September 11 through September 22, 2026
Hammond, Indiana, sits just south of Chicago and barely over the border from Illinois. Let’s just say it’s not exactly the kind of town that will make anyone’s top list of places to visit—but it does have one very important thing going for it: Chicago is just a hop, skip, and an Uber ride away.
For many of us “loopers,” Hammond is an important stop before heading south into the inland rivers and, eventually, toward parts unknown. There are several good reasons for that.
First, Hammond is conveniently close to the Calumet River, which is essentially the starting gate for the next leg of the adventure down the inland rivers. Second, the fuel prices are considerably more friendly than those in Chicago, which is always music to a boater’s ears—especially during this record breaking fuel price era.
Hammond is also a great place to provision the boat and stock up on all the necessities (and, naturally, a few non-necessities) before heading into the unknown. Because once you leave Chicago behind, you want to be reasonably certain you have enough food, beverages, snacks, and whatever else you have convinced yourself is absolutely essential to survival.
And there’s another advantage to Hammond: its proximity to Chicago makes it a convenient place to leave the boat and catch a flight. Which is exactly what we did. We left our floating home safely tucked away while we flew back home for several days for my bi-monthly medical visit.
So Hammond may not be the most exciting stop on the Great Loop, but it turned out to be a pretty important one for us. Sometimes the less glamorous stops are the ones that keep the adventure moving. And Hammond definitely earned its place on our map!.
