Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore: Bailly/Chelberg Hike
- On the first leg of this hike, the trail runs through a series of small wooded ravines.
- The cemetery has a tomb-like quality–it’s a walled-in earthen area built on a small hilltop. The wall was built in 1885 on what archeologists have surmised to be an existing cemetery: bones thought to predate European settlement have been uncovered at this site.
- A short set of stairs lead up to a cross planted on top of the cemetery.
- A 0.2-mile boardwalk carries you through a wet bottomland forest and a marshland. It ends at a scenic spot where a metal footbridge takes you across Little Calumet River.
- The Mnoké Prairie is an a lovely swath of restored grassland.
- This two-story cabin is one of the structures located on the Bailly homestead. Also on the property are the main house, a small brick house, a chapel, and a reconstructed fur-trading cabin.
This hike is featured in the book, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Chicago. You can learn more about the hike and purchase the individual hike description on Trails.com.






