Spring Lake Forest Preserve, Cook County. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Created back in 1994, the day is meant to celebrate the connection between people and the green space in their community. 

(WTTW News)

A Florida man drowned Monday in Lake Michigan after pulling a teenage female to safety from the water off Porter Beach at Indiana Dunes National Park, officials said.

Shelf Ice at 31st Street Beach. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

As enchanting as Lake Michigan's ice may appear, it’s unmistakably dangerous, as evidenced this week by the presumed drowning of an Indianapolis man who fell into the water off shelf ice at Indiana Dunes National Park on Monday.

U.S. Steel Midwest Plant on the shore of Lake Michigan, with the Indiana Dunes Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Trail in the foreground, in 2019. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

The Chicago Department of Water Management is calling on the EPA to make protection of Lake Michigan from industrial pollution a priority after U.S. Steel’s Midwest Plant experienced two leaks in two weeks into a waterway that feeds into the region’s source of drinking water.

U.S. Steel Midwest Plant on the shore of Lake Michigan, with the Indiana Dunes Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Trail in the foreground, in 2019. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

For the second time in two weeks, Indiana Dunes National Park has had to close its beaches due to an unknown substance leaking into the water along its Portage shoreline. 

U.S. Steel Midwest Plant on the shore of Lake Michigan, with the Indiana Dunes Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Trail in the foreground, in 2019. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed the “reddish-orange discharge” that poured into Lake Michigan on Sunday from a steel plant in Portage, Indiana, was caused by high levels of iron, and says there’s no indication of health risks for people who may come into direct contact with the water.

U.S. Steel Midwest Plant on the shore of Lake Michigan, with the Indiana Dunes Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Trail in the foreground, in 2019. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

U.S. Steel is reporting that a “rusty colored” discharge that poured into Lake Michigan on Sunday from its plant in Portage, Indiana, was due to elevated iron levels.

Indiana Dunes National Park, with various industrial plants in the background, in 2019. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Officials from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management are investigating a “rusty colored liquid” discharged from the U.S. Steel plant in Portage, spotted Sunday evening in the Burns Waterway.

Monarch butterflies roosting in Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. (Courtesy of Ron Kapala)

Large numbers of monarch butterflies are making a pit stop at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie during their annual fall migration. That’s just one of the ways to enjoy and explore nature this weekend.

View of Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes National Park. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

An entry fee proposed by the National Park Service would provide funding for additional visitor amenities at the park and address a maintenance backlog, officials said. Here’s how you can weigh in on the plan.

Photographer QT Luong at Kings Canyon National Park in California. (Courtesy QT Luong)

QT Luong is renowned for his photos of the country’s national parks. In 2019, he photographed what was then the newest national park: the Indiana Dunes.

Photographer QT Luong at Kings Canyon National Park in California. (Courtesy QT Luong)

QT Luong is renowned for his photos of all 60 national parks. Now he's come to photograph our newest national park: the Indiana Dunes. 

Residents of Dune Acres, Indiana, hike Cowles Bog Trail. (Katherine Moore Powell / The Field Museum)

About 2 million people visit the Indiana Dunes each year for its hills of sand and sprawling beaches. But the beloved site on the southern shore of Lake Michigan is changing – and not in a good way.

Indiana Dunes

A spill last week at a U.S. Steel site in Northwest Indiana released an unknown amount of a potentially carcinogenic chemical into a Lake Michigan tributary, prompting the closure of three beaches at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Frank Dudley

Struggling artist Frank Dudley visited the Indiana Dunes 100 years ago and discovered his life's work – painting the fragile and constantly evolving landscape and promoting and preserving the dunes. We look at the enduring impact of Dudley's dramatic oil paintings.

Indiana Dunes

A new report finds that warming temperatures are having an impact on five national parks on the Great Lakes. Elizabeth Brackett looks at what that could mean.