It stretches from the famous Indiana Dunes on its northern border, south to the Valparaiso Moraine, a ridge of rolling hills left by the last glacier to pass through the area.

Westchester Township includes the communities of Chesterton, Porter, Dune Acres, and Burns Harbor.

Later, it was submerged beneath Lake Chicago during one other notable period of the ice sheet's retreat from around Indianapolis to the arctic region where it currently resides.

Known for its sand dunes, wetlands, and forests, Westchester Township gives evidence of the dynamic geographical and ecological circumstances brought about by the glacier's last passage.

A notable wetland in the area is Cowles Bog, a fen named after a University of Chicago researcher who became famous for his study of geophysical conditions and ecological succession in the dunes.

By far the most notable geographic feature in Westchester Township are the great hills of sand strung along the shoreline of Lake Michigan.

The sand dunes begin to form around trees and clumps of grass that block the wind's path and continue to shift in size and shape depending on weather patterns and human interference.

Before settlers came to the region, the dunes had reached a stable, or "dead" point, as they were completely covered by a forest of white pine.

Other notable wildlife include deer, bear, wolves, foxes, mink, muskrat, wild ducks and geese.

In autumn and winter, the lake causes a delay in the cooling of the adjacent land (approximately 20 to 30 days behind the rest of northern Indiana).

[9] The area now known as Westchester Township was once home to peoples that archaeologists now classify into the Oneota division of Upper Mississippian cultures.

[13] It was not until 1832 that the American federal government formally extinguished the claims of the Potawatami to the land that is now Westchester Township.

[9] The first known European to settle in the area was fur-trader Joseph Bailly, who built his trading post on the north bank of the Little Calumet River in 1822.

There were numerous other sorts of berries and fruits as well, including mulberries, huckleberries, blackberries, strawberries, whortleberries, raspberries, roseberries, gooseberries, wintergreen berries, currants, sand hill cherries, red and yellow wild plum, crabapple, paw paw, haw, sassafras, and wild grape.

In addition to corn, early gardens in the area contained beans, peas, squash, tobacco, and melons.