Location: 945 N Wozniak Rd, La Porte, IN 46350
Trail Length: .9 miles
Hours: Bog Trail requires advance approval.
Entrance Cost: Requires a National Park Pass: 1-7 day vehicle pass: $25 per carload/$20 per motorcycle; Walk-in, bike-in, boat-in 1-7 day pass: $15 individual/$25 family; Indiana Dunes National Park Annual Pass: $45/year; America the Beautiful Annual Pass (entrance to over 2,000 federal recreation sites): $80/year. Passes can be purchased at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 N. State Road 49, Chesterton, IN.
Parking: Yes
Dog-Friendly: No
Restrooms: No
Although this trail is accessed only during Ranger-led open house summer weekends, this hike and its diverse ecosystem is so unique to the Indiana Dunes National Park that it is a must-see should the timing work out right. The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center at 1215 N. State Road 49 in Chesterton, can help you with Open House dates, times and a day pass for the event.
Also note there is a second trailhead for the Upland Trail located at this site and this trail is open to the public every day. See our blog for the Upland Trail.
Upon arrival at the trailhead location, Park Rangers will greet you and provide you with history of the property and geological information, including the unique plant-life associated with the bog.
Park Rangers will lead visitors over a flat, hard-packed trail providing an easy hike through forest growth until reaching the locked gate that opens to the boardwalk. From here the boardwalk floats over watery, moss -covered habitation toward the bog, and you will be greeted by button bushes, ferns, water-loving grasses, flowers and unusual tamarack trees. During the late-summer months, you will find bushes laden with blueberries lining the trail inviting to taste a few as you hike past.
As Park Rangers lead you farther in, they will point out the carnivorous insect-eating sundew and pitcher plants along the way which are unique to the bog. The boardwalk ends at a viewing platform where the bog can be seen encircled by tamarack trees and vegetation well-suited to the environment. Visitors are welcome to ask questions, photograph and discover the plant-life surrounding the platform. They are free to return back along the boardwalk and trail to the parking lot at their leisure where they will find the next group of visitors waiting for their turn at experiencing Pinhook Bog’s secrets.
