Wind, water & life along the Great Lakes
Follow Lake Michigan from the water’s edge inland: open beach, grass-covered sand, sheltered woodland and wet hollows can lie close together. Look for wind-rippled sand, plants that hold the dunes, and wildlife along the shore.
These four settings offer a starting point for exploring the Great Lakes coast. Their boundaries can be gradual, and their arrangement varies with sand, water, vegetation and disturbance.
The open beach is the meeting place of lake and land. Waves repeatedly work the sand, leaving an exposed setting with much less vegetation than the dunes behind it. Yet the lakeshore is part of a living habitat. Illinois Beach supports shorebirds, gulls, and other birds across its coastal communities. From an open access area, watch the waterline and compare the bare shore with the first patches of plants farther inland.
Beyond the beach, sand-binding grasses and low plants occupy exposed dunes. Some patches remain open and mobile, while others support denser vegetation. At Illinois Beach, low dunes carry grasses, bearberry, and trailing juniper; more stable sandy ridges also support prairie communities. Look for differences in plant cover without leaving the trail. A sparse dune and a grassy ridge may stand close together, but their growing conditions are not identical.
Older or more sheltered dunes can support woodland. Along Indiana Dunes’ Dune Succession Trail, black oaks, red oaks, and basswoods rise over smaller trees and shrubs. Previous generations of plants have added organic material to the sand, while the canopy creates a shadier setting. Notice how the light, ground cover, and feel of the air change as a trail enters the woods. The trees are rooted in a dune landscape too.
Low ground between sandy ridges can hold wetlands where groundwater reaches or approaches the surface. These wet hollows contrast with nearby dry dunes, and some become shallow or dry during the warmer months. At Kohler Park Dunes, interdunal wetlands support rushes and sedges. A grassy-looking hollow may therefore tell a very different story from the ridge beside it. Observe from the boardwalk; soft or wet ground is habitat in its own right.
The illustrations show representative habitats rather than named locations. Field photographs throughout this guide are by Brian Woolman / Where’s Wildlife.
Learn more: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Kohler Park Dunes · Illinois Department of Natural Resources: Illinois Beach Nature Preserve
Waves, wind and living plants all help shape the coast. Look for clues in the shoreline, around grass clumps, and where open sand gives way to woodland.
Waves and currents supply and redistribute sand along the shore. Wind can then carry exposed sand inland, where it accumulates around obstacles and vegetation. Dunes need both a source of sand and winds capable of moving it. Their shape is never entirely fixed. Look from a safe access point for small ripples, fresh deposits, or an eroded edge. Each is a clue to movement, rather than evidence that the landscape has stopped changing.
American beachgrass, also called marram grass, catches windblown sand around its stems and leaves. As sand builds up, the grass can continue growing through it. Much of the plant is below the surface, including spreading underground stems called rhizomes. A small clump can therefore play a larger role than its visible leaves suggest. Look for sand gathered around vegetation, but keep your feet on the designated route to protect the plants.
As plants establish, their remains add organic material and their shade changes conditions at the surface. This can make room for other plants, a process called succession. But every dune does not follow an inevitable path to forest. Moving sand can bury vegetation, and fire can help maintain more open communities. Read the landscape as a changing patchwork, with exposed sand, grassland, shrubs, and woodland responding to different conditions.
Learn more: U.S. Geological Survey: Geology of Indiana Dunes National Park · National Park Service: Plant Succession
Grasses, wildflowers and low-growing plants add life to the sand. These field photographs come from Illinois Beach and the Miller Woods area of Indiana Dunes. Select a photograph to enlarge it.
Watch the waterline, flower heads and leaves. These photographs show animals observed in coastal preserves and their adjoining habitats; they are not all specialists of dry, open dunes. The captions retain the places where Brian photographed them.
Return to the same viewpoint and compare plant cover, wildlife activity and the shape of the shoreline. These photographs illustrate things to notice; seasonal conditions and sightings vary.
Coastal habitats offer feeding and resting places for migrating birds. Watch the shoreline, then listen near woodland and wetland edges. Give birds room to rest, and compare what you notice at different stopping points along the trail.
Flowers, leaves and insects bring small details into view. Compare sunlit dunes with the shade beneath nearby trees. Look for plants growing in clumps, insects visiting flowers, and patches where wind still moves exposed sand.
Changing leaves and tawny grasses bring a new palette to the coast. Migration continues: at Kohler Park Dunes, raptors may pass overhead while smaller birds use shrubs and wet hollows. Look up as well as across the landscape.
Snow outlines dune grasses, and waves and freezing spray reshape the shore. Enjoy ice formations from solid ground well back from the water. Never step onto shelf ice: it can hide holes and weak areas even when it looks solid.
Learn more: National Park Service: Birds · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Kohler Park Dunes · National Park Service: Shelf Ice
Dune protection includes everyday visitor choices and long-term restoration. Open sand, low plants and wet hollows are all parts of the living coast.
Use designated trails, cordwalks, stairs, and open beach access. Avoid shortcuts through vegetation or up dune faces, and respect restoration closures even when a route looks easy to cross. Trampling can damage the plants that help hold sand and provide habitat. At Kohler-Andrae, the cordwalk is specifically intended to let visitors experience the dunes while protecting them. Bring photographs and observations home, and carry out everything you brought with you.
A healthy dune coast depends on more than its visible ridges. Wetlands can be altered by drainage, and invasive plants can change native communities. At Indiana Dunes, restoration of the Great Marsh has included restoring water movement, removing invasive plants, and planting native species. Supporting habitat care means protecting the connections between sandy uplands and low wetlands. Follow site guidance and look for organized stewardship opportunities that match the needs of the place.
Learn more: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Hiking at Kohler-Andrae State Park · National Park Service: Environmental Factors
Choose three stopping points on an established route: one by the open beach, one beside dune vegetation, and one near woodland or a wet hollow. At each, note the wind, shade, visible moisture, plant cover, and any wildlife activity. What changed most? Photograph the same view on another visit and compare your observations. Keep every stop on permitted access, and let the habitat come to you instead of stepping into it for a closer look.
Visit Brian’s field guides to coastal places in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
Follow the cordwalk through dunes beside Lake Michigan, and compare open sand with patches of grass and pine. Explore Brian’s photographs from this Wisconsin shoreline.
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Explore sandy openings, shoreline views and the small life among the plants. Brian’s photographs include monarchs, milkweed visitors and the dune landscape.
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Visit the Illinois shoreline through Brian’s photographs of beaches, driftwood, birds and striking winter ice. Notice how different the same coast can look through the year.
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Explore Brian’s photographs from Indiana Dunes, where a sandy trail reaches toward Lake Michigan and nearby woodland and wetland add to the habitat mosaic.
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