Explore the best rated trails in Paoli, IN, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Limestone Greenway and Polly Grimshaw Trail . With more than 18 trails covering 103 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Our family biked here this weekend and loved it. Very pretty creek and woods area. The trail has lots of benches to rest on and no one else on the trail seemed bothered by our slow caravan of bikers ¿
On a chilly morning in late October with a temperature hovering at forty degrees, I ventured out onto the Louisville Loop's Parklands of Floyds Fork portion of trails. The Parklands is made up of five sections in a rural setting, and I rode four of them out and back.
BECKLEY CREEK PARK
First of all, this section is surprisingly hilly at the start and toward the end. Even the bridges over the creek were steep! Thank goodness for my Swytch pedal assist! It's especially picturesque with beautiful creek and woodlands views. The calls of birds will accompany you throughout this section.
(Unfortunately, the connecting trail to Pope Lick Park was closed as of October 23 due to construction, so back up the trail, pack up the bike, and drive to the next trailhead.)
POPE LICK PARK & THE STRAND
If you're averse to hills, then these are the sections for you. If you're also into sensational creek views and crossing over bridges, you'll be in heaven.. These two sections also contain beautiful scenery of wooded hills, farmland with field of corn, and a few charming country homes. Keep your eyes peeled for turtles. I saw about a dozen of them sunning themselves on a log extending into the creek. Rust colored fuzzy caterpillars with a black collar and black rear tip were also all over the trail. By far, these portions of the trail were the busiest with bicyclists and walkers.
TURKEY RUN PARK
Again, if you're not into hills, this is not a good section for you. With my pedal assist it was not an issue, and it was especially fun going through the woods and seeing the multitude of squirrels with nuts in their mouths scampering across the path and up trees. Of course the silo at the top of the hill is one of the stars of this section and is most definitely worth the climb to the top. From there you can see the trail head down through Turkey Park to the north, and the trail also heading down to the south and Broad Run Park (which I didn't have time to do).
CONCLUSION
All in all, I did 31 miles in this superlative park. The trail is superb: wide, smooth, and curvy which adds to the fun and interest! The park has real restrooms that are clean and have sinks. No porta-potties for The Parklands! This park system is obviously much beloved by the community. There were many happy, friendly folks utilizing it on a weekday. It's evident that a great deal of thought and planning went into this treasure! It's a model of what a park should be. The rest of the country should come and study it. It is most certainly a destination bike ride. I came all the way from California to ride this, and I have no regrets! What a gem of a park and trail system!
(This was the 49th state I've ridden my bike in. Thanks for making it a great one, Louisville! On to Hawaii!)
This trail is beautiful. The trail surface is smooth and well maintained. There isn’t much signage at the trailheads. You will need to take water with you as there is no place to stop. Parking is ample on the Williams end. Definitely a must do trail! Very easy out and back for a total of 20 miles.
We are not from the area, but are familiar with the rails to trails system.
Found the trail head after we gave up and just started from the park. It was a Saturday and the park was busy but 4 sets of eyes in and out of the car never found any signage about where the trailhead was located.
Trail was in good condition, pleasant views and challenging at times but not impossible (for senior ;-) weekend riders). New section is very well done.
What was challenging was the lack of signage at critical turns, which made for an extra 2+ miles of hills that were walked by some. We all agreed it would be a fun trail to ride again but only because we know the route.
We walk or ride this trail all the time, love the farmland on both sides of the trail near Ellettsville with the creek is very picturesque. It's a peaceful getaway during a busy day.
The downtown section west from the Big 4 Bridge was awful. Poorly maintained and a lot of sketchy areas. Do yourself a favor and ride across the Big 4 Bridge into Indiana and ride the trail west from there. Nice trail and some nice views of the river.
This is our family’s favorite trail to ride! A great mixture of scenery with plenty of shade, and areas with sunshine to.
My husband and I rode this trail on August 6. We loved it! It was very peaceful!
Even though it is basically an in-town trail, it is surprisingly scenic. Quiet, shady sections, not too many cross streets, even passes some farm fields. An easy and pleasant ride on paved surfaces, 16 miles there and back end to end.
We continued our ride at the Pope Lick trailhead (right after the Taylorsville closure) and rode south 10 miles to the Brown-Forman Silo center. The first 7 miles were relatively flat and the last 3 very hilly. Most of the trail sections we rode were in the sun which may make this a little warm in the summer. However, it was very evident that Louisville spared no expense on this section of the trail.
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