Homeschoolers Hike Indiana Dunes State Park

Summertime homeschooling is not just about catching up and working ahead in reading, math, and spelling, it is also about exploring creation around us.

What most people see at Indiana Dunes

One great thing about state parks over other campgrounds is that we have found ourselves with a really good interpretive naturalist who can give a good presentation.  It helps to go exploring in an intentional way.  Over last week's Memorial Day weekend at Indiana Dunes State Park, we went on a naturalist-led hike an learned these things about our favorite state park and surrounding area:

What campers see at Indiana Dunes
(full disclosure - we are happy campers)

• The Indiana Dunes region has more bio-diversity (meaning more species of plants and animals) than any place in Indiana.
• The Dunes have more bio-diversity than all national parks in the United States except three:  Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, and North Cascades.
• This diversity includes 1400 different plants and 365 different bird species.
• Indiana Dunes is the second state park to be established in Indiana, in 1925.  The first was McCormick's Creek in 1916.
• The Dunes has a Civil War tie in:  after Lincoln's assassination, his funeral train passed not too far south on its way to Illinois.  A pro-slavery group called Knights of the Golden Circle conspired to steal Lincoln's body, bury it in the dunes, and collect ransom.  Unfortunately, they talked about their plans too much in the local taverns and the plot foiled.
• The Knights of the Golden Circle also planned to free prisoners of war held in Northwest Indiana in Northeast Illinois, using the high dunes as a lookout point.  Again, loose lips sunk their ships.
• From 1925 through the 1960s, there was a Governor's Cottage in the park for Indiana's governor to use as a retreat center.  Remains (of the cottage, not the governor) can still be found at the site.

What homeschooling families see at Indiana Dunes
(part of the old Governor's Retreat cottage)

One thing we are doing this summer is accumulating time toward our 2012-2013 school year.  Next post will be a discussion of why we are doing that and how.