Diana of the Dunes was the nickname given to Alice Mabel Gray (1881–1925), an American intellectual and counterculture figure, whose life inspired a local legend in Chesterton, Indiana.

Trained in mathematics, astronomy, and classical languages at the University of Chicago in the early 1900s, Gray rejected a wage-earning, urban life in favor a solitary existence at the Indiana Dunes.

Gray's unconventional lifestyle fascinated the general public and area news reporters, who gave her the "Diana" moniker.

[2][3] In 1897, at the age of sixteen, Gray entered the University of Chicago and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1903, receiving "honorable mentions" in astronomy, mathematics, Greek, and Latin.

[2][6] During her nine years as a graduate student in Chicago, Gray was a frequent visitor to the dunes in northern Indiana and came to love the area's natural beauty.

By 1909 conservation activists ramped up their crusade to preserve the natural area that remained; Gray soon played a role in this effort.

[4][8] In October 1915, thirty-four-year-old Gray withdrew from conventional life in Chicago and moved to the dune country in northwestern Indiana.

She also made trips to Chicago to visit its museums and began to write about the ecology and history of the dunes, the need to preserve them, and her own experiences there.

Sources differ on how the reporter learned of her existence and where to find her, but legend suggests that local fishermen informed the media after they had seen her bathing nude in the lake and running along the beach to dry herself.

[4] The news stories, some of them highly exaggerated, described Gray as a hermit or a nymph who lived alone in a shack at the dunes, foraged for food, occasionally going to Chesterton, Indiana, to purchase provisions, or walking to the nearby public library to borrow books and magazines.

[4][11] Public interest in Gray's unusual life continued after she began a relationship with Paul Wilson, a fisherman and carpenter, around 1920–21.

The new road provided easy access to the dunes from Chicago and northern Indiana, passing within a mile of "Wren's Nest."

The increase in traffic brought Gray and Wilson more unwanted visits from the press and curiosity seekers, further reducing their privacy, and they decided to leave the area.

Seeking a quieter life in Texas, Gray and Wilson left the Indiana Dunes in 1923, intending to float down the Mississippi River on a 20- to 24-foot boat that had been salvaged from a steamship.

"[16] Most of the details of Gray's unconventional, free-spirited life at the Indiana Dunes have come from newspaper reports and stories from local residents that have often been exaggerated, contradictory, or potentially false and subject to debate.

[17] Gray attained the status of a local celebrity, but her greatest legacy was her role in focusing public interest in the Indiana Dunes when the natural area was threatened by encroaching real estate development.