation

    A Park Born from Texas Pride

    Big Bend National Park did not come to be the way most national parks do. It began as a state initiative — in 1933, the Texas Legislature established Texas Canyons State Park in the remote canyon country along the Rio Grande. The name was soon changed to Big Bend State Park, and the Chisos Mountains were added to its boundaries. The National Park Service investigated the site in 1934 and quickly recognized it as, in their own words, “decidedly the outstanding scenic area of Texas.” Congress passed enabling legislation on June 20, 1935, and over the next several years, the State of Texas worked to acquire the land — using public funds, private donations, and the determined efforts of Texas businessman Amon Carter and others who believed this wild, remote country deserved the same protection as Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon.

    On June 6, 1944 — D-Day — Amon Carter personally presented the deed to the park to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on behalf of the people of Texas. Six days later, on June 12, 1944, Big Bend National Park was officially established. President Roosevelt, who had taken a personal interest in the park for years, reportedly felt the nation deserved some good news that week. Texans have called it “Texas’ Gift to the Nation” ever since — and it is a gift that keeps giving, to anyone willing to make the journey.

    A Land of Extraordinary Contrasts

    At 801,163 acres — larger than the entire state of Rhode Island — Big Bend is the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography in the United States. It is also the only national park in the country to contain an entire mountain range within its boundaries: the Chisos Mountains, rising more than a mile above the surrounding desert floor to Emory Peak at 7,825 feet. The result is an almost theatrical range of environments packed into one park. Temperatures at Rio Grande Village on the river can top 115°F in summer, while the Chisos Basin sits up to 20°F cooler, wrapped in pinyon pine, juniper, and Texas madrone.

    The Rio Grande forms 118 miles of the park’s southern boundary, carving three of the most spectacular river canyons in North America — Santa Elena, Mariscal, and Boquillas — before winding eastward into the Chihuahuan Desert. The park protects more than 1,200 species of plants, 450 species of birds, 56 species of reptiles, and 75 species of mammals. Geological features span millions of years: sea fossils from ancient oceans, dinosaur bones, volcanic dikes, and the slow, layered storytelling of deep time written in stone.

    Ten Thousand Years of Human History

    Long before the park had a name, people had been living in and moving through this landscape for nearly 10,000 years. The Chisos Indians — nomadic hunters and gatherers — inhabited the Big Bend for centuries before the Mescalero Apache pushed through in the early 18th century, followed by the Comanche, who used the famous Comanche Trail on their raids into Mexico. Spanish explorers mapped and named the Rio Grande. Miners, ranchers, and homesteaders came and went, leaving behind ruins, stories, and a deep human texture that is very much part of the park’s identity today. The archaeological record is rich, and the ghost towns and old ranch sites scattered across the desert add a poignant, human-scale counterpoint to the grandeur of the canyons and mountains.

    Why Big Bend Matters

    Big Bend is one of the least-visited major national parks in the country — not because it lacks for grandeur, but because it demands something of you before you arrive. The nearest major city is hundreds of miles away. The roads are long and remote. Cell service is largely absent. But that very remoteness is the point. Big Bend is one of the last places in the lower 48 where you can genuinely feel the scale of the American wilderness — where the sky goes on forever, the river runs free through canyon walls hundreds of feet high, and the silence is something you carry back with you long after you leave.



    ▶   Touring the Park: The Chisos Mountains

    The Chisos Basin

    The Chisos Basin is the heart of the park and the hub for most visitors. Cradled in a volcanic depression in the Chisos Mountains at around 5,400 feet elevation, it offers a cooler refuge from the desert heat, a full-service lodge and restaurant, camping, and access to many of the park’s most beloved trails. The iconic profile of Casa Grande looms over the basin, and The Window — a natural notch in the western rim — frames spectacular sunset views over the Chihuahuan Desert. If you can arrange only one evening in the park, spend it at The Window overlook as the sun goes down.

    Lost Mine Trail ⭐ Ranger PamPaw Favorite

    The Lost Mine Trail is, in this guide’s opinion, the single best hike in Big Bend. Beginning at Panther Pass on the Basin Road, the 4.8-mile round-trip trail climbs through pine-oak woodland with sweeping views of the Chisos Mountains and the desert basin opening below. The trail is well-marked and moderately strenuous — a steady climb with a big payoff. The ridgeline views near the summit take in layer upon layer of landscape, from the high peaks to the Rio Grande canyon country far below. Go early to beat the heat and the crowds.

    📺 Watch: Lost Mine Trail | Tuesdays on the Trails | Big Bend National Park

    The Window Trail

    The Window Trail drops 5.6 miles round-trip from the Chisos Basin trailhead down through Oak Creek Canyon to the lip of The Window pour-off — a narrow slot where the canyon floor drops away into the desert below. It is a pleasant descent through shaded riparian vegetation, with the reward of standing at the pour-off edge looking west across the Chihuahuan Desert. Remember: what goes down must come back up, and the return climb in afternoon heat can be demanding. An easier alternative is the Window View Trail, a short, mostly flat 0.3-mile walk from the lodge area that delivers a classic view of The Window from above.

    Emory Peak & The South Rim

    For those with the legs and the time, the High Chisos trails are among the finest backcountry experiences in the Southwest. Emory Peak — the park’s highest point at 7,825 feet — requires a strenuous 9-mile round-trip from the Chisos Basin trailhead, with a short rock scramble near the summit that rewards with 360-degree views across Texas and into Mexico. The South Rim loop (12–14 miles depending on route) offers one of the most dramatic overnight or long day-hike experiences in the park, with sheer cliff views dropping away to the desert thousands of feet below. These trails are best tackled in spring or fall; carry plenty of water and plan your start time carefully.



    ▶   Touring the Park: The Chihuahuan Desert

    Grapevine Hills Trail

    The 2.2-mile round-trip Grapevine Hills Trail is a desert gem and a wonderful introduction to Big Bend’s igneous rock landscape. The trail winds through a jumbled field of rounded granite boulders before arriving at a natural balanced rock formation — two massive boulders wedged between canyon walls, framing a perfect window to the sky. The hike is relatively easy and suitable for most ability levels, making it a great option for families or as a warm-up for longer days. The trailhead is reached via a dirt road off the Maverick Road, so high-clearance vehicles are recommended.

