Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana. All photography is ours.
Home/National parks/Indiana
Indiana National Parks
Whether it’s remembering poignant moments or just a lazy day at the beach, Indiana’s National Parks will draw you in. Come #FindYourPark in Indiana.
National parks guide · Updated October 2026
Every NPS site in Indiana
3
National Park Service sites in Indiana
There are three National Park Service sites in Indiana: a national historical park, a national park, and a national memorial. Tap any of them to jump to its details.
At a glance
We’ve been · 1 of 3
Affiliated sites · 2
1national park
We’ve beenNot yet
More National Park Service sites 2
NPS-affiliated sites 2
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
The George Rogers Clark National Historical Park tells the story of George Rogers Clark and his rise to fame for capturing British outposts on the Northwestern Frontier. His most famous was the capture of Fort Sackville at Vincennes in 1779. News of his triumph made it back to George Washington, and these victories over the British helped strengthen the American claim to the Northwest. Ultimately, Clark’s efforts helped turn the tide of the war in the Northwest, making him a war hero and earning the moniker “Conqueror of the Northwest”.
Today, visitors to the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park can learn more about Clark’s life and conquests, enjoy a thirty-minute movie at the Visitor Center, along with the murals hung in the rotunda and Clark Memorial, and enjoy wayside monuments and informational markers along the Wabash River around the grounds. The Visitor Center is open every day except for major holidays. George Rogers Clark National Historical Park became a Park Service Site in 1966.
Indiana Dunes National Park
Previously known as Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana Dunes received National Park status in 2019 along with White Sands National Park in New Mexico, making them some of the youngest National Parks in the Park Service. The park protects 15 miles of southern shoreline on Lake Michigan, encompassing about 15,000 acres, and is a hub for outdoor activities including swimming, hiking, bird watching, camping, and just spending a day sunbathing at the beach.
Indiana Dunes is named for its prominent 200-ft. tall sand dunes formed when retreating glaciers left the land exposed. Besides an impressive sand box to play in, it’s also home to swamps, bogs, marshes, oak savannas, and forests, along with abundant wildlife, rich biodiversity, four National Natural Landmarks, and a National Historic Landmark (the Bailly Homestead).
The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center is open daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, and operates with seasonal hours. Indiana Dunes also has the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education, Ranger-Guided programming, lectures, and other educational programs to explore.
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial preserves the homestead and farm in southern Indiana where Abraham Lincoln spent his childhood years from 1816 to 1830. The site encompasses 200 acres where guests can walk the grounds, visit the working farmhouse, enjoy rangers dressed in period clothing who teach and perform farm work, visit the memorial building, and explore the museum. The grounds are open from dawn until dusk daily. The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial was signed into law in 1962 by President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Partners of the Park Service
NPS-affiliated sites in Indiana
These sites aren’t run by the National Park Service, but they’re part of the NPS family through national trails and heritage areas.
Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site
The Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site marks the moment where, after being told the news of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, then-candidate Robert Kennedy gave an impromptu speech to an Indianapolis crowd in 1968. Despite being advised by local authorities to not speak, Kennedy proceeded anyway. His speech was praised by many as powerful and healing to a grieving, albeit tense nation. Robert Kennedy was assassinated shortly after giving this speech.
The Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site is managed by Indy Parks and Recreation with assistance from the National Park Service. It was established on April 4, 2018 by President Donald Trump – exactly fifty years after Dr. King’s assassination and Kennedy’s speech. Visit www.kennedykingindy.org to learn more about the park, ongoing initiatives, events, and to listen to Kennedy’s speech.
Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
The Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail marks the historic journey by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark along 4,900 miles of wilderness from Pennsylvania all the way to the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon. The trail connects 16 states – Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon – and includes museums, landmarks, exhibits, and Visitor Centers along the route. For a complete list of markers and things to see and do, click here.
Good to know
Indiana national parks questions
Indiana has one national park: Indiana Dunes National Park. It also has two other National Park Service sites.
There are three NPS sites in Indiana: a national historical park, a national park, and a national memorial. Two more NPS-affiliated sites, like Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site, round out the list.
So far we’ve visited Indiana Dunes National Park.
Keep exploring
National parks in nearby states
There’s more to explore in these nearby states.
