Central Avenue Walk-in Sites

The trail to get to the campsite is not very well maintained. Was rubbing against brush and walking over/under dead limbs. The campsite itself was remote and quiet. I did not hear the lake/waves from the campsite, but did hear trains using their horns on the nearby railroad. The site had a nice table and fire pit available.

The trail to get to the campsite is not very well maintained. Was rubbing against brush and walking over/under dead limbs. The campsite itself was remote and quiet. I did not hear the lake/waves from the campsite, but did hear trains using their horns on the nearby railroad. The site had a nice table and fire pit available.

Proximity to the beach was a wonderful experience, but that was more or less the only enjoyable part of the whole trip. The port-a-potty was desperately in need of service, while the woods were so choked with undergrowth that it literally wasn't a physical option to use any backcountry toileting methods. Our site had large piles of brick and red roofing tile rubble in it. The sites are well separated and set back from the trail for an impression of seclusion, but airplane, train, and road noise still came through loud and clear. Overall, while I would have tolerated these conditions cheerfully if it were a cheap or free site like is common on forest service land, paying fifty dollars for two nights of a pretty trashed site was hard to swallow, even as someone who happily wants to fund park services more.

Proximity to the beach was a wonderful experience, but that was more or less the only enjoyable part of the whole trip. The port-a-potty was desperately in need of service, while the woods were so choked with undergrowth that it literally wasn't a physical option to use any backcountry toileting methods. Our site had large piles of brick and red roofing tile rubble in it. The sites are well separated and set back from the trail for an impression of seclusion, but airplane, train, and road noise still came through loud and clear. Overall, while I would have tolerated these conditions cheerfully if it were a cheap or free site like is common on forest service land, paying fifty dollars for two nights of a pretty trashed site was hard to swallow, even as someone who happily wants to fund park services more.

Fantastic campsite, easy hike in/out. The port ‘o’ John and trash near the parking lot were clean and well maintained. Park staff were super friendly and helpful. The only downside was the number of ticks we found during our stay so plan to do lots of tick checks. Michigan City had many nearby restaurants and some great coffee options! We will be back for sure, excited to see how many people are at the beach when it gets into summer.

Nice site and a short 11 minute walk to the beach. Bring insect repellent as there are ticks everywhere.

Overall we enjoyed our stay. The hike to the campsite was no joke when laden down with camping gear and not confident of the path. I wish that the trail would have been marked clearer. For example, there is a signpost with a #2 on it, but no arrow showing which way #2 was, so we took the wrong fork and ended up at #2 campsite instead of the other direction towards #3. Later there is another fork and we also took the wrong fork there. However, once it was found it wasn't a problem. The path to #3 was mostly obstructed at one point by tree branches and we reported that. We had a collapsible wagon which was a huge help in carting everything in/out. The water/bathrooms weren't open yet at Central Beach (the porta-potty was) so we had to go to Dunewood for washing up and potable water. The beach was just lovely. Evenings were peaceful (train whistles through the night though). Ticks were innumerable.