U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan.

US 12 passes through urban areas and wood lands, parallel to the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The highway is included in the Lake Michigan Circle Tour and passes through Indiana Dunes National Park.

Historical landmarks along the highway include the Miller Town Hall, Beverly Shores station, and the Old Michigan City Light.

A memorial highway designations have been applied to the route since 1917, named for the Civil War Union Army unit.

[4] The NHS is a network of highways that are identified as being most important for the economy, mobility, and defense of the nation.

This measurement is a calculation of the traffic level along a segment of roadway for any average day of the year.

The road heads south concurrent with SR 912, passing through mainly industrial area between East Chicago and Gary.

The Dunes Highway passes between the South Shore commuter rail line and residential houses.

After the community of Miller Beach, the highway enters Indiana Dunes National Park.

The road passes through woodland and parallel to the South Shore tracks, before leaving the national park west of Ogden Dunes.

After Ogden Dunes, the road has a folded diamond interchange with the north terminus of SR 249 and George Nalson Drive, which heads into the industrial complex at Burns Harbor.

The route reenters Indiana Dunes National Park at a traffic light for the eastern entrance of Mittal Steel Company.

After leaving Beverly Shores, the route enters Town of Pines and has an all-way stop at the northern terminus of SR 520.

[11][13] After Town of Pines, the road curves due north back into the dunes and crossing the South Shore Line tracks.

The route makes a few more curves before entering downtown Michigan City and passing through a mix of industrial and commercial areas.

The highway leaves Long Beach, traveling through woodlands with houses and the town of Michiana Shores, before entering Michigan.

Narrower than anticipated, the new concrete highway was still superior to most Indiana roads, which in the mid-1920s were gravel or dirt with paved sections only between the larger towns.