Reviews of Access to West Beach - Indiana Dunes National Park (Park)

rmonlo Ibanez

Shoreline was clean very reduced from past years I have visited. My family has been visiting the West Beach location for 30 plus years we live it. The showers are cold but always maintained very well. Bathrooms are also clean. Parking is about 10 min walk so pack you items with that in mind

Debbie Kogelman

One of the newest National Parks. Many upgrades were underway including.the bathrooms. It is so nice to have this amazing park so close by!

Diablo In Hell

Clean, not over crowded access for strollers and wheelchairs

Mary Steel

Love that there is still a clean beach to spend time at

Jeanette Hall

Changing facilities and wash room. $6.00 parking fees.

Chris Bloomfield

They have facilities for changing. It's surrounded by industrial complexes. You can see Chicago way off in the distance if it's clear outside, but not close enough for pictures. Not the best beach by far though.

Tabitha Goodman

I love this beach. Secluded and gorgeous. I don't like all the rocks at the waters edge and it was quite a hike to the car.

stephanie battista

There were tree branches sticking out from the sand everywhere, there were all kinds of bugs, meat eating bugs that wouldn’t leave us alone, there are signs posted saying no alcoholic beverages yet people showed up with coolers full of beer, there were also individuals smoking all around the beach. It was a horrible experience and I will not return or recommend it to anyone.

Aaron Cunningham

I love hiking at West Beach

Debbie VanSlyke

My mom and i took the sunset hike with Ranger Chris. Met up at the north end of the parking lot. Ranger Chris provided interesting facts about the history of the parks as well as info about the habitat. Finished with roasted marshmallows and beautiful sunset pictures on the beach. Great way to spend a Saturday evening for people of all ages.

DJR0101

Love this park/beach!!

Marin Woronets

I've never seen a beach so crowded In my life. If you want the public pool feeling, go for it. It was very uncomfortable. We walked quite a ways down the beach to get a spot with a little space around us and that's why I gave it 3 stars. The parking is what brings people here-- there's plenty of it -- (6$ a car) while other nearby beaches are very limited. Seeing the steel mills on either side of the beach was also a turn off. Again though, if you walk a ways to the south, you can find nicer spots with space. Lots of beautiful beaches-- drive around-- get there early!!

james pappas

The best beach in the entire Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore!

Guilherme Maximiliano Lima

Gorgeous lake view!!

Elizabeth

Great day. Beautiful place to take your family

Olisebuka Obioha

Just there, not bad.

Jamie Trimble

Nice beach just really crowded

Dan S

Great time, and great trail to the beach

Andrew KPro

Nice beach with a long trail leading up to the beach, but the sand is littered with pieces of wood and bark everywhere which is annoying.

Mustfa Alshmt

Had a woderful time great place.

Jim Thomas

Like your own private beach...... awesome....fills up fast

Julia Guest

We had a great time on our family vacation and will definitely be back!

Michael Huber

We only went to the beach but from what we saw, we will be going back and doing some hiking.

Michelle Rosales

I've been several times. It's nice and clean. When it's hot, it is packed and you have to search for a place to spread out. When it's off season, no one is there. Beware. The parking lot is big, but it is quite a walk along a path, through the beach house and den the stairs to the beach. If you are carrying a cooler, blankets, shade tent, towels, and food; the walk is even longer. Most people have a wagon, but the wheels don't work in the sand. The sand is very, very loose and difficult to walk in. When it's hot it's quite a workout walking along the beach to find a place to sit. Then a major workout to get all your stuff back to the car. It's easy to lose balance walking in the sand and it is very, very hot and will burn your feet. You will get sand everywhere. But there are showers in the bathhouse. The water is very, very cold; even when it's hot out. Oh, I forgot to mention the biting flies. Not a relaxing, fun day at the beach.

Manuel Allegue

So nice

Edward McClendon

A bit of a walk from the parking lot and beach can be very crowded on got weekends especially holiday weekends. Overall a fun time and kid friendly.

Erin Koons

Very small beach and dirty (trash, debris, cig butts).