    Tuff Canyon

    Tuff Canyon is one of the most geologically fascinating stops along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, and one of the easiest to visit. About 30 million years ago, violent volcanic eruptions showered this part of the Chihuahuan Desert with ash and rock fragments that accumulated while still glowing hot, welding together under heat and pressure into the pale, layered material called tuff. Blue Creek, fed by rains in the distant Chisos Mountains, has since carved a spectacular narrow gorge through those layers, exposing the volcanic story in the canyon walls. Three railing-protected overlooks — reached via a 0.5-mile loop on the canyon rim — offer vertiginous views straight down into the gorge. For a more immersive experience, a short spur trail descends to the canyon floor, where you can walk between walls pocked with holes left by bats and embedded with darker volcanic clasts. The contrast between the soft pale tuff and the harder dark rhyolite further up the canyon tells the full story of Big Bend’s fiery past. Plan about 30–45 minutes; combine it with Santa Elena Canyon for a full Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive day.



    ▶   Touring the Park: The River Canyons

    Santa Elena Canyon

    Santa Elena Canyon is one of the most dramatic natural features in the entire national park system. At the end of the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, the Rio Grande squeezes between canyon walls that rise 1,500 feet straight up — one wall in the United States, the other in Mexico. The 1.7-mile round-trip trail crosses Terlingua Creek (a rock-hop in dry seasons, a wade in wet ones), climbs stone steps into the canyon’s narrow mouth, and delivers a view of sheer vertical limestone that is genuinely humbling. It is a short hike but one of the most memorable in the park. The drive out on the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive is itself well worth the time.

    📺 Watch: Santa Elena Canyon Trail | Tuesdays on the Trail | Big Bend National Park

    Boquillas Canyon

    On the eastern side of the park, Boquillas Canyon is quieter than Santa Elena but equally stunning in its own way. The 1.4-mile round-trip trail winds through desert scrub before reaching the river and the canyon entrance, where towering limestone walls glow orange and gold in the afternoon light. Just before the canyon mouth, a large sandhill on the Mexican bank has a way of stopping kids in their tracks — it begs to be climbed, slid down, and climbed again. The Boquillas Canyon area is also the location of the park’s international border crossing to the small Mexican village of Boquillas del Carmen, a unique and worthwhile side trip when the crossing is open.

    📺 Watch: Boquillas Canyon Trail | Big Bend National Park | Tuesdays on the Trail (Special Edition)



    ▶   Know Before You Go

    The Remoteness is Real

    Big Bend’s isolation is not an inconvenience — it is a defining characteristic of the park. The nearest major services are in Alpine, roughly 80 miles away, or Midland, more than 200 miles. There are two gas stations within the park, and a couple of small stores where you can pick up basic supplies — but do not count on them for a full resupply. Come prepared. Fill up before you enter, bring more water than you think you need (a gallon per person per day is the minimum recommendation), and plan your meals. The park has a hard time recruiting and retaining staff precisely because of this remoteness, so services inside the park may be limited or unavailable on any given day.

    Cell Service & Connectivity

    Cell service is limited to the area around Panther Junction (park headquarters) and is largely absent everywhere else in the park. Download your offline maps before you arrive, save NPS trail guides to your device, and let someone know your itinerary. This is not a park where you want to rely on a live connection for navigation or emergency communication. Satellite communicators are a worthwhile investment for anyone heading into the backcountry.

    When to Visit

    Big Bend is fundamentally a winter park. The optimal window runs from September through early May, when temperatures in the desert are manageable and the mountains are at their finest. Summers are brutally hot — desert temperatures routinely top 100°F and can exceed 115°F at lower elevations. The Chisos Mountains run up to 20°F cooler than Rio Grande Village, but summer heat in the basin is still serious. Even in the optimal season, avoid holiday weekends and spring break periods if you can — the park can become very busy, and the infrastructure strains under the load. Weekday visits in October, November, February, or March offer the best combination of weather, crowds, and trail conditions.

    Lodging & Camping

    The Chisos Mountains Lodge is the only lodge inside the park, offering motel-style rooms and historic stone cottages originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It books up well in advance during peak season — reserve early. The park has three developed campgrounds: Chisos Basin, Rio Grande Village, and Cottonwood (near Castolon). All three have their own character, and experienced visitors often have a strong preference. For those seeking more solitude, the park offers backcountry road campsites accessible by high-clearance vehicle and true backcountry sites in the Chisos requiring permits. Just outside the park, options like Big Bend Station provide a comfortable base for multi-day visits.

    ▶   Park Map

    Big Bend National Park Map

    ▶   First Encounters

    Before this visit, Ranger PamPaw sat down to share what Big Bend means to him — the first park he ever visited, the first park they visited as a couple, and a place that has woven itself through a lifetime of family milestones. Watch the First Encounters episode before you go.

    Our First Visits to Big Bend National Park | First Encounters Series

    ▶   Further Exploration

    Official Resources

    Tuesdays on the Trail — Big Bend Videos

    ▶   The Ranger PamPaw Podcast

    Hear More About Big Bend

    Big Bend has been a part of Ranger PamPaw’s life longer than just about anywhere else — and it comes up throughout the podcast. Subscribe to The Ranger PamPaw Podcast for stories, perspectives, and park wisdom from a lifetime on the road.

    🎙 Listen & Subscribe

  • Ranger PamPaw’s Guide To

    Indiana Dunes National Park

    Porter County, Indiana  ·  Southern Shore of Lake Michigan

    Entrance sign for Indiana Dunes National Park at West Beach, with tall marsh grasses and a roadside setting in early spring.
    Boardwalk descending through dune landscape at Indiana Dunes National Park, with sand dunes, bare trees, and forested ridges in the distance.
    A piece of driftwood resting on a wide sandy beach along Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes National Park, with calm water and a hazy horizon.
    A lakeside building and beach along Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes, viewed through trees in early spring.
    Create alt text, title, caption, description, short description, and tags for this image

    ▶  A Note from Ranger PamPaw

    I’ll be honest with you — I wasn’t sure what to expect from Indiana Dunes. I’d heard the name, seen it on maps, and driven past the signs more than once on trips through the Chicago corridor. A national park between steel mills and Lake Michigan suburbs? It sounded more like a compromise than a destination.

