From the Lincoln Highway to Amish country, here’s how to spend three days exploring northern Indiana’s historic small towns, country roads and unexpected photo opportunities.

I love a good road trip, especially one that takes me off the interstate and into the small towns that most travelers drive right past. Northern Indiana turned out to be exactly that kind of trip. We followed pieces of the old Lincoln Highway, explored historic downtowns, visited Amish country and found everything from a 19th-century opera house to an old-fashioned soda fountain.

The Lincoln Highway is the thread that ties much of this journey together. Created in 1913, thirteen years before Route 66, it helped introduce Americans to the idea of traveling across the country by automobile. Today, you can still find stretches of the original route, old road markers and towns that preserve the character of that earlier era.

Here’s how I’d spend three days on the Indiana backroads.

DAY 1: VALPARAISO & THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY

Start in Valparaiso, known to locals as Valpo, about an hour southeast of downtown Chicago. It’s a walkable city with a historic downtown, brick streets and a connection to one of America’s most famous snack foods.

Begin at the Orville Redenbacher statue downtown. Redenbacher adopted Valparaiso as his hometown and developed the popcorn that made him a household name. It’s an easy first photo stop and a good introduction to the town’s personality.

From there, walk along Lincolnway, the old Lincoln Highway route through downtown. Look for the Lincoln Highway markers on the street signs and the preserved brick pavement. Our guide, Lou Donkle from the Lincoln Highway Association, showed us how the original road still runs through the heart of town.

For lunch, we stopped at Blackbird Café for a grilled cheese sandwich and soup. Other downtown stops include Lincoln Flats and Brick Street Burrito, both part of the town’s mix of old buildings and new uses.

Don’t miss the Memorial Opera House, built in 1893. We were lucky enough to catch a Memorial Day concert by the Valparaiso Community Band, complete with John Philip Sousa music. Check the schedule before your visit; seeing a performance is a much better experience than simply photographing the exterior.

Addresses and links:

Blackbird Café — 114 E. Lincolnway, Valparaiso, IN 46383.

Lincoln Flats — 1 Napoleon St., Valparaiso, IN 46383.

Brick Street Burrito — 3 Napoleon St., Valparaiso, IN 46383.

Memorial Opera House — 104 Indiana Ave., Valparaiso, IN 46383.

For the historic road, use the Lincoln Highway Association’s official map to locate the original alignment and later reroutes.

Take the old road to the dunes

After downtown, follow the Lincoln Highway east and look for surviving pieces of the original route. Some of the most interesting stretches are the older, curving roads that were bypassed when highways were straightened.

Then make a detour to Indiana Dunes State Park or Indiana Dunes National Park along Lake Michigan. The combination of beaches, sand dunes and forest is a reminder that Indiana has a very different landscape along its northern edge than many visitors expect.

Indiana Dunes State Park — 1600 N. 25 E., Chesterton, IN 46304.

Indiana Dunes National Park — start at the visitor center, 1215 IN-49, Porter, IN 46304. The two parks are separate, so check which entrance and beach you want before setting out.

Photo tip: In Valpo, look for the old Lincoln Highway markers, brick streets and historic storefronts. At the dunes, use the shoreline and dune grasses to create depth in your compositions.

DAY 2: GOSHEN & AMISH COUNTRY

Drive east to Goshen, roughly an hour from Valparaiso. Goshen has the kind of downtown I always hope to find on a road trip: independent shops, a movie theater, old storefronts, diners and plenty of places to stop for a photograph.

Our guide was Sarah Irons Baker, a longtime Goshen resident and co-owner of a local Best Western. She showed us around town and explained how Goshen combines its Amish heritage with a strong manufacturing history, including the RV and musical-instrument industries.

Spend the morning walking downtown. We visited a vintage record shop, antique stores and a local motorcycle shop where the bikes are made for taking your time on the backroads rather than racing through them. The Goshen Theater is another downtown landmark worth checking out.

Goshen Theater — 216 S. Main St., Goshen, IN 46526.

Lunch at Olympia Candy Kitchen

For a classic small-town lunch, head to Olympia Candy Kitchen, which dates to 1912. It’s an old-fashioned candy shop and diner with a soda fountain, sandwiches, sundaes and drinks you don’t see everywhere anymore.

I went for grilled cheese and an orangeade. The menu also includes plenty of ice cream options, so this is a good place to slow down rather than rush through lunch.

Olympia Candy Kitchen — 136 N. Main St., Goshen, IN 46526. Check its hours before visiting; it is closed Wednesdays and Sundays.

Drive the Amish backroads

After lunch, head toward Shipshewana and the surrounding Amish countryside. The best part of this visit isn’t necessarily a single attraction—it’s the drive itself.

Take the smaller roads, look for the farms, barns, one-room schoolhouses and horse-drawn buggies, and enjoy the landscape. The area also attracts visitors interested in quilting, antiques and local crafts.

For maps and suggestions on where to explore, stop at the Amish Country Shipshewana Visitors Center, 350 S. Van Buren St., Suite H, Shipshewana, IN 46565. Visit Shipshewana has additional trip-planning information.

Remember that these are working communities, not a theme park. Drive carefully around buggies, give them plenty of room and be respectful when photographing people or private property.

Back in Goshen, finish the day at The Chief for ice cream. I had a tin-roof sundae with Moose Tracks; Sarah went for the Hawaiian. It was exactly the kind of stop that makes a small-town road trip memorable.

Address: The Chief Ice Cream — 502 W. Lincoln Ave., Goshen, IN 46526. It is a seasonal ice cream stand, so check that it is open before making the trip.

Photo tip: The best images in Amish country often come from the landscape itself—barns, fields, fences and quiet roads. Pull over safely before taking pictures, and avoid photographing people who do not want to be photographed.

DAY 3: KENDALLVILLE & SMALL-TOWN PHOTOGRAPHY

Continue to Kendallville, another northern Indiana town with historic buildings and a downtown worth exploring on foot.

This is a good place to put your phone to work. Look for old storefronts, architectural details, neon signs and the everyday scenes that give a town its character.

The first photo tip is simple: clean your lens. A soft cloth can make a surprising difference, especially when you’re shooting into the light.

Timing matters, too. Early morning and late afternoon usually give you the most flattering light, but most of us end up taking pictures in the middle of the day. If the light is flat, try a little editing in Apple Photos, Google Photos or Snapseed. A modest adjustment to brightness, contrast and color can bring a photograph to life without making it look artificial.

And don’t forget the people. The shop owners, guides and locals you meet along the way are often what make a small-town visit memorable. Ask permission, make a portrait and let them tell you something about the place.

WHERE TO STAY

We stayed at Best Western properties in Valparaiso and Kendallville during this trip. Both made convenient bases for exploring the surrounding towns and backroads, and I appreciated having breakfast before heading out for another day of filming.

For this itinerary, I’d spend the first night in Valparaiso and the second in Goshen or the surrounding Amish-country area, then continue toward Kendallville on the third day.

http://www.bestwestern.com

THE BOTTOM LINE

You don’t need to drive across the country to find a great American road trip. Northern Indiana has historic downtowns, old highways, Amish countryside, Lake Michigan beaches and plenty of places where it pays to get out of the car and look around.

The best advice? Don’t rush it. Take the old road when you can, stop in the towns you’ve never heard of, and leave enough time for a grilled cheese sandwich, an ice cream sundae and a few photographs along the way.

Watch More of Our Indiana Road Trip