PORTER, Ind. – If you’re heading to Indiana Dunes National Park, you’ll have to pay.
Starting Thursday, March 31, 2022, visitors without a federal lands pass will be required to pay a fee based on the method used to enter the park:
- $15 per person for walk-in/bike-in/boat-in visitors, up to a maximum of $25 per family
- $20 for a motorcycle
- $25 for a one- to seven-day vehicle pass
- $45 for an Indiana Dunes National Park annual pass
- up to $100 commercial fee for a motor coach or bus
The park said attendance has surged from 1.7 million visitors to more than 3 million since the national lakeshore was elevated to a national park in 2019.
The money will go toward parking information improvements, deferred maintenance projects and visitor services upgrades.
The fee only affects the national park and does not change the fee collected by the state for entrance to Indiana Dunes State Park.
Holders of federal land passes are exempt from the fee, including those who hold:
- annual passes
- senior passes
- veterans, military and Gold Star family passes
- fourth-grade passes
- access passes (for permanent disability)
- volunteer passes
From the park:
The Indiana Dunes National Park Annual Pass and other federal passes are available now at www.recreation.gov and at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center. Starting March 31st, passes will also be available at the Paul H Douglas Center and beginning April 8th at the West Beach Entrance Station. Some local retailers near the park will sell some park passes. The first retailer is The Trail Stop, located in the pavilion at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk. Information will be available on the park website as other vendors are added.
