So what does happens to the Dunes when you go off trails? Unfortunately, we already know the answer to this question. There are many areas of the Dunes that have been trampled on. These Dunes lost most of their plants, and therefore lost most of the continuous network that keeps them from getting blown away. Without the dense web of rhizomes and roots, the sand gets blown away by the wind and creates a Blowout. There are a few Blowouts on the Dunes and two are specially noted on the West Beach Succession Trail. These two Blowouts are stages of this trail, one being a simple Blowout, and the other being an Intradunal Pond, which will be discussed more below. The picture above or to the right is from the Succession Trail and shows Dune Builders which are now seen again as the sand has been reset and must start Succession over again. Fortunately, the process is working and the Dune is growing and moving again. As seen in the picture below, there was a completely different set of steps under the ones which are now present. These new steps were installed because the Dune continued to grow and covered up the old steps.

Succession was started in a rare glacial happening many years ago, and since has formed these Dunes which have continued to grow and produce forest. But this process does take time. Although the Dunes are here now with plants growing on them and they seem to be here to stay, that isn't entirely true. There is a story of a man, living on the lakeshore, who had a fear of having his house covered by sand. This wouldn't happen over night of course, but he loved his house and didn't want to move for many years. To prevent the sand from covering his house, he did a little research and found that Jack Pine trees grow on the tall Dunes that don't move very much. So he spent a lot of money and had baby Jack Pine trees planted on the sand hills close to house. His plan was faulty however, the Jack Pines died within a month and the man was forced to go back to the drawing board. Do you know why the Jack Pines died? If not, try figuring out by visiting the main Succession page and going through the stages of Succession.

Dunes' stages can be connected, but they don't have to be. A single Dune can go through all the stages without having another Dune next to it. However, most of the Dunes are connected to other Dunes often in other stages of Succession. New Dunes are contantly being formed near The Beach, as seen here, a Dune has just started Succession, although it has been growing for many years.

It's a very bad idea to go off the trails of the Dunes, especially when there are board walks. It's also not good for the Dunes to have any trails that aren't on board walks. Seen here to the left is a trail in the Dunes. The blue line represents where the top of the Dune was before the trail was made. Constant travel along this path caused erosion on the trail until it was dug down level like a terrace. If you look closely at the picture below, you will notice small and large roots sticking out from what looks like a wall next to the trail. The sand has eroded away and uncovered these roots. This is another good example of how damage to vegetation on the Dunes leads to erosion.

        Going off the trails and creating sub-trails also harms the Dunes. As seem here, a small side trail has been made up a slope on the Dunes Succession Trail and you can see that erosion is occuring. It is also obvious that the sand creates a hill from side to side, almost as if it was dumped there to make a trail. This is not true, the sand it piled up because people walking on this trail pushed the sand from the top further down and it mounded up.

Blowouts, Intradunal Ponds, and Erosion aren't the only problems Dunes' Succession faces. There is also the problem of Industry. Many Dunes have been leveled in the past by Steel industries such as Bethlehem Steel and LTV Steel. Visit the History, created by the Save The Dunes Council to learn more about the battle of the Dunes. In one project, sand was being removed from an area, and the project was cancelled. In this area, known as the Sandmine, there was a Dune with a bare side. There was no vegetation and the sand was completely disrupted. Since the process of Succession can't be skipped forward, Foredune Dune Builders are seen here. This area would have been filled with Wooded Dune. The Sandmine can be seen at the end of the West Beach Succession Trail.

It may seem as though the Dunes stop growing, moving and living after they reach the final step of Succession. This is not true though. The forest of the Wooded Dune, also known as Climax Forest, is left behind the Dunes as the Dunes continuously move toward the shoreline. There are many miles of Climax Forest south of the Dunes and the National Lakeshore. Pictured here is part of the Climax Forest still being preserved today.