South Shore Blog

Photo copyright Christopher Jordan

While visiting the east coast this past December, my family took an evening drive to a “Winter Wonderland.” For $18, we were able to drive through three miles of outdoor light displays. Holiday tunes played in time to the light display. The displays were made of silver, blue, red, green and gold lights welded to metal frames in the shapes of larger-than-life castles, horse drawn carriages, poinsettias, wreaths, snowmen, St. Nick, the Grinch, pine trees, leaping deer, dinosaurs and exploding volcanoes! 

Thanksgiving week is full of activities between cooking, eating and starting your holiday shopping. But if you’re looking for more to do this week – either for grown up fun or just something to keep the kids busy during the long weekend – we got you covered!

When you have a four-legged companion during your stay in Northwest Indiana, you'll want to make sure he has enough exercise. Gabis Arboretum is the perfect place to let your dog stretch his legs. Hike through four miles of trails or enjoy the quiet gardens, woodlands, prairies and wetlands. Look for native and hybrid plants, flowers and trees during your visit and view Gabis's variety of formal gardens. 

Sunday bike rides are a tradition in our family, especially during the summer months. There are quite a few trails around the northwest Indiana area and we love exploring them. So, as per tradition, this past Sunday my father and I smeared on the sunscreen, loaded up the bikes, and drove out to where the Oak Savannah Trail starts in the Oak Ridge Prairie County Park. Completed in 2015, this trail runs between Griffith and Hobart. It is about nine miles one way and connects with the Prairie Duneland Trail in Hobart. The trail ends at N. County Line Road. 

I own two mountain bikes and rarely ride them.  I want to change that! The improvements that have been made to our miles and miles of bike/walking trails are phenomenal and inspired me to break out of my comfort zone … and ride my bike to work (and back).  

If you’re interested in seeing one of Indiana’s most unique natural areas - over 14,000 years in the making - then Pinhook Bog near Michigan City is the place for you. For those unfamiliar with the term, a Bog is a unique ecosystem that forms when a wetland only takes in water from rain or snow. Pinhook Bog is even more distinctive for being a “Quaking Bog,” where moss has grown into a semi-solid mat floating above the water. Bogs tend to be very fragile ecosystems and Pinhook Bog is no exception: usually a gate closes off the trail leading over the Quaking Bog to protect the landscape.

Getting my crew outside and active is one of my goals every day of every trip. Indiana Dunes is breathtaking, really something to see. We visited Indiana Dunes West Beach trails as a part of a familiarization trip with Visit the South Shore.

Photo by Brian Niksch

I recently got the chance to visit Edge Adventures Northwest Indiana at Deep River, a "tree-top" ropes course and zip line park. It's one of the Region's newest attractions, and it's great. I did learn that I'm not as adventurous as my teenage self and I was a getting nervous as I was putting on my safety gear.

Grab your gear and get ready to explore the canals, rivers, streams and lakes in the South Shore. The South Shore has hundreds of miles of water trails and each route offers different opportunities from challenging and scenic to historic and wooded.

Photo from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Shallow streams, a great lake, a nationally recognized waterway, small lakes and ponds can all be found in the South Shore.

We've put together a list of where to start your paddling adventures: