NPS - National Park Service
11/21/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/21/2024 17:25
National Park’s Douglas Center Reopens after Bridge Work Completed
Date:
November 21, 2024
November 21, 2024
INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL PARK, Ind.: The National Park Service and City of Gary recently celebrated the completion of a new pedestrian bridge at the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education. With the new bridge in place, the center will again be able to safely host school children attending ranger-led education programs in addition to a wide variety of public programming for the community and national park visitors.
To celebrate, join park rangers in a special reopening event at the center on November 23rd, from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm. The afternoon will feature a wide variety of family-friendly activities.
Kids will love the outdoor Nature Play Zone which features shovels, buckets, sticks, and rocks that can be used to build a fort, dig a hole, or just learn how to play outside. Next, head inside the center to a live animal room to see some of the creatures who make this park their home. You can even help the ranger feed the center's resident ambassador animals. Then, let the kids enjoy some nature crafts. They can take home a sun print made using objects they find around the Douglas Center.
For more of an adventure, take a ranger-led hike through Miller Woods starting at 1:30 pm. This rare, black oak savanna habitat is still stunning in late fall.
The Paul H. Douglas Center is located in the western portion of the national park at 100 North Lake Street in the Miller section of Gary. For more information on this and other programs at Indiana Dunes National Park, call 219-395-1882, visit our website, download the official National Park Service app, or view our Facebook page.
Indiana Dunes National Park is one of more than 430+ parks of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Located in Northwest Indiana, the park includes 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 15,000 acres of biodiverse beaches, woods, prairies, and marshes. More than two million visitors come to the Indiana Dunes each year.