    Then we went. We drove down from Chicago on a grey April morning, met a friend who works at the park, and spent a day that reminded me why I never stop being surprised by this system. The Dune Succession Trail alone — climbing through Jack Pines and cresting into that view of Lake Michigan — was worth the drive. Add the Great Marsh in the afternoon, birdsong filling the air, and you’ve got something that asks you to slow down and pay a different kind of attention.

    And then there’s the Century of Progress District — a neighborhood of 1933 World’s Fair homes that were floated down the lake by barge and reassembled in the dunes. I’ve been to a lot of parks. I’ve never seen anything quite like that.

    Indiana Dunes doesn’t look like a classic national park. It doesn’t feel like one either — at least not until you’re in it. Give it a full day. It’ll earn it.

    — Ranger PamPaw

    ▶  Quick Facts

    DesignationNational Park · Redesignated from National Lakeshore, February 15, 2019
    Established1966 as Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore; redesignated 2019
    LocationPorter County, Indiana — Southern shore of Lake Michigan
    Size~16,000 acres · 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline
    Nearest City~50 miles southeast of Chicago, Illinois
    Annual VisitorsApproximately 3 million
    Trails50+ miles across 15 trail systems
    Entrance FeeRequired at all beaches, trails, and sites · Annual pass $45 · America the Beautiful Pass accepted
    HoursGenerally 6:00 AM – 11:00 PM · Visitor Center: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM (peak season)
    Visitor CenterIndiana Dunes Visitor Center · 1100 North Mineral Springs Road, Porter, IN 46304 · (219) 395-1882
    Best SeasonsLate spring (May–June) and early fall (Sept–Oct) for hiking · Summer for beaches · Winter for snowshoeing
    Passport StampAvailable at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center
    NPS Websitenps.gov/indu

    ▶  A Century of Fighting to Save the Dunes

    Indiana Dunes National Park exists because ordinary people refused to give up on an extraordinary place — and they had to fight for more than a century to save it.

    The dunes themselves are ancient — shaped over thousands of years as glaciers retreated from the region, leaving behind the sand, gravel, and shoreline that today defines the southern edge of Lake Michigan. What the ice left behind became one of the most ecologically complex landscapes in North America: a crossroads of climate zones where boreal forests meet southern prairies, where eastern woodland species live alongside western grassland plants, and where the Mississippi Flyway funnels millions of migrating birds through a narrow strip of shoreline each spring and fall. The result is a park that supports more than 1,100 plant species — more per square mile than almost anywhere else in the National Park System.

    The push to protect this landscape began in 1899, when University of Chicago botanist Henry Chandler Cowles published a landmark study on the dunes’ plant communities and the process of ecological succession — how bare sand slowly gives way to grasses, then shrubs, then forests over centuries. Cowles understood that the dunes were not just beautiful; they were a living laboratory. In 1908, as steel mills began encroaching on the shoreline, he joined colleagues including landscape architect Jens Jensen to form the Prairie Club of Chicago. Their rallying cry: “A National Park for the Middle West.”

    The Hoosier Slide and the Cost of Waiting

    The stakes of inaction were already visible. The Hoosier Slide — once the tallest dune on the southern lakeshore at nearly 200 feet — had been carted away entirely by 1920. The Ball Brothers glass company of Muncie discovered that its fine, consistent sand was ideal for manufacturing, and transported it east by railroad boxcar to produce the iconic Ball Blue canning jars. By the time preservationists were rallying crowds, the Hoosier Slide was gone. A power plant sits on the site today.

    In 1916, the newly appointed first director of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, held public hearings in Chicago on the prospect of a national park at Indiana Dunes. Hundreds turned out in support. But the United States entered World War I the following year, and the effort stalled. The dunes remained unprotected through the war, through the Depression, and into the postwar industrial boom — each decade bringing new development pressure and shrinking the available land.

    Dorothy Buell and the Save the Dunes Council

    The effort was rescued in 1952 by an English teacher named Dorothy Buell. In her kitchen in Ogden Dunes, Buell gathered a group of neighbors and founded the Save the Dunes Council with a declaration that became the movement’s defining statement: “We are prepared to spend the rest of our lives if necessary to save the dunes.” She meant it. The council mounted a nationwide membership and fundraising campaign, purchased land parcel by parcel, and lobbied Congress year after year against a formidable coalition of industrial and port interests who wanted to maximize economic development along the southern lakeshore.

    Illinois Senator Paul H. Douglas became the movement’s champion in Congress, lobbying so persistently for Indiana that he earned the nickname “the third senator from Indiana.” Douglas brokered the eventual compromise: a national lakeshore would be authorized alongside the Port of Indiana — industry would get its harbor, and the dunes would get their protection. On November 5, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed Public Law 89-761, establishing the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore at 8,330 acres. Four subsequent expansion bills — in 1976, 1980, 1986, and 1992 — grew the park to its current size of more than 15,000 acres.

    A Redesignation — and What It Really Means

    The final chapter came more than fifty years after that 1966 designation. Congressman Pete Visclosky — a lifelong advocate for northwest Indiana’s lakefront — maneuvered a redesignation measure into a federal appropriations bill, and on February 15, 2019, President Donald Trump signed it into law. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore became Indiana Dunes National Park.

    It’s worth pausing on what that change did — and didn’t — mean. In the National Park Service, we call all of our units “parks,” regardless of their official designation. National lakeshores, national monuments, national recreation areas, national historic sites — they are all parks, managed by the same agency, protected under the same mission, and every bit as worthy of your time and attention as any unit bearing the words “National Park” in its title. The redesignation of Indiana Dunes changed the name on the sign. It didn’t change the land, the ecology, or the significance of the place.

    And that raises an honest question worth sitting with: if Indiana Dunes deserved the “National Park” title — and there’s a real case that it did — then what about Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks, and Apostle Islands? All three are national lakeshores on the Great Lakes. All three protect landscapes that are just as dramatic, just as ecologically significant, and just as irreplaceable as anything in Indiana Dunes. The honest answer, from someone who has visited all of the national lakeshores, is that the designation gap between them is narrower than the name difference suggests.

