Indiana dunes national park visitor center | Informal Campsite

United States

Details

Verified:
4 months ago
Altitude:
205.1 masl
Website:
None

Amenities

Electricity:
No
Wifi:
Yes - Average
Kitchen:
No
Restaurant:
No
Showers:
No
Water:
No
Toilets:
Running Water
Big Rig Friendly:
Yes
Tent Friendly:
No
Pet Friendly:
Yes

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Description

Overnight parking allowed at the visitor center. You can go in and ask for a overnight parking permit at the desk. Fill it out and they will give you a permit. Totally free.
I’m sure if you arrive after hours no one will bother you without a Pass for the night. Plenty of parking spaces big enough for a big rig.
The ranger said she thought the bathrooms even remained unlocked at night but she was not entirely sure.

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Latest Check-Ins

like everyone said, free camping, no pas required. lots of space. however I won't stay there again, the freeway is way loud for me, and then the steel factory trains honk as if their lives depended on it.
plus, the dunes national Park is a joke! surrounded by factories, noisy whenever you are, of this is worthy a natural park, the entire Southwest should be one.

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Had no problem whatsoever. Slept in the car as a few others did. Some RVs were parked along the back. Very clean and quiet. More overnighters came in while I was sleeping. Nice to have a walking trail in the morning to stretch out.

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As described. A great overnight. A few other vehicles were there when I arrived around 6pm, and at least one more parked after I did. Quiet, and safe, flat with a few bars of TMobile 5G.

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Amazing stop…please respect their rules so we do not lose this privilege. We checked in with the ranger and they confirmed we were ok out back. Clean restrooms, water refill, purchased an America the Beautiful pass. They recommended the 3 dunes challenge at the nearby state park.

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Today I asked inside staff if I can stay overnight in the parking lot with my RV, they said yes, I can stay overnight in the parking lot, no need the permit, if I want stay several nights, might need ask a permit.

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The night I spent boondocking at the visitor's center was one of the most peaceful I've ever had and I slept really well to the sounds of crickets and other night noises. There were a couple other RVs/trailers/campervans and possibly a few car campers so it felt safe. I didn't try the bathrooms until morning but they are in a separate area of the center so it's possible they remain unlocked at night. Just make sure to obtain permission from the rangers so they can give you a parking pass. 10/10, highly recommend if you can't find a site at the campground.

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Checked with staff and they no longer provide parking permits but will provide you with other places to stay, but to use the visitors center as a last resort if youre unable to book a place. I didnt want to spend the extra money on a campground, not to mention many dont allow you to sleep in your car. I parked at around 8:45 and left at around 5:00am. There were about 3 other RVs and another car camper. Like others stated, please dont trash the lot and ruin it for the rest of us. The lot was very clean both when I arrived/left, though I could tell when talking to them they didnt like the idea of saying to use the lot first thing, which is where the list of campgrounds was provided.

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Yes that right you can park here overnight since the visitor center is shared with the state park. The sad fact is it may not last long. Talking to a ranger today they may have to ban overnight parking. People are dumping trash everywhere and actually emptying their black water tanks in the woods. The ranger said one more incident like this and it’s done. There is camp ground right down the street that you can do that for free.

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Very quiet at night, barely heard the sound of the road/highway at night. Felt safe.

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Stayed here for a few days. Asked permission and they said, that they do allow people to stay (especially when the Indiana Dunes campground is full). However, they do ask that you don't start campfires, put up tents or the like.

Lovely and relatively quiet spot with clean restrooms available during the visitor center's opening hours.

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There was at least a dozen other overnighters here. I didn’t find any pit toilets, but a single porta-potty, which seemed to be due for emptying. It occasionally collected a short line of people needing to use it.
I initially tried parking next to the tall grass that had signs about not cutting or spraying for repairing habitat, but my dogs kept finding chicken wings and drumsticks in there (like the meat was all still there and a trash can was within a few feet, who does that??). I moved to the RV parking because there weren’t any RVs around and we were chicken-free there.
Traffic noise was a little loud, but tolerable for a single night.

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Plusieurs stationnements à l’arrière du visitor center, demandé permission à l’accueil et aucun problème pour y passer la nuit, il y avait deux autres rv.