Brent Mellinger

Claims to be "Family Friendly". It's not at all. If I added a picture it would be removed for being R-rated. That's NOT family friendly.

Joe Kalocinski

Awesome place to enjoy nature!

José Manuel Ronces

Good

Lindsay Cassidy

Great beach!!! Lifeguards present during most of the day. Clean, Lake Michigan water, nice smooth sand. The bathrooms and shower houses are clean and spacious. They have a concession stand that sells snacks and also ice so you don’t have to carry your heavy cooler loaded with ice! It is a 0.25 miles walk to beach from parking lot, so be prepared.

Christina K

Entry point was easy to get to, get through and get in to the park(and head to the beach). They allow you to use both sides of pay booth in the morning when they are busy, to keep the lines from backing up. Assistants in booth are very nice and knowledgable, helpful if it's your first time to the park. Thanks!

Maria Aguilera

It is a nice little beach with decent bathrooms and showers but the walk to the beach was a pain because it's a good walk from parking lot. But its a good beach for just getting out of Chicago for a few hours.

Shravs Kiran

Very nice view n a family place but very crowded on Memorial Day weekend

atom weis

Well kept up beach. Nice size locker rooms/bathrooms

Cheryl Hanft

Great stair workout. Beaches need to be cleaned of debris

James Yo

Caught a beautiful sunset in early September here.

Ann Curington

Beautiful beach and national park! Great hiking trails. Wonderful scenery and wild life too! During summer months there's a charge for parking (maybe 5-6 dollars). The beach is clean. On a really clear day you can see the Chicago skyline too! Husband took me to this beach and I've been hooked ever since! It is such a beautiful and peaceful place!

YF Zhang

The scenary is beautiful.

alisia szablewski

The park itself and hiking is amazing, but if you plan on going to the beach, don't. I have seen reviews on here about how clean the beach is and how it's a hidden gem, but I was seriously let down when I got there today. The beach wasn't clean at all and I have to say it is the smallest beach I have ever seen. For some reason there was no swimming, although the tides weren't high at all and waves were normal for Lake Michigan. In all, if this beach is what is considered clean and a hidden gem around here, I'd rather spend the $15 in gas driving up to North Beach in Racine, WI or even Kenosha.

William Spencer

Great place.

Brian Sobaszkiewicz

Awesome

Nich Lounds

Awesome trails to hike and a beautiful beach. You can even see Chicago from the beach.

Ronda Powell

Got here just after 9am today. Beautiful view. Terribly dirty beach. Wood chips, rocks, etc. I know it's supposed to be natural, but it's unsafe for walking or sitting on. We started setting up, and took our stuff down just as quickly. Total disappointment. $6...for our 1/2 hour visit. Shower facilities were huge and clean though.

Eric Delamere

Our second stop on a 12000ml road trip around the USA. The place was all but empty, so no problems parking or getting around. We started with lunch from the chuck wagon (great and good value) then we walked out to the beach area via the lakeshore facilities(excellent) where I took a dip. What a surprise warm and not salty, because its a lake and not the sea, brilliant.

YJ Lee

Stunning! I drive from NE Ohio, and it is totally beyond worth the trip. I used to live in the area (more like MC but preferred this access point), and I was addicted to coming to West Beach to walk the trails and escape from my then high-stress life. The place was so healing. Since I never managed to make any friends in Indiana, it was a great place for me to just appreciate the peacefulness of solitude. So many great memories here, and I am so grateful.

Markie Mitchell

Little disappointed we had to pay for this park as we had an annual national park pass. Luckily it was only $6. It was a beautiful but I guess they have other parks are there where you can get in for free.

Melissa Vlasak

Great beach, dog friendly, restrooms, parking lot with electric car charging station, trails and a beach house with showers! We are 1st time RV'ers and stayed overnight in the parking lot. Friendly workers in the a.m and very clean facilities. The one lady at the beach house reminded us we left our dog water bowl! We highly recommend this place! Thank you!

