Zionsville Rail Trail/Nancy Burton Memorial Park/Dave Brown Rail Trail:
Indiana
Trail Map
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Description:
When greenways are done well, they deftly weave into the fabric of a town and become a material part of people's lives. Indianapolis suburb Zionsville's rail-trail system masterfully exhibits great greenway design: It threads through neighborhoods, tying together schools, churches, and shops. Children use the corridor to travel safely to school and across town, while employees of local business use it for leisurely lunch-hour walks.
The trail's south end in Nancy Burton Memorial Park starts with a dramatic view of Eagle Creek from a bridge over the water 60 feet below. A descent down a mammoth boardwalk brings you to Starkey Nature Park and an extensive system of walking trails in the Eagle Creek flood plain. This system is not a part of the rail-trail, but it makes a nice side trip. This southern mile of the trail, built atop a massive embankment, travels northwest deep into old-growth woods. The hard-packed limestone surface makes for easy walking and biking, and there are plenty of pleasant picnic spots, including on the bridge over Eagle Creek. In the winter, cross-country skiers flock to this corridor.
Leaving the park and the tree cover that has dominated the landscape, the trail goes through a tunnel underneath State Route 334, and the surface changes to asphalt for the remaining 2.5 miles. As it continues north and west, the trail progresses from a rural setting into a small town ambiance, passing under bridges, beneath roadways, and curving past churches and the town hall. For a short stretch, just past the tunnel, you briefly depart from the old rail corridor, but the trail picks up the rail corridor again. At this point it is below street level, almost tunneling through the surrounding neighborhoods. Connecting trails drop down from the streets above.
A mere half mile east of the Route 334 tunnel is the brick-street downtown area of Zionsville with its immaculately preserved 19th century village. Enjoy exploring the town after your trip down the rail-trail.
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Parking & Trail Access:
To get to the south trailhead from Interstate 65, take Russell/State Route 334 east for 4.6 miles. Turn right on 6th Street and after a quarter mile, turn right again on Starkey Road In 0.2 mile, you go under the trail bridge; after just 130 feet, turn right into the trail parking lot.
To get to the trailhead in downtown Zionsville from I-65, take Russell/East SR 334 for 4 miles to Zionsville Town Hall, at 1100 W. Oak Street. Park in the lot in back of building, where you will also find the trail.
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Seasonal Restrictions:
None
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