Outdoor Adventure Festival Paddle

Indiana Dunes National Park, in partnership with the Northwest Indiana Paddling Association, Shirley Heinze Land Trust and Save The Dunes, will host a paddle on the East Branch of the Little Calumet River. The event will take place on Sunday, September 12th from 11:00am to 3:00pm as part of the Park’s 2021 Outdoor Adventure Festival. Bring your boat, or borrow one of ours!

The event is a self-guided tour of Little Calumet river from it’s confluence with Lake Michigan, through the channel past the Portage Marina, and on to the East Branch. You can paddle perhaps as far at the confluence with Salt Creek, a total 3.5 miles before returning to the beach. The paddle is a self-guided event, appropriate for paddlers with modest experience and up. Note that paddlers will encounter motorboat traffic in the channel, requiring caution and paddling only along the banks of the channel.

Participants bringing their own watercraft can unload at the traffic circle at the nothernmost point of the road, adjacent to the beach, before proceeding back south to one of the parking lots. People borrowing a boat may park first. You may arrive and launch anytime between 11:00 and 12:30. A map and directions to check-in will be emailed the week of the event.

Space and boats are limited, so we invite you to register as soon as you know you plan to attend. Use the REGISTER button on Eventbrite. Please also consider joining NWIPA, or make a donation on the REGISTER page.

Requirements

• All participants must register via Eventbrite. Each adult must register separately; parents and guardians must register each child. We need a separate registration, with the individual’s name, for each participant.
• You will receive an email that provides directions, and your ticket. Please bring all tickets with you.
• Registering means that you have read and agree with our Waiver Of Liability, which includes our rules regarding COVID. Parents and guardians are acknowledging waiver of liability on behalf of the children they are registering.
• Because this event launches and returns to the same location, we do not need to provide a shuttle. At this point, therefore, we are not requiring masks. If federal, state or local COVID guidelines require us to modify or cancel the event, you will be informed.
• All participants must wear a Coast Guard-approved life vest, properly fitted and secured, all the time they are on the water. We will supply life vests and paddles to participants who borrow one of our boats; all others must supply their own.
• If for any reason you cannot attend the event after registering, please come back to Eventbrite and cancel your registration by September 10th. That way you will not prevent another person from being able to attend or borrow a boat if we reach capacity. Thank you!