    What the Indiana Dunes story really celebrates isn’t a title. It’s more than a century of people who refused to let a remarkable place be consumed by industry — who organized, lobbied, purchased land acre by acre, and kept the pressure on through wars, recessions, and decades of political resistance. That persistence is the legacy worth honoring here. The name on the sign is secondary.

    ▶  Where Ecosystems Collide

    The ecological story of Indiana Dunes is inseparable from the work of Henry Chandler Cowles — and from the concept of plant succession that he pioneered here. Cowles recognized that the dunes were not a static landscape but a dynamic one in constant motion: bare sand colonized first by marram grasses, then by cottonwoods and shrubs, then by oaks and hickories, and ultimately by the stable forests that cap the oldest dune ridges. Walk the Dune Succession Trail at West Beach today and you move through these zones in sequence — a living demonstration of ecological time compressed into a single hike.

    The Jack Pines are among the most striking features of this successional landscape. Adapted to sandy, nutrient-poor soils and fire-dependent environments, they represent an unexpected northern element — gnarled, resilient trees that look almost otherworldly against the white sand. They are not native to this latitude by accident; the dunes create microhabitats cold and exposed enough for species more commonly found hundreds of miles to the north.

    The park’s position at the convergence of multiple climate and vegetation zones — where the boreal north meets the temperate east and the tallgrass west — produces a biodiversity that is genuinely exceptional. More than 1,100 plant species have been recorded within the park. Pinhook Bog, a National Natural Landmark within park boundaries, is one of the best-preserved sphagnum bogs in the Great Lakes region, hosting rare carnivorous plants and a suite of species found almost nowhere else in Indiana. The Great Marsh, one of the largest remaining wetland complexes in the southern Great Lakes, provides critical habitat for waterfowl, wading birds, and amphibians — and offers visitors a profoundly different experience from the drama of the dunes themselves.

    For birders, Indiana Dunes is one of the premier sites in the Midwest. The park sits along the Mississippi Flyway and is a major stopover for migratory songbirds, raptors, and shorebirds during spring and fall passage. In April alone, dozens of warbler species move through the dune woodlands and wetlands, and the park regularly records more than 300 bird species over the course of a year.

    Why Indiana Dunes Matters

    Indiana Dunes is one of the most accessible national parks in America — reachable by commuter rail from downtown Chicago — and one of the most ecologically significant. It represents something the National Park System doesn’t always get credit for: the idea that wild, irreplaceable places exist not only in remote western landscapes but right at the edge of the country’s industrial heartland. The park’s survival is a testament to a century of citizen activism, to the power of ordinary people who decided a place was worth fighting for — and kept fighting long after it seemed the battle was lost. That story is as much a part of the Indiana Dunes as the dunes themselves.

    ▶  Touring Indiana Dunes

    Indiana Dunes is not a single-trailhead park. Its 16,000 acres stretch across 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, with access points distributed throughout — so a good visit benefits from a little planning. Here are the highlights that earned their place on our itinerary.

    West Beach & the Dune Succession Trail

    West Beach is the park’s largest beach access point — more than 600 parking spaces, a bathhouse, and the best starting place for a full day visit. But the real draw here is the Dune Succession Trail, and it earns its name every step of the way.

    The trail climbs up and over the dune ridges, moving through the ecological zones Cowles first described: marram grasses on the open sand, cottonwoods where the soil begins to stabilize, and then — one of the real highlights of the park — a grove of Jack Pines. These twisted, wind-shaped trees growing straight out of the sand are one of those unexpected park moments that stays with you. At the crest, the trail drops down to the shore of Lake Michigan, and the view earns every step of the climb. Even on a grey morning, the scale of the lake is genuinely humbling — it stretches further than you expect, in every direction. West Beach parking closes at 9:00 PM in summer.

    The Century of Progress Architectural District

    This is the stop that genuinely surprises people — and it surprised us. Tucked into the dunes near Beverly Shores is a collection of homes built for the 1933–34 Chicago World’s Fair, formally known as “A Century of Progress.” These were not traditional houses but bold demonstrations of modernist design: angular, experimental, built with new materials to showcase what American architecture could become. When the fair closed, rather than demolish them, organizers had five of the homes loaded onto barges and floated down the lake to the Indiana shoreline, where they were reassembled in the dunes.

    All five homes are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and are now owned by the National Park Service, which leases them to Indiana Landmarks for restoration by private individuals. You can walk through the district and view the exteriors — the contrast of sharp-edged 1930s modernism against the natural dune landscape is unlike anything else in the park system. The NPS offers guided tours of the homes seasonally; check nps.gov/indu for current program schedules.

    Indiana Dunes Visitor Center

    Located at 1100 North Mineral Springs Road in Porter, the visitor center is the ideal orientation point for first-time visitors. The short introductory film does a good job of framing what makes Indiana Dunes ecologically and historically unusual — well worth the twenty minutes before heading out on the trails. Pick up maps, purchase passes, and get the passport stamp here. The building, parking, and theater are fully accessible, with hearing assistance available. Hours run 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM during peak season (Memorial Day through Labor Day) and 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM in the off-peak months.

    The Great Marsh Trail

    Save the Great Marsh for the afternoon, and let it be a deliberate change of pace. After the physical effort of the dunes, the marsh trail asks something different of you — it asks you to slow down and pay attention to smaller things. The trail winds through one of the largest remaining wetland complexes in the southern Great Lakes region, and in spring it is genuinely alive: birds moving through the grasses, frogs calling from every direction, red-winged blackbirds perched on cattail stems, spring wildflowers pushing up through the waterlogged soil. An observation deck extends over the wetland for an unobstructed view of the marsh interior.

    The contrast between the towering dunes in the morning and the low, still wetland in the afternoon captures what Indiana Dunes really is: not one kind of place, but several — all compressed into the same shoreline.

    ▶  Know Before You Go

    Two Parks, Two Fee Systems

    Indiana Dunes State Park sits in the middle of Indiana Dunes National Park — surrounded by it, in fact — but the two are managed separately with entirely different fee structures. The national park entrance fee is required at all beaches, trails, and sites within the federal park. The State Park charges its own daily or annual fee and is not covered by national park passes. Make sure you know which park your destination falls in before you arrive.

