Trail #11 of the Indiana Dunes National Park 1966 Hiking Challenge is the Marquette Trail in Gary, Indiana. This rail to trail is part of the former Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad that used to run through Miller Woods and was named after Father Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary, who explored the Great Lakes region in the 17th century. The Marquette Trail is a 2 mile crushed stone bike path that connects Miller Woods to West Beach.

This section is part of a larger trail network that is over 10 years in the making, when completed it will be a continuous 60-mile trail connecting Chicago to New Buffalo, Michigan on the Marquette Greenway Trail. The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission of Active Transportation (NIRPC) began the fundraising process in 2009 and hopes to finish the entire trail before 2030. As avid runners and cyclists, we have been biking our way through the NW Indiana trails for the past four years and are so excited to see these trails connections happen! The NIRPC just released an updated map (2024 edition) of all the trails on their website: here.

The 1966 challenge hike for the Marquette Trail began at the Paul H. Douglas Center since there is no parking at the trail itself. It was just under a mile walk through the neighborhood on Birch Avenue with one road crossing at the Ash/Grand Blvd intersection before we hiked up to the old railroad. Below is a screenshot of the detailed street route we walked from the parking lot to the Marquette Trail.

From there, the Marquette Trail is a straight out-and-back trail all the way to West Beach. The raised bed gave us a platform view of the forest covered dune hills on each side followed by an open expanse of wetlands along the trail. It was an easy, flat trail that would have been perfect for us to run or bike! Due to the muggy July weather, we did experience a lot of tiny insects pestering us but as long as we kept moving at a quick pace, we were able to swat them away.

The wetlands were the highlight of our hike with bright shades of green as far the eye could see! Along the way we saw the Prickly Pear cacti, deer, and a Eastern Painted turtle crossing the path. We also got to see a bird mob with a group of little birds attacking a hawk who flying away as they chased the predator away from their territory.

When we made it to the end of the Marquette Trail, we kept going under the bridge on the trail connection to see the entrance of West Beach. It’s pretty neat to see all the ways we could have extended our hike in the West Beach trail system! We loved this trail and could definitely see ourselves returning to get some miles running in the shade.

Observations:

Location: Paul H. Douglas Center Parking Lot – 100 North Lake Street, Gary, IN 46403

Trail Length: 6 miles
Difficulty level: Easy

Highlights:

• Flat, easy trail with great views of the wetlands
• Crushed stone is great for running or biking
• Wildflowers, always wildflowers
• Plentiful Prickly Pear cacti
• Wildlife throughout the forest, wetlands, and dune habitat
• Nice connection from Miller Woods to West Beach
• Exciting future plans for the Marquette Greenway with an all connected bike trail from Chicago to New Buffalo!

Tips/Suggestions:

• There are no restrooms or water sources available, so come prepared. We carried a pack so we could bring water and snacks.
• A little buggy this time of year so wear spray, long pants, or bring a trail map like I did to swat the mayflies and mosquitos
• Use the sidewalks from Lake St to Birch to connect from the parking lot to the trail
• Be careful crossing the road at Grand Boulevard

The Marquette Trail has been completed on the 1966 Hiking Challenge!