John Nelson

The area is beautiful and I love the dunes. They lose one star because the bathhouse could use some maintenance, they charged an amenity fee to get in even though we had an annual pass for National Parks, and because a lot of areas were closed off. Still a great place to visit. Long Lake was full of white water lilly flowers!

ROBERT FINGER

Nice beach, lifeguards can be nasty, but still a great place to tan. Long walk to get to the beach....worth it.

Ramberto Villafana

A few different beaches to choose from. West Beach has a grilling area on the other side of the parking lot.

nicole bazan

Clean, beautiful beach. Usually crowded, but plenty of room. Parking was $6 for all day parking. Lots of hiking trails. Expect to do a lot of walking. At least 1/4 to 1/2 mile. Big shower house and food trucks on site.

John hamond

Nice beach plenty of parking and food trucks when leaving

Annie Cairo

So nice here.

Kemesha Weatherspoon

Beautiful!!!

Garrett Bobo

some pollution, But all in all, a great beach!!!!

Asta Vasiliauskas

Awesome

Susan Calow

I live to hike here. Very nice boardwalk.

Thomas Goodrich

Sun, sand and the lake..

Joshua Flores

I am bias. But the trails and views are beautiful.

Pat Mistak

I went there for a concert by the NWI Symphony. What an awesome concert! They had variety in their music and Kirk is always a great conductor and MC! Great job having them perform at the West Beach!

Jennifer Crowder

Nice scenery

Brent Barnard

This is such a great beach! After you pay at the gate and park, you walk about 1/4 mile to a bathhouse where folks can buy ice cream and change into swimming clothes, etc. Then there's a big boardwalk-style staircase down to the beach itself. My wife and I went with my family, and our nieces had a blast. It was fairly crowded, but this didn't detract from the experience at all. Lifeguards were on duty, which is why there is a charge for this beach - as opposed to the other national-lakeshore beaches. Highly recommended.

Chris Bonessa

How can you have a bad thing to say about the dunes. Always a Midwest treasure. A must if your in the Region! Went to see the Northwest Indiana Symphony under the stars! Phenomenal!

Ashley S.

Clean beach but can get very crowded.

Daniel lomeli

Super crowded some days but can't blame people for wanting to get some sun! Good location to bring my dog.

Jesse Jones

Beautiful beach for the family

William Jackson

Beautiful

David Flores

Love this place. Clean and beautiful

Liam Smietanski

A gem within driving distance. Great for a cheap day away to paradise.

Gregory Kowalsky

Beautiful dunes, pleasant - clean and warm - water.

Wendy Fawcett

We hiked succession trail then cooled off on the beach. Beach was very clean. Water was clean.

Shafi Mulk

Best ,peaceful ,safe ,clean place for everyone

Shawn Reed

Just watched an excellent symphony! Can't say nothing bad about it other that they kept doing Michael Jackson songs?!?!

J J

The rason why I love living in NWI.

Evelyn Bottando

Great for hiking.

Ron Smith

Amazing a beautiful day!

Igor T.

Great park!

Keshava Mysore

was there briefly just once, should go there again soon. amazing place. wonderful view.

Sheila Scudieri

Beautiful place to visit. Plenty of parking if you visit week days.

Amanda Ashby

Only public beach I've been to that has sand wheelchairs. That's a big plus. However the sand wheelchairs won't go through the bathroom doors. So you have to get a lifeguard to get you back your regular wheelchair, bathroom then get the sand wheelchair back. Bit of a hassle but at least they have a way to get physically challenged to the beach. So I'm giving them 5stars for that alone. It's clean and beautiful.

jenifer derango

Nice parking lot! Plenty of room

Floyydd Mumford

Hidden gem, lots of fun hiking trails, Long Beach Kos, and fun places to swim Good services, beach houses, and facilities well staffed with lifeguards during the summer Free From Labor Day to memorial day it’s free

Jason W. Bird

Nice trails that lead directly to the water. Great little workout.

Nicasio Mireles

Great place execpt wood chunks

Riley Chizannel

Saturday beach closes at 10pm.. life guards announce at 5:30pm they are leaving..Swim at your own risk!