    Getting There — Including by Train

    From Chicago, the drive to the park is roughly 45–50 minutes via I-90/94. But Indiana Dunes is one of the few national parks in the country that is accessible by public transit directly from a major city: the South Shore Line commuter railroad stops at four stations within the park boundaries, with bikes permitted on board on weekends. It’s a genuinely useful option, particularly for summer weekend visits when parking at popular beaches fills early.

    Lake Michigan Water Safety

    Lake Michigan is a powerful body of water. Rip currents occur frequently along the southern shore, water temperatures remain cold even through summer (rarely exceeding 70°F in July), and conditions can change quickly. Lifeguards are on duty seasonally at West Beach — but only during staffed hours. The NPS strongly advises swimmers to check current conditions before entering the water, swim only at designated beaches, and never swim alone. Respect all posted warning flags.

    Timing Your Visit

    Late spring (May–June) and early fall (September–October) are the sweet spots — temperatures in the 60–75°F range, lower humidity, and reduced crowds compared to the summer peak. Spring is exceptional for birding as migrants move through in volume. Summer brings beach weather and lifeguarded swimming but also large crowds, especially on weekends; arrive early or take the train. The park stays open through winter, and snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are popular on the trails when snow permits.

    Pets & Camping

    Pets on a six-foot leash are welcome throughout most of the national park, including on beaches — with a few exceptions: Pinhook Bog, the equestrian section of Glenwood Dunes Trail, and the lifeguarded swim area at West Beach in summer. Dunewood Campground offers 67 campsites with electrical hookups, an amphitheater, and access to several hiking trails — reservations via recreation.gov are recommended for summer weekends.

    ▶  Park Map

    Indiana Dunes National Park map

    ▶  First Encounters — Watch the Episode

    Join us for our first visit to Indiana Dunes — from the Dune Succession Trail at West Beach to the shores of Lake Michigan, the extraordinary Century of Progress Architectural District, and a peaceful afternoon on the Great Marsh Trail.

    ▶  Further Exploration

    Official NPS Resources

    Plan Your Visit

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  • Trail Guide – Dune Succession Trail

    Indiana Dunes National Park

    Ranger PamPaw’s Trail Guide

    Where the Sand Dunes Meet the Shores of Lake Michigan

    The Dune Succession Trail at Indiana Dunes National Park is one of the most quietly remarkable short hikes in the National Park System — not because of what happened here, but because of what is still happening. This one-mile loop at West Beach walks you through four distinct stages of ecological succession, from open sand on the Lake Michigan shoreline through a sheltered jack pine grove, up 250 to 270 boardwalk stairs to a sweeping dune-crest view over the water, and back down to the beach. It is a trail where the geology, the botany, and the view all work together to tell the same story: how this shoreline has been building itself, one generation of plants at a time, since the glaciers retreated roughly 14,000 years ago.

    Trail Facts

    • Distance: ~1.0 mile (loop, including road return segment)
    • Elevation Gain: ~100 feet — concentrated in 250–270 boardwalk stairs
    • Difficulty: Moderate (easy terrain, strenuous stair sections)
    • Trail Type: Loop (boardwalk, beach sand, paved road return)
    • Typical Hiking Time: 45–60 minutes
    • Trailhead Address: 300 West Beach Road, Gary, IN 46403
    • Fees: Day-use fee required at West Beach (no fee for trail only, outside summer season)
    • Pets: Allowed on leash (6 ft or shorter); not permitted in lifeguarded swim areas

    Indiana Dunes National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the country and one of the most ecologically diverse — home to over 350 bird species and nearly 1,100 plant species within a surprisingly compact stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline. The Dune Succession Trail is the park’s signature short hike and its best single introduction to what makes Indiana Dunes unlike anywhere else.

    Getting to the Trailhead

    The Dune Succession Trail begins at the West Beach area of Indiana Dunes National Park, accessed via West Beach Road off County Line Road near Gary, Indiana. The large West Beach parking lot has room for several hundred cars. The trailhead is at the northeast corner of the parking lot, where the trail joins the road heading toward the bathhouse. Follow the road toward the lake — the trail breaks off to the left about 0.2 miles before you reach the bathhouse, marked by signage pointing into the dunes. The road itself becomes the return leg of the loop, making this a true point-to-point circuit back to the parking area.

    Indiana Dunes National Park sits on the southern shore of Lake Michigan in northwest Indiana, roughly 40 miles southeast of downtown Chicago. It is easily reached from Chicago via I-90/94 or the South Shore Line commuter rail — making it one of the most accessible national parks in the country for urban visitors. From Indianapolis, the drive is about two hours north on I-65.

    Hiking the Trail

    From the trailhead at the northeast corner of the parking lot, the trail immediately steps onto boardwalk and begins climbing into the dunes. The boardwalk is the defining feature of the first section — it guides you up and over the initial dune face while protecting the fragile vegetation on either side. Marram grass and cottonwood anchor the sand here, pioneer species doing the slow work of stabilizing a surface that would otherwise shift with every wind. This is Stage One of the succession the trail is named for, and the boardwalk puts you right in the middle of it.

    The trail descends into the swale between the first and second dune ridges, where the jack pine grove waits — and the character of the hike changes entirely. The jack pines are low and wind-sculpted, clinging to a sandy substrate that most trees cannot tolerate. They are Stage Two: pioneer trees that moved into open dune sand long after the grasses arrived, providing shade and organic matter that will eventually allow the black oaks and hickories of the mature forest to take hold. Standing in the grove, sheltered from the lake wind, it is easy to forget you are on a dune at all. Take your time here. It is one of the quietest and most distinctive spots on any trail in the Great Lakes region.

    From the swale, the trail climbs again — and this is where the stairs begin. The boardwalk ascends the face of the second dune ridge in a long, sustained staircase of 250 to 270 steps. It is a genuine workout, but the view building with every landing keeps you moving. At the crest, the lake opens up: Lake Michigan, wide and blue-grey, stretching north to the horizon. On a clear day, the Chicago skyline appears to the west across the water. Even in overcast conditions, the scale of the view is arresting — an inland sea, framed by dune grass and the tops of oaks below.

