Beverly Shores' Station Block Keeps Going After the Park Winds Down

Indiana Dunes National Park starts winding down for the season by the end of October. The few hundred feet of US-12 around the Beverly Shores South Shore station keep going for most of two more months. Dunewood Campground ends its 2026 season on October 31. The Depot Museum & Art Gallery runs its Artisan Holiday Show until December 20. Goblin Duneside Bar & Eatery has Sunday trivia on the calendar through December 27. From now on, the weekend plan in town has less to do with the trailheads and more to do with the block across from the station.

Here's how those dates line up between now and the end of the year.

The park pulls back first

The earliest closures this fall are on the park side. The National Park Service posted on September 22 that the stair sections of the Bailly/Chellberg Trail would stay closed through October 30 while the boardwalk is replaced. NPS says Marquette Greenway construction will require closing sections of the Glenwood Dunes Trail during April through December 2026, and sections of the Little Calumet River and Mnoké Prairie trails during May through December. NPS notes that those dates may shift. Check the park's current conditions page before heading out, because these notices change often.

Down at the lake, the NPS page for Lake View Beach says its restrooms typically close in November. That page was last updated in 2025 and doesn't give a 2026 date. Dunewood closes October 31, and its winter closure starts November 2 and runs through March 31.

So by the first week of November, the park side of Beverly Shores has fewer open trail sections, a closed campground and probably fewer beach facilities. The station block keeps its schedule.

The Depot sets the block's calendar

The Beverly Shores Depot Museum & Art Gallery is open from mid-April to mid-December. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and admission is free. Its regular Friday afternoon hours ended with Labor Day weekend. New exhibits open on Second Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m., April through October. That makes this Friday, October 9, the last Second Friday opening of 2026. The show opening that night is Ellen C. Benya's "Nature & Industry in Harmony," which runs through November 1.

The Depot's holiday season starts on November 21 with its Artisan Holiday Show. Regional artisans bring felt sculpture, button art, ceramics, handmade paper books, wooden tabletop pieces, linens, knitwear, paintings and sculpture. The show runs through December 20 on Saturdays from 10 to 5 and Sundays from 11 to 3, with an extra Black Friday day from 10 to 5 on November 27. The gift shop is also open online all year.

You can now count on this calendar for a long time. In November 2025, Indiana Landmarks announced a 100-year lease agreement between itself and the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. The lease keeps the museum in the 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival station and keeps the building a flag stop on the South Shore Line. NICTD also gave a $50,000 grant for repairs and an annual contribution for ongoing maintenance. Indiana Landmarks wrote in late 2025 that the depot had been scheduled for demolition 35 years earlier. Local supporters saved it and got it listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the museum moved in in 1988.

"We are thrilled to have the knowledge and resources of Indiana Landmarks behind us as we work to preserve this historic treasure." — Monique Rub, Beverly Shores Depot Museum and Art Gallery board president

Indiana Landmarks didn't give a schedule for the repair work. The lease does settle the main question about the Depot's future: it will stay a museum, a gallery and a train stop.

The newest neighbors across the station

Most of the block's recent changes are at 1 East Dunes Highway, the midcentury modern building across from the station. In May, Matthew Buccilla opened Blanket Fort there, on the back side of the building. It's a design studio and part-time shop selling mostly vintage furniture, accessories and art, with a National Park nook for souvenirs. Buccilla used to design spaces for Herman Miller and co-founded the Chicago shop Cowboys & Astronauts in Andersonville. He and his partner, Greg Lanier, bought in Beverly Shores in 2020 and moved there full-time last year. He told Dunes Diva his core style is "vintage modern-meets cozy cabin-meets Japanese Wabi-sabi." He also does design, sourcing and styling work, including staging homes for sale.

Blanket Fort's plan for summer and fall is to open on the first and third weekends of each month, which makes October 17–18 the next open weekend. No winter schedule has been published yet. The Blanket Fort site is the place to check.

Cat's Eye Vintage, which Dunes Diva described last year as mostly a clothing shop, is in the same building. So is the Tonatiuh Mitotli Awakening Center, a wellness center that held its grand opening on April 11.

A cluster that already works as one

In May, the Beverly Shores Collective ran its Big Little Shop Hop on May 23. The stops were Blanket Fort, Cat's Eye Vintage, Friends of Beverly Shores Antiques & Art, Hobgoblin Fine Wines & Spirits, Goblin Duneside Bar & Eatery, Daytrippin' in the Dunes Vintage, the Depot and Over Yonder Dunes Gift Shop. Dunes Diva described all of them as clustered near the train station. We couldn't find a fall or holiday shop hop announced for 2026. Even without one, the Depot's holiday show weekends are the likeliest time to find several of these shops open at once.

Here's what each stop offers, based on what has been published:

1. Goblin Duneside Bar & Eatery keeps the longest hours on the block. It's open Monday 4–9 p.m., closed Tuesday, open Wednesday and Thursday 4–9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.–9 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Brunch runs Friday through Sunday from 11 to 4, and Sunday live music runs from 1 to 4. Indiana Dunes Tourism lists live music every Sunday through December 27 and weekly Sunday trivia through the same date.
2. Over Yonder Dunes Gift Shop sells Dunes-inspired local art, apparel, curated vintage, locally printed merchandise and Save the Dunes merchandise. Indiana Dunes Tourism lists it as keeping seasonal hours. Its online shop currently carries Indiana Dunes National Park totes, hoodies and Route 12 hats.
3. Friends of Beverly Shores Antiques & Art is a nonprofit shop selling donated antiques, vintage finds and modern furniture. According to the group, sales proceeds go to local organizations, assistance for families moving to new homes, and public projects such as rebuilding community spaces. Its posted hours and address don't match across sources, so check its shop page before you go.
4. Hobgoblin Fine Wines & Spirits and Daytrippin' in the Dunes Vintage were both stops on the May hop. Neither has published fall or winter hours that we could find. Their social media accounts are the best place to check.

How the last weekends fall

On the calendar, the last two months of the year narrow in steps. The final Second Friday reception is October 9. The park's campground is done on October 31, and the Benya exhibition closes the next day. For about three weeks after that, the Depot keeps its regular weekend hours and Goblin keeps its weekly schedule, with no exhibit on the Depot's calendar. Then the Depot's holiday show opens on November 21 for five weekends of holiday shopping. Goblin's Sunday trivia and music run one more week after the show closes, ending December 27. The Depot's regular season ends in mid-December, and its next exhibit season will start in mid-April.

If you own a home near the station block or on the park side of town and want to know how buyers value that location, Meghan Maddox knows these streets and what's selling on them. Request a free home valuation, and she'll take you through the numbers for your address.