The Chicago lakeshore is great, but it's not the dunes. Check out Miller Beach and Wells Street Beach in the Indiana Dunes State Park, about 90 minutes away on the Metra South Shore Line, for some Hoosier sand action. The state park is much more than sand, though. The park system was started in 1916, so the landscape isn't much changed from the original terrain that existed before settlers came in. You can see mature forests, wetlands and prairies, and much of the infrastructure — like the roads, restrooms, gatehouses, and bridges — was built by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.

• 1. Indiana Dunes State Park
  Chesterton, IN 46304 41.657792-87.050681 nps.gov/indu