CHESTERTON, IN -- Visitors are often surprised when they discover The Indiana Dunes has a 15-mile Lake Michigan coastline with sandy beaches for splashing, playing, and relaxing.

    They are equally amazed by the towering sand dunes and the wooded hiking trails.

    "I feel that many people, especially those from outside the area, don't realize what a jewel it is until they see it for themselves, said Brandt Baughman, park manager at Indiana Dunes State Park.

    The Indiana Dunes, which attracts three million visitors each year, has in recent years been selected on nationwide "best hiking," "best beaches" and "best urban escape" lists.

     "Being recognized on a national scale is great because the nation now knows what a great asset The Indiana Dunes is," said Lorelei Weimer, Indiana Dunes Tourism executive director.

    "It's great to see Indiana Dunes State Park and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore - the two parks that make up the Indiana Dunes - getting the national recognition they've long deserved."

    Among the unique park sites in the dunes area are Cowles Bog, which is the place where Henry Chandler Cowles studied the dunes' vegetation succession and earned his place in the history of ecology; Pinhook Bog, Indiana's only true bog and a place where visitors can walk atop its floating boardwalk and see insect-eating plants and more orchid species than in Hawaii; and Indiana Dunes State Park, home of beaches, 16.5 miles of hiking trails and Mount Tom, which towers 192 feet above Lake Michigan.

    For more information about The Indiana Dunes, visit www.IndianaDunes.com or call 800-283-8687.

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