Tents at Dunewood
Sites 1–54 accept tents or compatible RVs; sites 55–67 are tent-only. Keep all tents and equipment on the camping pad.
Choose your camping setup
Start with how you sleep, then choose a campground and the right site category.
Vehicles at Dunewood
Vehicle lengths vary by site. Keep all vehicles completely on the pavement; no individual site has electric or water hookups.
Walk-in and group camping
Central Avenue is walk-in tent camping with no potable water and no RV/trailer parking. Dunbar is a separate group tent site.
Find your campground
See Indiana Dunes campgrounds beside the park’s roads. Numbers match the comparison below; confirm your approach before traveling.
- Campground · numbers match the comparison
- Park boundary
Compare All 2 Indiana Dunes Campgrounds
Compare locations, site types, dated operating seasons, facilities and published fees. Check the linked booking page for your site and travel year.
| Location | Campground | 2026 season | Tents & vehicles | Published campsite fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Dunewood67 sitesFlush, showersDump stationNear: Lake View Beach · Beverly Shores South Shore Railroad station | Apr 1 – Nov 1 | Tent-compatible sitesRV max: None published; RVs must fit the site | $25.00 per night | |
2. Central Avenue Walk-inDirections to Central Avenue Beach parking lotCentral Avenue Beach parking lot Use designated public parking. Check park access and vehicle restrictions before travel. | May 1 – Sep 29 | Tents onlyRV max: No RV sites | $25.00 per night |
- Indiana Dunes boundary
- This campground
What does camping cost?
Compare the price and charging unit for your setup. The booking total depends on the selected site, travel year and applicable fees.
Dunewood
$25/site/night for tent or compatible vehicle sites; no separate RV surcharge is published on the NPS page.
Walk-in and group
Central Avenue: $25/site/night. Dunbar: $100/group-site/night for up to 30 people in 10 tents. Confirm the selected booking total.
Eligible discounts
Dunewood Senior Annual, Senior Lifetime and Access pass holders receive 50% off. Other annual, military, volunteer and fourth-grade passes do not discount camping.
Which Campgrounds Are Open by Month
Read across each row for the 2026 season. Operating dates do not show campsite availability.
Scheduled all monthScheduled part of monthNo scheduled season
| Monthly context | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WeatherAvg high / low · °FValparaiso Water Works, IN · station preview · 1991-2020 | 32°18° low | 36°21° low | 48°29° low | 61°39° low | 71°49° low | 80°59° low | 83°63° low | 81°62° low | 75°54° low | 64°44° low | 49°34° low | 37°24° low |
| Park crowdsAvg park visits · 2021–2025 | 75.6kLow | 82.9kLow | 133.9kLow | 166.4kModerate | 291.7kModerate | 438.3kPeak | 509.7kPeak | 423.6kHigh | 272.1kModerate | 212.4kModerate | 115.5kLow | 100.3kLow |
| Campgrounds · 2026 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| DunewoodApr 1 – Nov 1 | No season | No season | No season | All month | All month | All month | All month | All month | All month | All month | Part of month | No season |
| Central Avenue Walk-inMay 1 – Sep 29 | No season | No season | No season | No season | All month | All month | All month | All month | Part of month | No season | No season | No season |
How to book Indiana Dunes camping
Choose the campground, site type and travel dates before opening the booking page.
Reserve the national park
Book the named national park campground or group site on Recreation.gov. Dunewood reservations are available up to six months ahead.
Check walk-in access
Read the Central Avenue listing before booking: reaching a site involves a hill and uneven ground, and you carry in your equipment and water.
Separate state park
Indiana Dunes State Park uses Indiana’s reservation system. Its campsites, entrance fees and passes are separate from the national park.
Know the camp rules
Plan for the park’s normal camping rules. Official conditions carry restrictions for your travel dates.
Dunewood capacity
Maximum eight people per site. Stays are limited to 14 days in a 30-day period.
Water and showers
Dunewood has restrooms, showers and potable water in each loop, plus a dump station. Central Avenue campers must bring water.
Campfires and pets
At Dunewood use the provided fire grate and keep pets attended on a leash no longer than six feet.
Camping outside the park
Compare the park’s gateway areas first, then confirm nearby campground seasons, fees and equipment rules with the operator.
Chesterton
A central-area base for reaching the national park by local roads. Confirm whether your destination is in the national park or state park.
Portage
Use the western approaches for Portage-area lakeshore trips. Check the exact beach or trailhead address.
Michigan City
An eastern base for the Mount Baldy and Central Avenue areas. Each destination has its own access rules.
Questions about Indiana Dunes camping
Quick answers to the practical questions below.
Does Dunewood have electric hookups?
No. It has showers, shared potable-water points and a dump station, but no electric or water hookups at individual sites.
Are tent sites cheaper than RV sites at Dunewood?
NPS publishes $25/site/night for Dunewood; it does not publish a separate RV surcharge. Choose a compatible site: 55–67 are tent-only.
Is Indiana Dunes State Park camping the same?
No. The state park is managed by Indiana DNR and has a separate reservation system, rates and entrance fees.
Can I bring an RV to Central Avenue walk-in sites?
No. These are walk-in tent sites, and RVs and trailers cannot fit or turn around in the Central Beach parking lot.
How we built this page.
An independent guide using official data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.
- Official guidance
- NPS and the relevant operators. The linked official pages support the access, facilities and rules described here. Confirm details before traveling.
- Crowd context
- 2021–2025 monthly averages. NPS recreation visits describe normal seasonal demand, not trail congestion, parking availability or unique visitors.
- Schedules and conditions
- Planning patterns, not live status. Seasonal information describes the normal pattern or explicitly dated source schedule. Current conditions are handled separately. The official source is the place to confirm today’s access.
Topic sources and data details
Campground locations, site counts, published fees and dated 2026 operating seasons come from the committed NPS/operator campground dataset. Normal setup and booking rules were checked against the official sources linked in each section.
The operating calendar aligns NOAA station climate normals with 2021–2025 NPS park visits. Weather varies with elevation and location; park visits do not measure campsite occupancy. Maps reuse reviewed park boundaries and road geometry. The vehicle shortlist does not guarantee an individual site or route will fit your equipment.
Operational source check: September 11, 2026. Design and emphasized source review: 2026-10-21. A design review does not refresh every underlying record.