A towering sand dune at the Indiana Dunes National Park has kept up its inland creep, covering up an access road and threatening to bury a parking lot in the coming years.

The park’s landmark Mount Baldy has largely been closed to public climbing since a 6-year-old boy was rescued in 2013 after being buried in sand there from a cavity that researchers blamed on decaying sand-covered trees.
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A Park Service ranger says winds winds off Lake Michigan have taken as much as 30 feet off its previous 125-foot peak.
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The shifting sands could eventually consume the entire parking lot and a restroom building near Mount Baldy.

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. - A towering sand dune at the Indiana Dunes National Park has kept up its inland creep, covering up an access road and threatening to bury a parking lot in the coming years.

The park’s landmark Mount Baldy has largely been closed to public climbing since a 6-year-old boy was rescued in 2013 after being buried in a cavity in the dune that researchers blamed on decaying sand-covered trees.

The dune lacks much stabilizing grasses, so winds off Lake Michigan have taken as much as 30 feet off its previous 125-foot peak, National Park Service Ranger Rafi Wilkinson told The (Northwest Indiana) Times. Sand from the dune moved about 10 feet this past year, covering part of a road leading from the parking lot for those visiting Mount Baldy and its nearby beach on the park’s eastern edge.

"Even five years ago, there was a row of parking spots that are now under Mount Baldy," Wilkinson said.

The shifting sands could eventually consume the entire parking lot and a restroom building at the site.