Indiana has one true national park, Indiana Dunes, and a small but meaningful set of National Park Service sites beyond it. Counted honestly, the state holds 4 National Park Service units: 1 national park, 1 national historical park, 1 national memorial, and 1 national historic trail.
A quick accuracy note, because the usual lists pad this one. The Indiana War Memorial in Indianapolis is a state-run site, not a National Park Service unit, so it is not on this list. And the Lincoln site is properly the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, not a “boyhood home.” Below I run through all four, labeled by their real federal designation, with what is worth your time.
Indiana National Park Service Sites At A Glance
| Site | Federal Designation | Near |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana Dunes National Park | National Park | Porter / Chesterton |
| George Rogers Clark National Historical Park | National Historical Park | Vincennes |
| Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial | National Memorial | Lincoln City |
| Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail | National Historic Trail | Clarksville corridor |
1. Indiana Dunes National Park
The state’s only true national park, redesignated from a national lakeshore in 2019. It protects 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, towering sand dunes, and an unusually varied mosaic of habitats that make it one of the most biodiverse units in the entire system.
Climb Mount Baldy, a living dune that actually moves, swim off West Beach, and hike the Three Dune Challenge or the wetlands of the Great Marsh. It sits within sight of the Chicago skyline and steel mills, which makes the wildness all the more striking.
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Indiana Dunes Facts | Things To Do
2. George Rogers Clark National Historical Park
A national historical park in Vincennes commemorating the 1779 capture of Fort Sackville by George Rogers Clark and his men, a campaign that helped secure the Northwest Territory for the new United States.
The centerpiece is a grand neoclassical memorial on the Wabash River, ringed by columns and filled with murals of the campaign. It is the largest federal memorial outside Washington, D.C., and well worth the stop in southwestern Indiana.
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3. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial
A national memorial in Lincoln City preserving the farm where Abraham Lincoln spent his formative years, from age 7 to 21, and the gravesite of his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Note the correct name: this is a national memorial, not a “boyhood home” attraction.
The site includes a working living-history farm, the memorial visitor center with carved-stone panels, and quiet woodland trails. It is a thoughtful look at the years that shaped the 16th president.
4. Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
A national historic trail, an NPS-administered corridor rather than a single gated park. The 2019 extension of the trail recognized the Falls of the Ohio at Clarksville, where Meriwether Lewis met William Clark and the Corps of Discovery began forming in October 1803.
You follow it through interpretive markers and sites rather than at one entrance. Pair the Clarksville area with the broader Falls of the Ohio attractions across the river from Louisville.
Planning Your Indiana Trip
The sites bracket the state. Indiana Dunes sits in the far northwest on Lake Michigan, an easy day trip from Chicago. George Rogers Clark and the Lewis & Clark corridor anchor the southwest near Vincennes and Clarksville, and Lincoln Boyhood is in the south near the Ohio River. You can pair the three southern sites on one loop.
Late spring through fall is the best window; Indiana Dunes is busiest in summer when the Lake Michigan beaches draw crowds. Indiana Dunes charges an entrance fee, while the historical park and memorial are free. There is just one national park here, so plan the rest as the historic stops they are.
More state guides: Illinois | Kentucky
Bottom line: Indiana holds one true national park and three more National Park Service sites, from moving sand dunes on Lake Michigan to the farm that shaped Abraham Lincoln.
