April 11, 2016

Mount Baldy Sand Dune To Remain Closed This Summer

The National Park Service will offer ranger-led tours along a portion of the dune that doesn't have any holes. - Steve Burns

The National Park Service will offer ranger-led tours along a portion of the dune that doesn't have any holes.

Steve Burns

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- The popular Mount Baldy sand dune along Indiana’s National Lakeshore will remain closed to the general public once again this summer.

The National Park Service restricted the public’s access to Mount Baldy after a section of the dune collapsed in 2013. That hole trapped a 6-year-old boy under 11 feet of sand, but the boy survived.

Since then, geologists have been studying the dune, trying to determine what caused the hole to form. The site won’t reopen until they have that question answered.

“We’re waiting on a major study by the Indiana Geological Survey who’s looking at the extent of the holes there and also trying to predict future holes,” says National Park Service Ranger Bruce Row.

The results of that study are expected this fall.

Rowe says they will offer ranger-led tours again this summer on the western edge of Mount Baldy – an area found to be free of holes.

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