Dunes Succession Trail

This trail is basically a living textbook — except it's actually interesting. You start on the bare, wind-sculpted dunes near Lake Michigan, where sand shifts under your boots and hardy marram grass clings to whatever it can grab. As you walk inland, the landscape transforms in fast-forward: dune grasses give way to jack pines, then cottonwoods, and finally a mature oak forest that feels like an entirely different park. The elevation changes are modest but constant — a series of rolling sandy climbs that'll remind your calves they exist, totaling about the height of a 30-story building spread across three miles. Interpretive signs along the way actually explain the science without putting you to sleep. This one's perfect for curious hikers, families with kids old enough to appreciate how a sand pile becomes a forest, and anyone who wants a workout wrapped in a geology lesson.