West Beach — Attraction in Portage

I have been coming to Indiana dunes for many years and this was our first trip to the west beach area. We stayed in Merrillville so this was the closest beach on Lake Michigan. The water was warm the sand nice and we enjoyed our time in the water. The beach did get crowded at times during peak hours of the day. Our experience over the three days at the beach was great we had no issues and everyone on the beach was nice and just having fun. The park rangers where always present on the beach and throughout the area. The facilities was good and had a small store selling drinks and snacks along with water related items. The main gateway building to the beach had Bathrooms,showers and a moderate size area with tables and chairs to escape the sun if needed. Overall west beach was very nice and I would...

I would say this is like a good beach to go to early in the morning is the best time to go I would say like at 9 am is the best time to arrive and when it starts to get packed it gets around at 2:30 p.m. but all in all this beach is pretty nice the water was very clear it did have a very small smell to the water but the water was very cold and I enjoyed it even though outside was very hot and humid the beach look very clean just sticks. This felt like a Florida vacation trip but it was an Indiana and we were in a lake I enjoyed my time here didn't have any issues getting here I do have to let you know though the water is very cold. This is a good spot to come and relax with your friends or family and have...

Really enjoyed the Wst Beach Trail at Indiana Dunes. There are several trails available here but the most memorable seems to be the one that leads you up am eye catching, long, wooden staircase. At the top there is a lookout where you can see downtown Chicago across Lake Michigan. You then follow wooden paths through a shaded wood and back out onto the sand dunes. Once you leave the wooden path you follow the sand trail out to the beach which feels like the grand finale or reward at the end of this relatively easy trail. There are on duty lifeguards, clean restrooms and a small snack/gift shop. Parking is $6...