Top Places to Visit in Indiana

Indiana's top visitor destinations range from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the Indiana Dunes' Lake Michigan beaches to the covered bridges of Parke County.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The world's largest single-day sporting event venue — seating capacity is 257,000 (with infield capacity, over 400,000 attend the Indy 500). The 2.5-mile oval has been operating since 1909 (the first race was in 1911). The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum (inside the infield) is the finest motorsports museum in the world. The grounds are open year-round; the Indy 500 (late May) and the Brickyard 400 (NASCAR, July) are the premier events.

Indiana Dunes National Park
Indiana's only national park — 15,000 acres of Lake Michigan dunes, beaches, and diverse ecosystems (open dunes, stabilized dunes, swamps, bogs, and forest). The Cowles Bog (a National Natural Landmark — the site of Henry Cowles' foundational ecology research in 1899–1901, which established the science of plant succession) and the 3 Dune Challenge (climbing the three tallest dunes — Mount Tom, Mount Holden, and Mount Jackson — a total elevation gain of 1,000+ feet) are the highlights. The park is accessible from Chicago (50 miles west).

Brown County State Park (Nashville)
Indiana's most visited state park — the sandstone upland of Brown County, covered in mixed hardwood forest, turns brilliantly in October. The Nashville area has become a destination for arts, crafts, and fall color tourism. Brown County State Park's Hesitation Point overlook gives the finest view of Indiana's hill country.

Children's Museum of Indianapolis
The world's largest children's museum — 473,000 square feet, with the largest dinosaur gallery in the Western Hemisphere (featuring a Brachiosaurus, a T. rex, and a stunning glass-enclosed exterior installation), the Dinosphere, a planetarium, and 12 additional galleries covering natural history, world cultures, and science. Consistently ranked the #1 children's museum in the world.

Parke County Covered Bridges
The "Covered Bridge Capital of the World" — 31 historic covered bridges in a single county (more than any county in the US). The Parke County Covered Bridge Festival (second full week of October) draws 900,000+ visitors. The bridges date from 1856 to 1920; the fall foliage combined with the bridges creates one of Indiana's most photographed landscapes.