Moraine

If sand is all you’ve come to expect from the Indiana Dunes area, then consider Moraine just beyond the beach. The land here marks the other side of the story—one pressed, pushed, and formed by the Wisconsin Glacier to create a landscape, unlike anything you’ve ever seen stateside.

You’ll find evidence of leftover historic debris—what scientists call glacial moraines—as you explore the area’s rolling hills, reminiscent of the Lakelands and moors of England. Walk millennia-old land as you visit local sites like Pinhook Bog, which formed from a glacial ice chunk left behind by the retreating glaciers, or experience, first-hand, the rare species that grow at Gabis Arboretum at Purdue Northwest. Perched atop the Valparaiso Moraine, it contains more than 300 acres of woody plant collections, formal gardens, wetlands, woodlands, and restored prairies.