The Top Miller Beach Dune Hike: "Miller Woods"
Nature Center Renovations Complicate Parking a Bit, but There are Multiple Trail Access Points and Free Parking if you Know Where to Look
It’s a joke among people who live in Miller Beach that if Lake Street is not under construction and getting ripped up for whatever reason, something must be wrong.
But now the usual construction has moved down a few blocks toward the park and lake, as the Paul H. Douglass Center for Environmental Education (a National Park facility), is under construction.
Specifically, the parking lot, bridge (over Lake) and certain facilities are being renovated (the bridge was recently demolished). I’m not privy to the details and the timing, so please share them in the comments if you have any insight.
In any event, while the Paul H. Douglas Center remains closed — which when open is staffed by highly knowledgeable park rangers who run kids activities and lead hikes — you can still use the trails, and the various trailheads nearby and a very small (3-4 car parking lot) are open. And parking is free (for now!)
The Paul H. Douglas Trail (The “Miller Woods” trail) is a perfect entry point to the Indiana Dunes, crossing multiple ecosystems as you traverse your way up and down mild dune climbs to the lake, including seeing inside the unique black oak savanna.
In fact, it is one the best rated hikes of all in NWI and the Indiana Dunes!
The trail (if you do it as a loop from the nature center to the beach and back down Lake) is as short as 3 miles depending on what you do at the end of it (and any side detours you might take).
Out and back from the Nature Center is about the same. But if you do that, you might miss the old bullet hole in the sign at the long-since closed Ono’s Pizza on Lake!
In any event, the map, below, shows two alternative places to park if you’re planning on hiking, and the 3-4 car lot at the Paul Douglas National Park center is full.
The first alternative parking option is to use the same trailhead (on Lake) and park on Lake Street in the commercial section of Miller. This adds 4-5 minutes walking time to the trailhead.
The second alternative parking option is to park next to Ono’s, closer to the beach, and either walk down Lake (~.7 miles miles) back to the nature center, or to start the hike in reverse at the closed parking lot on the lake (see map, above, for trail heads).
Whatever the signs say, you won’t get towed next to Ono’s during the day (people do it everyday).
Enjoy! Miller Woods an exceptional, world class little trail for all seasons.
