Heron Rookery Trail

The Heron Rookery Trail follows along a portion of the Little Calumet River that once featured over 100 Great Blue Heron nests. After 60 years of nesting here, the herons have moved on to new nesting grounds. These woods remain alive with dozens of birds including kingfishers, woodpeckers and a wide variety of migrating and nesting warblers.The trail surface is mostly packed dirt and clay. The clay makes this trail very slippery when wet. Wear adequate footwear. The trail length is 3.3 miles for a round trip hike from one parking lot to the other and back.

The Heron Rookery was so named because Great Blue Herons in the past had developed a "rookery" with over 100 nests.Indiana Dunes National Park (formerly national lakeshore) was established to preserve portions of the Indiana Dunes and other areas of scenic, scientific, historic and recreational value. Up to two million annual visitors enjoy the park's 15,000 acres of wetlands, prairies, sand dunes, oak savannas, forests, and historic sites. The park's 15 miles of beaches hug the southern shore of Lake Michigan from Gary, IN, to Michigan City, IN. For more information, visit https://www.nps.gov/indu/index.htm or https://www.facebook.com/IndianaDunesNPS.