PORTER BRICKYARD TRAIL
The Porter Brickyard Trail is a 3.5-mile paved trail that generally runs north-south trail connecting the Calumet Trail in the north and the Prairie Duneland Trail in the south. The trail also connects with the Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm Trails as well as the Little Calumet River and Mnoké Prairie Trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park.
LOCATION
County: Porter
City: Porter, Chesterton
Mileage: 3.5
North Endpoint - Specific: Mineral Springs Rd. at Calumet Trail
South Endpoint - Specific: S Jackson Blvd at Prairie Duneland Trail
Notable Trailhead: Mineral Springs Rd. at Calumet Trail, Mnoké Prairie parking lot, S Jackson Blvd at Prairie Duneland Trail
Near to US highways: US Highway 12, US Highway 20
TRAIL FEATURES
Type of Trail: Shared Roadway, Sidepath, Shared Use Path / Trail
Surface: asphalt
Uses allowed: biking, walking, hiking
Attractive Features: Indiana Dunes National Park, Little Calumet River, Connects Prairie Duneland with Calumet trail
AGENCY INFORMATION
Indiana Dunes National Park
1100 North Mineral Springs Road
Porter, IN 46304
219-395-1882
More Information
The Brickyard trail has been renamed Dunes Kankakee bike trail. It starts in Chesterton Indiana, connecting the Prairie Duneland trail with the Calumet trail, just outside Dunes Acres , in northern Porter County on Lake Michigan.
The Dunes Kankakee trail starts in Chesterton from the trail-head of the Prairie Duneland trail going northward for a quarter mile on S. Jackson Blvd. Crossing the railroad, and entering the town of Porter, turns left onto Lincoln Street to begin a separate trail that runs westward for .15 mile along Lincoln, northward for .15 mile on Sexton Avenue, and westward on Indiana Boundary Road, aka Beam Road for half a mile to the Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church.
At the Church driveway the Dunes Kankakee trail separates from the Indiana Boundary / Beam Road to cross Mineral Springs, and run along Howe Road for .2 miles to US 20. At this crossing with US20, a beautiful bridge has been built for bikers and pedestrians to pass over the highway, but in November 2013 it was closed. Until the bridge is open to the public please take big precautions to cross this dangerous street.
At US20, the Dunes Kankakee trail it begins the first of several off-road segments through woods. The DKP continues on Howe Road, a dead end street with very little to no traffic to the US 20. Howe Road pavement begins curving northward and becoming CR 150W, which tees into CR 1350/West Oak Hill Road. Traversing about a half mile on pavement, the DKP angles northeasterly, away from CR 150, into the woods to West Oak Hill Road.
Shortly, the DKBT crosses the West Oak Hill Road and winds northward through the woods of the National Park Service leading to US 12, or Dunes Highway. Here the DKBT overpasses US12 through a gorgeous pedestrian bridge that let you land nicely just in front of the Calumet trail-head.
The length of this trail is 3.2 miles but it makes possible to have more than 23 miles of continuous trails connecting the Prairie Duneland with the Calumet trail. It means that now is possible to go safely from Hobart to Michigan City.
When the gap in Hobart is closed between the Prairie Duneland and the nine mile Oak Savannah trail to Gary and Griffith, connecting with the Erie Lackawanna, the traveler will be able to go either from Griffith northwesterly to Hammond and the Chicago area of Illinois, or from Griffith southeasterly to Crown Point, then northwesterly on the Pennsy trail (bi-state connection) to Munster, Indiana, Lansing, Illinois, and on into Chicago.
A new extension has been build on IN 49 (N CR 25 E) to connect Indiana Dunes State Park with the trail system through Calumet Trail.