Dune Buggy Shuttle

Free beach shuttles to Lake Street and Marquette Park

Contributed By:The 411 News

Two “Dunes Buggies” will be rolling through the park this summer. They won’t be 4-wheeling over the sand (which is illegal in the park); instead they will be picking up South Shore Line train passengers and Dunewood Campground visitors and providing free shuttle service to some park beaches.

Working in partnership with the Dunes Learning Center and the South Shore Line, the national park will be providing this free service between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday through the Labor Day weekend. There will be two routes for these free shuttles, one in the east end of the park and the other in the Miller section of Gary.

West End Shuttle: The buses will run their Miller routes throughout the day in an effort to encourage Chicago and South Bend visitors to use public transportation to get to the park. The shuttles will stop at the Miller South Shore station following the train schedule.

Once passengers disembark at the Miller South Shore station, they can catch the free shuttle bus or walk down Lake Street for shopping, restaurants and other services in the community.

In addition to the Douglas Center, the Dune Buggies will drop off passengers at Lake Street Beach and Marquette Park Beach, both of which are Gary Parks Department sites with restrooms, food service, and lifeguards. The Douglas Center is less than a mile walk from the train station if visitors miss the shuttle or don’t want to wait for the next one to arrive.

East End Shuttle: One Dune Buggy will pick up visitors at the Dunewood campground registration office and shuttle to the Kemil Beach parking area for easy beach access. It will also make a stop at the US Geological Survey parking lot to pick up overflow beach parking.

For more information on the Dune Buggies or other programs at the Douglas Center, check out the park’s website at www.nps.gov/indu or contact us at 219-395-1824.

Story Posted:06/18/2019