Chicago folks chill out in a desert of dunes

By Claudia Bell Jul 27, 2010, 14:38 GMT

Porter, Indiana - The afternoon silence in the dunes is eerie. A wind blows through both grass and hair and the scene is bathed in an almost mystical light as the sun tries to break through leaden clouds.

There is hardly a soul to be seen on the Indiana Dunes Lakeshore which is unusual in this expanse of 6,000 hectares at the southern end of Lake Michigan in Indiana state. Every year more than three million people come to visit the fascinating landscape shaped for eons by wind and weather.

The series of shorelines and dune ridges which make up the territory were created at the end of the Ice Age 14,000 years ago when the glaciers retreated and water levels receded.

Today the sand dunes are exposed and the trees which still populate the wandering dunes lie half-buried by sand yet still survive under these arduous conditions.

The dunes closest to the lake act as a windbreak, allowing woodland forests behind to flourish. This is perfect walking country, with seven trails which add up to around 30 kilometres of hiking for those who want to explore the scenery in more detail.

Most people who come here are in search of peace and tranquility, as park staff observe.

'Even on sunny days when there are plenty of visitors you never have the feeling of lying on a crowded beach and you don't keep bumping into other people when you are out for a walk or a barbecue,' said Ruth Keefover who works at the Porter County visitors' centre.

Nevertheless, the large number of visitors do risk upsetting the delicate balance of this eco-system with its dunes and wild grasses.

'Our dunes are pretty stable but when a lot of people start traipsing through the sensitive grass areas things can get critical and the dunes start to sink,' said Keefover. This is particularly true around Mount Baldy, the 'living dune' which moves more than a metre annually. 'The problem is that since it is always on the move we can't stabilise this dune by planting grasses and other plants,' said tourist guide Brian Blackford.

The rangers here are proud of their landscape which they refer to affectionately as the 'singing sands.' This noise, which is sometimes heard as a kind of roaring or whispering, depends on the various levels of moisture and dryness in the dunes and is caused by the quartz sand grains rubbing against each other when the wind blows or someone walks across. 'There are only a few places around the world where you can hear the sound of sand singing,' said Blackford.

Further back from the beach where the dunes have been fortified by dense oak and maple woodland, a network of paths reveals a wealth of nature. The grassy tracks wend their way through this ancient landscape and every journey is accompanied by the squawks and trills of rare birds. From Mount Tom, which stands 60 metres high, the panoramic view on a clear day extends to Chicago, the skyscrapers of which can be seen shimmering in the distance. The city is about an hour's day drive away.