    Trail Map

    Screenshot

    Highlights Along the Way

    The Boardwalk and the Four Stages of Succession

    The trail’s name is its curriculum. Ecological succession is the process by which bare ground is progressively colonized by increasingly complex communities of plants and animals over time — and the Indiana dunes are one of the places where that process was first formally studied. In the early 1900s, University of Chicago botanist Henry Cowles conducted groundbreaking research here, documenting how plants colonize open sand and gradually transform it into forest. The concept he developed — plant succession — became foundational to the science of ecology. Walking the Dune Succession Trail, you are walking through Cowles’s original field site, with the four stages of that progression laid out before you in the space of a single mile: open sand, cottonwood and marram grass, jack pine, and mature deciduous forest.

    The Jack Pine Grove

    The grove in the swale between the first and second dune ridges is one of the most memorable spots on the trail. Jack pines are tough, resinous trees adapted to poor soils and fire — in many ecosystems they depend on fire to open their cones and release seeds. Here, they fill a transitional role: too hardy for bare sand, too shade-intolerant to survive once the oaks close in above them, they occupy an ecological middle ground that exists only because the dunes keep shifting the timeline. Every swale and ridge at West Beach is at a slightly different stage of succession, which is why the grove feels like its own enclosed world rather than simply a section of larger forest.

    The Dune Crest and Lake Michigan View

    The climb up the boardwalk stairs delivers one of the better views available on a short trail anywhere in the Midwest. From the dune crest, Lake Michigan dominates the northern horizon — one of the five Great Lakes, holding roughly 21 percent of the world’s surface fresh water. The Chicago skyline, visible on clear days about 40 miles to the west, provides a striking contrast: one of the world’s great cities, framed by a glacially formed freshwater sea and a shoreline that has been ecologically active for ten thousand years. The descent from the crest drops you quickly through mature deciduous forest — black oak, sassafras, hickory — before the trail emerges onto the beach.

    West Beach and the Return Loop

    The trail deposits you onto West Beach, where the sand is wide and the lake stretches away to the north. A short walk along the shoreline before climbing the steps back up to the bathhouse reminds you how unusual this landscape is — a Great Lakes beach within an hour of one of the largest cities in North America, protected as a national park since 1966 and elevated to full National Park status in 2019. The return leg follows West Beach Road back through the parking area, completing the loop through all four ecological zones in the space of about a mile.

    What Makes This Trail Special

    The Dune Succession Trail is short, but it earns its place in the National Park System. In about a mile, it walks you through a living ecology textbook — the same landscape where the science of plant succession was born — while delivering a lake view that stops most people in their tracks. The jack pine grove in the swale is something you don’t expect and don’t forget. The stairs are a genuine workout that pays off at the top. And arriving on the beach at the end, stepping out of the forest onto Lake Michigan sand, is one of those small trail moments that lands differently than it has any right to. Indiana Dunes is one of the most ecologically complex and historically significant stretches of shoreline in the country, and the Dune Succession Trail is the best single hour you can spend understanding why.

    Tips for Visiting

    • The trailhead is at the northeast corner of the West Beach parking lot — follow the road toward the bathhouse and watch for the trail sign breaking left into the dunes after about 0.2 miles.
    • Wear sturdy shoes with grip. The boardwalk stairs can be slippery in wet or sandy conditions, and the beach section is soft sand.
    • Stay on the boardwalk. The dune vegetation is fragile — even a few footsteps off-trail can trigger erosion that takes years to recover.
    • Bring water. There are no water sources on the trail itself; the bathhouse at West Beach has facilities available seasonally.
    • A day-use fee applies at West Beach during the summer season (Memorial Day through Labor Day). The America the Beautiful pass is accepted. Outside of peak season, the fee area may be unstaffed.
    • Come early on weekends in summer — the West Beach parking lot can fill by mid-morning. Weekday mornings are ideal for a quieter experience on both the trail and the beach.

    The Science of the Dunes — and the Park’s History

    Indiana Dunes National Park exists in part because of its science. In the early twentieth century, University of Chicago botanist Henry Cowles studied the succession of plant communities on these dunes and published findings that helped establish ecology as a formal discipline. His work showed that bare sand dunes were not static landscapes but dynamic systems moving through predictable stages of plant colonization — a concept that reshaped how scientists understood the natural world. The dunes Cowles studied are the same dunes you walk through on the Succession Trail today.

    The park itself has a longer history of advocacy. Environmental champion Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service, championed the preservation of these dunes in the 1910s. Decades of local advocacy — led in part by poet Carl Sandburg and conservationist Jens Jensen — eventually resulted in the creation of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 1966. In February 2019, Congress redesignated it as Indiana Dunes National Park, making it one of the newest units in the National Park System and one of the most visited.

    Tuesdays on the Trail Video

    This trail guide pairs with our Tuesdays on the Trail video episode, where we hike the Dune Succession Trail at West Beach and walk through the four stages of dune succession — from boardwalk to jack pine grove to the Lake Michigan view at the top.

    Final Thoughts

    The Dune Succession Trail does not ask a lot — a mile, an hour, a good pair of shoes for the stairs. What it offers in return is harder to summarize: a forest growing out of sand, a grove of jack pines that feels like its own world, a lake view earned step by step, and a beach at the end that makes the whole loop feel like a small and complete story. Indiana Dunes National Park is closer to more Americans than almost any other unit in the system, and the Dune Succession Trail is the best single argument for why it deserves the trip.

    Helpful Links & Resources

    Tezels on the Road

    More trails. More stories. More perspective.

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  • Shedd Aquarium & Heading Home: Chicago 2026

    Shedd Aquarium & Heading Home: Chicago 2026

    Thursday, April 16 | The Shedd Aquarium & Heading Home

    One last morning in Chicago, one last adventure, and a long road home. It’s been an incredible trip.

    After eight nights in Chicago, we gave ourselves full permission for the laziest of mornings. Coffee in bed, no rush, no agenda. Just two people savoring the last quiet hours in our 20th floor corner room with those magnificent views of Lake Michigan one final time. Some mornings are worth stretching out, and this was one of them.

    Eventually, reality called. We packed up, said goodbye to what had been a truly spectacular home base at the Hilton Chicago, checked out, and stored our bags so we could squeeze in one last adventure before heading to the airport.

    That adventure was the Shedd Aquarium — and what a way to close out the trip. Situated right on the Museum Campus alongside the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum, the Shedd is one of the world’s premier aquariums, and it lived up to every bit of that reputation. We wandered through stunning exhibit after stunning exhibit — vibrant coral reef displays teeming with color, graceful sharks gliding through massive tanks, and the always mesmerizing beluga whales, who seemed just as curious about us as we were about them. So much more besides. It was a fantastic afternoon and a genuinely wonderful final chapter to an already unforgettable trip.

    With the aquarium checked off and hearts full, we retrieved our bags and made the trek out to O’Hare for our evening flight home to San Antonio. Travel, as it sometimes does, had other plans. A couple of delays pushed our departure back, but we were fortunate enough to wait it out in the comfort of the Admiral’s Club — which made the wait considerably more bearable.

    We finally touched down at 12:30 AM, and by the time we got home it was even later. Tired? Absolutely. Worth it? Without question.

    Chicago 2026 is a wrap. What a trip it was. 🏙️❤️

    Thank you for following along on our Chicago adventure! From the lakeshore to Wrigley Field, Pullman to Indiana Dunes, Millennium Park to the Grand Ballroom — this city gave us everything. Until the next road trip, Tezels out. 🚗✨

  • Pullman National Historical Park

    Ranger PamPaw’s Guide To

    Pullman National Historical Park

    Chicago, Illinois  ·  America’s First Planned Industrial Community

    ▶  A Note from Ranger PamPaw

    I’ll be honest — I wasn’t sure what to expect from a national park sitting squarely inside one of America’s great cities. But Pullman stopped me in my tracks. Stand on the corner of 111th and Cottage Grove and the whole story presses in on you at once: the brick rowhouses still occupied, the clock tower freshly restored, and the weight of three overlapping American dramas — industrial ambition, labor uprising, and a civil rights movement born from railroad cars. This isn’t history under glass. It lives in the neighborhood around you. Don’t rush it.

    ▶  Quick Facts

    DesignationNational Historical Park (redesignated 2022; originally National Monument 2015)
    Location610 E. 111th Street, Chicago, IL 60628 (Pullman community area, Far South Side)
    EstablishedFebruary 19, 2015 (as National Monument); redesignated National Historical Park, December 2022
    SignificanceAmerica’s first planned industrial company town; site of the landmark 1894 Pullman Strike; birthplace of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
    Visitor Center HoursTuesday–Sunday, 11 AM–3 PM (or by appointment); closed Mondays
    AdmissionFree (NPS Visitor Center); Historic Pullman Foundation museum: free, donations welcome
    Getting ThereBy car: exit I-94 at 111th St. (#66A); by Metra Electric: 111th St.–Pullman station (express ~20 min from Millennium Park)
    Suggested Visit Length2–3 hours minimum; half day recommended to explore all three sites
    Park PartnersNPS · State of Illinois (Pullman State Historic Site) · City of Chicago · Historic Pullman Foundation · A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum
    Annual Passport StampAvailable at the NPS Visitor Center

    ▶  The Vision: George Pullman’s Model Town

    Building a Utopia — on Someone Else’s Terms

    George Pullman was already a wealthy man by the time he turned his ambitions to urban planning. Having made his first fortune raising Chicago’s buildings above their flooded foundations in the 1850s, he went on to build the Pullman Palace Car Company in 1867, transforming long-distance rail travel with luxury sleeping cars staffed by a workforce of formerly enslaved men. By 1880, with demand for his cars soaring and labor unrest simmering across the city, Pullman purchased 4,000 acres of land south of Chicago between the Illinois Central Railroad line and Lake Calumet — and set out to build the ideal industrial community from scratch.

    He commissioned architect Solon Spencer Beman and landscape designer Nathaniel Franklin Barrett to design every element: over 1,300 housing units built primarily as red brick rowhouses with indoor plumbing, a library, a church, an arcade of shops, a market hall, a school, and the showpiece Hotel Florence — named for his daughter — opened in 1881. Construction began in early 1880 and the first factory buildings were essentially complete by fall of that same year. By 1883, more than 8,000 people called Pullman home. Advertised as a model of worker welfare and civic design, the town drew national and international attention, becoming a celebrated attraction at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

    The architecture was deliberately ornate for an industrial site. The Administration and Factory Complex — designed for efficient linear manufacturing in what was an early precursor to the assembly line — faced the Illinois Central tracks with a handsome Queen Anne and Romanesque facade mirrored in an artificial cooling reservoir called Lake Vista. What passengers on passing trains saw was not a smoky factory but something approaching a civic monument. That was entirely the point. But beneath the gleaming design, the terms were Pullman’s alone: rents were set to return a six percent profit, deducted automatically from paychecks, and no resident could own their home. The town was a controlled environment as much as a model one.

    ▶  The Strike of 1894: When a Nation Walked Off the Job

    Wages Cut, Rents Unchanged — and the Country Stopped

    The Panic of 1893 devastated the railroad industry. Orders for sleeping cars collapsed, and Pullman responded by slashing worker wages — in some cases by as much as a third — while leaving the rents on company housing entirely unchanged. Since rent was automatically deducted from paychecks, many workers were left with almost nothing to live on. Corporate dividends, meanwhile, remained untouched. On May 11, 1894, Pullman employees walked out. The company, having built up financial reserves to weather a short work stoppage, simply waited.

    What no one anticipated was the response of the American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs. The ARU — whose 150,000 members included many Pullman workers — launched a nationwide boycott, refusing to handle any train carrying Pullman cars. Since Pullman cars ran on virtually every major railroad in the country, the boycott crippled rail traffic from Chicago to the coasts. The federal government, arguing that stalled mail cars violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, dispatched thousands of U.S. Marshals and Army troops to Chicago. Violence broke out. Dozens were killed or injured. After Debs and other ARU leaders were jailed, the strike and boycott collapsed. Most workers never got their jobs back on the original terms.

