The South Shore Line from Millennium Station (under Millennium Park, at the 151 E. Randolph Street entrance) to Dune Park station takes 65 minutes, running south and east along the Lake Michigan shore. Trains run roughly every 30 to 60 minutes throughout the day; check the current schedule at mysouthshoreline.com. The fare is approximately $10 to 12 single. From Dune Park station, a short taxi or rideshare (approximately $8) reaches the park visitor centre.
The Chicago Marathon runs in mid-October. Indiana Dunes in October: The National Park is fully operational year-round; the beach season has ended but the trails are open. October is the migration season - tens of thousands of raptors, songbirds, and shorebirds move through the dune and marsh landscape during the Lake Michigan bottleneck migration corridor, making the Great Marsh Trail productive for birding in a way that summer visits are not.
Indiana Dunes National Park
Indiana Dunes National Park (established as a National Lakeshore in 1966, elevated to National Park status in 2019) covers 24 kilometres of Lake Michigan shoreline, encompassing moving sand dunes, oak savannas, bogs, rivers, and the Great Marsh - one of the largest remaining Great Lakes wetlands.
The Great Marsh Trail is the post-marathon walking infrastructure: a level, wide earthen trail that follows the marsh perimeter through sedge meadows, willow thickets, and open water areas. Distance approximately 2 kilometres each way from the main trailhead. In October, the marsh holds migrating waterfowl - teal, wigeon, and diving ducks on the open water. The overall effect of the Great Marsh in October is of a large, flat, open landscape with wide skies and the Calumet Steel Mills visible to the west.
The Century of Progress Architectural District within the park contains a cluster of homes from the 1933 to 34 Chicago World's Fair, relocated to the dunes after the fair closed. The houses are an extraordinary survival - modernist experimental designs from multiple architects, open to viewing from the exterior year-round. The paths between the houses are flat.
The dunes themselves involve significant climbing (Mount Baldy is 38 metres) and are specifically not the post-marathon programme. The lake beach at the base of the dunes is flat and accessible in October.
Where to Stay and Eat
The town of Chesterton (adjacent to Dune Park station, accessible by a short taxi) is the practical base. Octave Wine Bistro in Chesterton serves seasonal Midwest cooking with a wine list that is serious for a town of 14,000.
Getting Back
South Shore Line from Dune Park to Millennium Station runs throughout the afternoon and evening, 65 minutes. From Millennium Station, the CTA Blue Line runs to O'Hare Airport in approximately 45 minutes.