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Miller Woods, located in the Miller area of Gary, Indiana, is the westernmost section of Indiana Dunes National Park.
Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education
A great place to start exploring is the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education, which is open daily except federal holidays. It’s named for US Senator Paul H. Douglas of Illinois. He was instrumental in the creation of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 1966, which became Indiana Dunes National Park in 2019.
The center has displays on the plants and animals that can be found at the dunes as well as hands-on activities for children.
One room has tanks displaying some of the animals native to the dunes, including turtles, snakes, and toads.
Loop Trail
Behind the building is the Miller Woods Trail (officially the Paul H. Douglas Trail). The entire trail system including the loop and an extension to the beach is 3.4 miles in length. It’s one of the most beautiful trails at the park.
The one mile loop runs through a wetland complex, where it’s possible to spot wildlife including beavers. Part of the trail is accessible.
A nice boardwalk splits the trail in two, passing over a marsh and next to a pond.
Beach Trail
The longer 1.25 mile trail one-way extension leads through a rare oak savanna and open dunes to Lake Michigan and the beach. It takes about two hours to go out to the lake and back.
The trail to the beach is fairly easy with some short uphill climbs over sand dunes. It passes by a couple ponds before the trail crosses a small bridge.
It then narrows and follows the shore of a small lake until reaching more dunes. This part of the trail has lots of vegetation.
From the end of the lake, it’s only 0.3 miles to the beach. You’ll probably have to walk through a creek before reaching the last dune to the beach, and you can see a steel mill to the west.
Once at the beach, there are excellent views of the Chicago skyline on a clear day. In Indiana, both to the east and west are views of steel mills.
