From the Indiana Dunes National Park website:

Lake Michigan's might has influenced Indiana Dunes for millennia. Wind and waves have shaped the land, leaving a rich mosaic of habitats along these 15 miles of Indiana coast. Over 50 miles of trails lead through shifting sand dunes, quiet woodlands, sunny prairies and lush wetlands. Known for its striking plant and bird diversity, it's easy to find inspiration throughout the park's 15,000 acres.

From the Indiana Dunes State Park website:

Indiana Dunes consists of 2,182 acres of primitive, beautiful, historic, and unique Hoosier landscape. It lies at the north end of State Road 49 in Porter County and includes more than three miles of beautiful beach along Lake Michigan's southern shore. In the early 1900s scientists, recreationists, and nature enthusiasts, recognizing the value and potential of the Indiana dunes area, fought to have the region preserved. As a result, in 1925, the state park was established.

Large sand dunes, located beyond the entire shoreline, have taken thousands of years to form, and tower nearly 200 feet above Lake Michigan. A wide range of habitats and plant species are found in the park, with vegetation stabilizing some of the sand. These habitats provide homes for many types of plants and animals. The lake also provides a habitat for many aquatic species, as well as a constantly changing fishery.

Visit the beautifully restored Dunes Pavilion to reserve event space, enjoy a meal, visit the rooftop bar and grill, or buy beach supplies, snacks, and ice cream.

Pictures

Night shot: Dunes Pavilion

Description

On Friday, March 14, 2025, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed successful simultaneous activations of Indiana Dunes National Park (US-0765) and Indiana Dunes State Park (US-2258) in Indiana as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

Following a two-day work conference in Chicago, and following successful activations of Big Foot Beach State Park and Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Wisconsin, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, performed a two-fer activation of Indiana Dunes National Park and Indiana Dunes State Park at the Dunes Pavilion on the shore of Lake Michigan. Eric was accompanied by his wife, Vickie.

Eric had planned to arrive at Indiana Dunes early enough on the afternoon of the 13th to allow a hike into Dunes Nature Preserve (US-4195) in order to perform a three-fer activation. However, circumstances including very slow traffic around Chicago on the drive into Indiana from Wisconsin meant Eric and Vickie didn't arrive at Indiana Dunes until well after full darkness had fallen, making a hike into Dunes Nature Preserve unworkable. In addition, the late arrival meant that the resulting two-fer activation would actually occur very early on the 14th, UTC-time, and it meant a very late arrival at Pokagon State Park and their room at the Potawatomi Inn.

Eric and Vickie arrived at the Indiana Dunes State Park gatehouse at about 2330 UTC to find a sign saying "park open, no fee", which freed them from the need to buy a day-pass to enter the park. Somehow, despite the lack of daylight or of reflective signage, they managed to find their way to the Dunes Pavilion and swim-beach parking area—from which Eric had originally planned his now-impossible hike into Dunes Nature Preserve for the three-fer activation—and selected a spot within the parking area for the two-fer activation.

A night shot of Dunes Pavilion.

Before setting up the station, Eric and Vickie used flashlights to walk down the beach to the edge of Lake Michigan and to listen to the sound of melting ice on the lake.

Back at the car, Eric wasted no time deploying his 28½' end-fed random wire antenna as a vertical on a 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast in a drive-on base—and he was very thankful he was experienced enough in doing this that he could do it in the dark. Mounting his Elecraft KX2 on the car's passenger-side dash, Eric was on the air 0057 UTC.

Eric had good cell-signal and would be able to spot himself on POTA Spots (link) and to use POTA Spots to identify possible park-to-park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

During this operation, ionospheric conditions would prove to be unsettled. The solar indices at the start of the operation were SFI=175, SN=160, A-Index=40, and K-Index=5.

Not sure what to expect given the solar numbers, Eric began his operation on 40m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and self-spotted himself on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 0101 UTC with Don, WB9CYY, with whom Eric had performed an activation earlier in the day (local time) in Wisconsin. QSOs came remarkably quickly, with Eric's twenty-first QSO coming at 0119 UTC with reliable hunter AA5UZ in Louisiana. This run included QSOs with operators located in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan (3), Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ontario, South Carolina (2), Tennessee (2), Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

With the 2+ hour drive ahead of them before they could go to bed, Eric chose to finish his operation without changing bands or hunting P2P QSOs.

In all, Eric made twenty-one QSOs in about twenty-two minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made with five watts output.

Two notable things occurred while Eric was operating. First, just a few minutes into the operation a string of StarLink satellites passed overhead; perhaps twenty satellites, spanning about 15° of arc, sailed overhead in a nearly perfect line. Had he not been running a pileup, Eric might have attempted to make a photograph. Second, a few minutes later, Eric noticed some sort of animal walking through the parking area about 75' away from the car. A few minutes later, when he turned on the car's headlights, the animal turned out to be a large raccoon and it was now within 5' of the front of the car.

Eric and Vickie tore down and packed away the station as quickly as they could—making a fair amount of noise in the process to ensure the raccoon stayed away—and began their 2+ hour drive to Pokagon State Park and the Potawatomi Inn. (It turned out they weren't to arrive at the Potawatomi Inn until after midnight local time.)

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for Indiana Dunes National Park, KFF-0765.

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