Indiana Dunes National Park camping, and the state park next door.

Dunewood and Central Avenue, compared.

The short version: pick Dunewood for a regular tent or RV site with showers, a quarter mile from the Beverly Shores South Shore Line station. Pick Central Avenue if you want a small walk-in tent site and can carry your own water. Pick Dunbar for a group of up to 30. If you need electric hookups, look at Indiana Dunes State Park, which the national park doesn't run. Every figure below comes from the NPS campgrounds page and NPS campground records, checked September 10, 2026. The page counts 67 Dunewood sites while its NPS record says 66, and we use the page. Central Avenue's record gives both a May 1 to October 31 season and a closure starting September 30, 2026, and we show the dated closure. Fees are per night.

How to book each site.

Every national park campsite books on Recreation.gov, up to six months before check-in, and Dunewood's sites for the following season open on November 15. Checkout is noon, and new campers can't take a site before noon unless it's empty. The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, at 219-395-1882, handles all campground questions.

Senior Annual, Senior Lifetime, and Access pass holders get 50 percent off at Dunewood and Central Avenue. The standard Annual, Military, Volunteer, and 4th Grade passes get no camping discount.

Central Avenue Walk-in Sites. Five tent sites reached on foot from the Central Avenue Beach parking lot, up a large hill with uneven terrain. RVs and trailers can't fit in the lot and there's no room to turn around, and each reservation allows 2 vehicles at most. There's a porta-potty by the lot all season and no drinkable water, so bring your own. Fires go only in the communal fire ring, and fireworks, sparklers included, are prohibited.

Dunbar Group Site. Up to 30 people in 10 tents, less than 500 feet from the beach, overlooking the Great Marsh and Lake Michigan. Parking and restrooms are 400 feet away in the Dunbar Beach lot, RVs and trailers can't fit, and there's no water. It's $100 a night with no discounts, booked up to six months ahead.

RVs, showers, and hookups.

NPS publishes no RV length limit for Dunewood. Sites 1 to 54 are drive-in sites for RVs or tents, RV length is limited at some of them, and NPS says RVs and trailers must fit on the site, so check each site's details on Recreation.gov. Keep every vehicle and RV completely on the pavement.

No site has electric or water hookups. Dunewood has potable water at several spots in each loop, restrooms and showers in the center of each loop, and an RV dump station. Central Avenue and Dunbar have no water and no RV access.

You can arrive without a car. The Beverly Shores station on the South Shore Line, with trains to Chicago and South Bend, is a quarter mile north of Dunewood, and so are a gas station and convenience store. Lake View Beach is 1.5 miles north. Don't park in the Town of Beverly Shores' beach lot just east of the Lake View lot, because the town tickets.

Camp rules that change your trip.

Stays are limited to 14 days in any 30-day period. Quiet hours run 10 pm to 6 am, and checkout is noon. Up to 8 people share a Dunewood site, and tents and gear go on the camping pad.

Pets must be attended and on a leash of 6 feet or less. Campfires go only in the provided grates. Keep to 15 mph on campground roads, keep bikes and vehicles on paved roads, and don't damage trees or dig or level your site.

Dunewood sites 15, 30, 41, and 55 are wheelchair accessible. Reaching the Central Avenue and Dunbar sites means walking up a large hill with uneven terrain. Our Indiana Dunes accessibility page has more.

Camping and the crowd calendar.

Dunewood's season runs from April into the first night of November, and the park's busy months are June through August. April averages 33% of July's visits, and Dunewood opens April 1. May runs 57%, and Central Avenue opens May 1. June is 86%, July is the peak, and August runs 83%. September drops to 53%, and Central Avenue closes for the season on September 30. October runs 42%, and Dunewood's last night is November 1. Our pick is September: Dunewood is open, visits are about half of July's, and nights average 54°F.

Month-by-month tradeoffs are on the best time to visit Indiana Dunes page.

Indiana Dunes State Park, and when Dunewood is full.

Indiana Dunes State Park, a separate Indiana state park next to the national park, has 140 electric campsites booked through Indiana's Central Reservation System, with its own gate fee that national park passes don't cover. We don't track private campgrounds. When Dunewood is closed, from November 2 to March 31, our Indiana Dunes in winter page covers visiting without camping.

Common questions.

Is there free camping in Indiana Dunes National Park?

No. Dunewood and the Central Avenue sites cost $25 a night, the Dunbar group site costs $100, and every site needs a Recreation.gov reservation. Senior and Access pass holders pay half at Dunewood and Central Avenue.

What is the difference between Indiana Dunes National Park and Indiana Dunes State Park?

They're run by different agencies. The national park runs Dunewood, Central Avenue, and the Dunbar group site, booked on Recreation.gov, with no hookups. Indiana Dunes State Park is a separate Indiana state park next to the national park, with 140 electric campsites on Indiana's Central Reservation System. Fees and passes don't transfer: the state park charges its own gate fee, $7 for Indiana plates and $20 for others, and Indiana state park passes aren't valid at the national park. We don't publish the state park's nightly rates, so check its reservation site.

Does Dunewood Campground have electric hookups?

No. No Dunewood site has electric or water hookups. There's potable water in each loop, restrooms with showers, and an RV dump station. The 50-amp electric sites some guides describe belong to Indiana Dunes State Park.

Why does Recreation.gov list 5 campgrounds for Indiana Dunes?

Recreation.gov's page for the park says it offers 5 campgrounds, while NPS describes three places to camp: Dunewood, the Central Avenue Walk-in Sites, and the Dunbar Group Site. Book the one you want by name.

Where these facts come from

Dunewood's dates, site count and types, accessible sites, showers, hookups, water, dump station, fee, pass discounts, the six-month and November 15 booking rules, stay limit, quiet hours, occupancy, pets, prohibited activities, nearby services, the train station, Lake View Beach, and the Beverly Shores parking warning come from the NPS Indiana Dunes campgrounds page. Central Avenue's sites, access, water, vehicles, fires, fireworks, and 2026 closure, the Dunbar Group Site, RV rules, check-in, and campground coordinates come from the NPS API campground records. The state park's electric sites come from the Indiana DNR state park page, its reservation system from the DNR camping fees page, and its gate fee and pass rules from the NPS and DNR fee pages; the five-campground listing from Recreation.gov's park page. Visit shares are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from NPS Visitor Use Statistics, as a percentage of July, the park's busiest month. Temperatures are NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals. Crowd numbers are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package on NPS IRMA Stats. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.