Passer nuit tranquille

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Great find! I pulled in around 0600 pm another van life already in lot. Tried to go inside to get permit but the doors were locked. Went inside in the morning. Everyone was very kind, clean restrooms. Gift shop where I bought my decal for the location. No issues during the night. Another van lifer rolled in later in the evening. Very quiet didn’t hear traffic or train. Felt safe. Lots of trash and recycling bins.

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Little noise from the trains, bathrooms are not open 24/7 but was able to use my camp grill no problem. Saw another couple staying the night on the other side of the lot too

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Stayed here for the night and had absolutely no problems. Didn’t see any signs that said I couldn’t park overnight.

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Loved this spot! Gorgeous flora all around.
Pretty golden sunset against the foliage.
Outside grounds are dog friendly.
The parking lot is busy even after-hours since a lot of bikers come to ride the trail.
You can hear the highway but it wasn’t bad at night. I also heard a train but it never sounded close.
Picnic tables and trash bins.

There is a cell tower right across the street so Verizon signal was excellent.

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Honestly kind of amazing that the visitor center allows overnight parking… There were a bunch of people hanging out there riding bikes and walking laps around the building into the early evening. We stayed just one night after hanging out at Indiana dunes. Our cat accidentally escaped us in the morning but we were able to recover her before nightfall. Also if you’re lucky you’ll find a geocache… can’t say where though ;-). There are portapotties all over and not many people. Fun stay.

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epic spot. stupid cop patrolling the place too much, but it was safe and quiet and empty.

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Very nice place to sleep. Little picnics tables in a garden full of flowers
Quiet and clean
Cars, Rv and bus park

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Such a great spot to sleep! Nice bathrooms when it’s open and port-a-potties when it’s not. Quiet, peaceful, beautiful wildflowers. We didn’t ask permission and we stayed two nights. A real gem of a place to park.

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Great spot! The toilets close when the visitor center closes, but they have a couple port-a-potties out in the parking lot

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Easy and quiet spot. Free. Port-a-potties in lot. Asked inside for permission for overnight parking, they had me fill out a form and gave me a paper for my dashboard. Nice picnic table area as well.

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we needed an easy place to stay overnight while driving cross country!

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Nice stop. Got in late but no problems.
Pretty quiet until about 5am with traffic. Plenty of large parking areas.

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called ahead & confirmed before arriving, as others have said, a pass is no longer needed

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Asked about the overnight pass and was told not needed and just to park where we didn’t hinder other motorists. We parked around the back of the center, the striping indicated that large vehicles would be welcome.

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*Updating from my previous 11/17/21 post.

I’ve been crashing almost every night for the last 3 weeks in a noticeable bright blue school bus, occasionally arriving before they close and staying until after they open in the morning. I haven’t gotten the overnight permit mentioned in previous posts. No staff have questioned me and no one patrols the lot when the visitor center is closed. The only person I’ve noticed around at night is whoever empties the garbage cans but I haven’t gotten a knock on my door yet.
**Normally I follow the “only boondock somewhere for a night or two” thing but I’m in the area for the holidays and don’t want to stay in family’s driveways that long for my sanity😅

There’s garbage cans, a dumpster, and a dog walking area.

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Easy and level to park for any size rig. Trash, recycle, picnic tables, and place to take your dog. Friendly staff. Close to bike path, but have to drive to go hiking. Only negative, there is constant noise from highways and trains nearby. Settles down some at night.

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Great place to boondock. The parking lot is spacious and far enough away from roads that nighttime serenades from crickets is all you hear. The parking lot lights aren't overbearing like big-box store lots are.

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I got a piece of paper that read “Do Not Tow” when I filled out a form at the visitors center. I doubt the four other rigs in the lot went through that step, but it was a quiet sleep and relatively near the great beaches of Lake Michigan.

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Stayed last night and slept well. A lot of road noise but if you are in a camper, you should have no problem. We called ahead to make sure we could stay since we were going to arrive after hours to get the boondocking permit. They said no problem and thanks for asking. Very clean visitor center and friendly staff.

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Overnight parking allowed at the visitor center. You can go in and ask for a overnight parking permit at the desk. Fill it out and they will give you a permit. Totally free.
I’m sure if you arrive after hours no one will bother you without a Pass for the night. Plenty of parking spaces big enough for a big rig.
The ranger said she thought the bathrooms even remained unlocked at night but she was not entirely sure.

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