    The legal and political aftermath reverberated for decades. The Supreme Court upheld the government’s intervention in In re Debs (1895), affirming federal authority to crush strikes threatening interstate commerce. But the scale of the walkout also forced a reckoning: President Grover Cleveland, eager to repair his image with labor, signed legislation making Labor Day a federal holiday just days after ordering troops into Chicago. George Pullman died in 1897, ordering his grave encased in concrete and steel — reportedly fearing desecration by former workers. The Illinois Supreme Court forced the Pullman Company to sell its non-industrial holdings in 1898.

    ▶  The Porters and the Civil Rights Movement

    A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood That Changed America

    While African Americans had been explicitly barred from living in the Pullman district during the company town era, they had long formed the backbone of Pullman’s most visible workforce: the sleeping car porters. By the 1920s, porters made up 44 percent of the entire Pullman workforce, making the Pullman Company the single largest employer of African Americans in the United States. The work offered steady income and a degree of mobility unavailable in most other industries, but it also came with long hours, demanding service expectations, chronic disrespect, and wages set unilaterally by the company.

    In 1925, A. Philip Randolph — a New York labor organizer and editor of the socialist magazine The Messenger — founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in New York City. It was the first major labor union organized and led by African Americans. Organizing took twelve years of sustained effort against a company with enormous resources and a workforce that feared retaliation. But in 1937, the Brotherhood reached a landmark agreement with the Pullman Company: the first major labor contract ever negotiated between a corporation and an African American union. The NAACP recognized it as a watershed moment for the economic standing and dignity of Black workers across the country.

    The significance of the porters and the Brotherhood extends far beyond the railroad. Pullman porters carried Black newspapers — most famously the Chicago Defender — into the Jim Crow South, seeding the Great Migration. They built a Black middle class. Their children and grandchildren became lawyers, doctors, and civil rights leaders. Randolph himself went on to organize the 1963 March on Washington, at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. The story of the porters is not a footnote to the civil rights movement — it is one of the movement’s foundation stones.

    Why Pullman Matters

    Pullman National Historical Park preserves the convergence of three of America’s most consequential stories: the rise of industrial capitalism and the company town experiment, the labor movement’s hardest-fought battles for worker dignity, and the long arc of African American civil rights. No other national park site holds all three threads in the same square mile. It is also — still — a living neighborhood, which means the stakes of preservation here are immediate and human in a way that feels different from a battlefield or a wilderness area.

    ▶  Touring the Park: Three Experiences in One Visit

    Start at the Clock Tower

    Begin your visit at the NPS Visitor Center inside the beautifully restored Pullman Administration Clock Tower Building at 610 E. 111th Street. The building itself — the iconic landmark that survived the 1998 arson that destroyed much of the adjacent factory — opened as a visitor center on Labor Day 2021 after years of environmental cleanup and structural restoration. Inside, audio and visual exhibits walk you through the layered history of the district: the company town, the strike, and the porters’ civil rights story. Rangers are on hand, the gift shop carries Pullman-specific memorabilia, and this is where you’ll find your passport stamp. Plan at least 45 minutes here before venturing out.

    Walk the Historic District

    Step outside and you are immediately inside the historic district itself — a still-inhabited neighborhood of late 19th-century red brick rowhouses stretching between East 103rd and East 115th Streets. Many of these homes have been lovingly maintained and restored by residents over the past five decades, since the Pullman Civic Organization mobilized in the 1960s to prevent demolition. A self-guided walking tour takes you past workers’ cottages, supervisors’ homes (notably larger), the former market hall, and the Greenstone Church — the only church Pullman built for workers, its distinctive green serpentine stone imported from Pennsylvania. Hotel Florence, at the northeast corner of the district, recently completed extensive rehabilitation of its first floor and is worth a stop to see the original Victorian-era dining room.

    The A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum

    Located at 10406 S. Maryland Avenue, the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum is the third anchor of the Pullman experience and arguably its most moving. Operated by the Historic Pullman Foundation, it tells the story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the porters’ working lives, and A. Philip Randolph’s extraordinary career as an organizer, orator, and civil rights strategist. Exhibits include porter uniforms, tools of the trade, oral histories, and materials documenting the long campaign to win the 1937 contract. The museum is free to enter; a donation supports ongoing preservation work. Confirm hours in advance — the museum operates by request and appointment.

    ▶  Know Before You Go

    This is a multi-partner site. The NPS, the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, and the Historic Pullman Foundation all operate pieces of the district. Which organization runs which tour and which building depends on where you are standing. Check ahead for each attraction’s current hours, especially for guided tours of the factory complex and Hotel Florence.

    The NPS Visitor Center is open Tuesday–Sunday, 11 AM–3 PM. It is closed on Mondays. If you are making a special trip, call ahead or check the NPS website for any seasonal or operational changes before you drive down.

    Consider taking the Metra. The Metra Electric line stops at 111th Street–Pullman station, just steps from the visitor center, with express trains running approximately 20 minutes from Millennium Station in the Loop. Arriving by train to a site where the railroad is the whole story adds a layer that a parking lot simply cannot.

    Wear comfortable shoes. Fully exploring the district — visitor center, Hotel Florence, the Randolph Museum, and the residential streets — involves a mile or more of walking. The neighborhood is flat, but the experience rewards a slow pace.

    Preservation is ongoing. Sections of the factory complex and the Hotel Florence annex remain under rehabilitation. New acquisitions are in progress. The park is actively growing — what you see today may be expanded the next time you visit.

    ▶  Park Map

    ▶  First Encounters: Watch Our Video Episode

    Join us for our First Encounters episode at Pullman National Historical Park — walking the streets of the historic district, exploring the restored clock tower, and reflecting on the stories that shaped American labor and civil rights.

    ▶  Further Exploration

    Dig deeper into the history of Pullman with these resources:

    • NPS Pullman National Historical Park — Official park site with hours, alerts, and programming updates.
    • Historic Pullman Foundation — Tour information, museum access, and preservation news.
    • A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum — The story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
    • Recommended Reading: Pullman: An Experiment in Industrial Order and Community Planning by Stanley Buder — the definitive scholarly history of the company town.
    • Recommended Reading: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters by Jervis Anderson — a thorough account of Randolph’s organizing campaign and its civil rights legacy.
    • NPS America the Beautiful Pass — Admission to Pullman NHP is free, but the pass covers entrance fees at hundreds of other federal lands. Learn more here.

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