Find the top rated running trails in Bloomington, whether you're looking for an easy short running trail or a long running trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a running trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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A new favorite! We rode from the Carmel trailhead north to Sheridan and back. The trail was beautifully, freshly blacktopped in the Carmel area - but also very heavily trafficked (granted, it was a beautiful day and Labor Day weekend). Once we got a bit further north, the trail was still smoothly paved, but we had it largely to ourselves. The trail is well-shaded for much but not all of the stretch north to Sheridan.
So to be clear, we loved the trail. From here on, I'll focus on providing info you might find useful.
Be advised, the Monon in this stretch is not always very well marked. It's especially sketchily marked in the Westfield area, where we ended up making an accidental detour west on 186th Street. The problem is compounded by the fact that there are sidewalks and paved trails all around you in that area that to all appearances could be the Monon.
FWIW, going north from 186th you should be starting at the intersection of 186th and Wheeler Rd, which changes names to Tomlinson Rd north of the intersection. From 186th north, it's basically a straight shot and there's really no question about whether you're on the Monon.
The trail becomes gradually less suburban and more rural the farther north you go from 186th, and you end by riding past barns and cornfields in the Sheridan area.
At Sheridan the trail ends at an American Legion hall at 236th St. There are two or three gas stations a short ways east on 236th where you can get drinks/food and use the restroom, but you'll have to ride on-road to get to them unless you backtrack a bit on the trail and cut through the adjacent Biddle Memorial Park.
We'd like to go back and run the stretch from Carmel to downtown Indy, but we'll probably wait for a weekday when we hopefully can avoid some of the traffic on the trail.
We started at the Jones Trailhead on Chamberlain Street, road about 3.8 miles toward the University then turned around. This section of the trail was mostly smooth and quite nice.
The two posts to stop motorized vehicles and to slow down u before streets are too close together. They should be staggered like at other Hendricks county parks. I ride a trike and had to pull in mirrors and slow to a crawl. Overall a very nice trail.
Park at Mayor's Garden. When you get to 38th Street turn right to stay on the trail. Mile markers are confusing because the Eagle Creek Trail and Eagle Creek Greenway are combined.
I started by the baseball field and it looked like a nice path but the trail ends and you just run thru the residential area.
Very nice wooded trail. There is a gap between the first .8 miles and the second leg which is 2.6 miles long. It appears that some have bridged the gap by walking along the railroad tracks.
I live in Indy and I traverse 6.2 miles of the Monon as my daily commute (on days I ride to work). So this trail is an old acquaintance of mine. This review is intended to give a bigger-picture idea of what the Monon has to offer. The trail is about 27 miles, from the Northern exurb of Sheridan all the way down to 10th street on the near East side of Indianapolis. It is, for the most part, your typical rail trail: straight as an arrow, point A to point B . The trail exists in two counties; Marion county is the urban center of Indianapolis, and Hamilton county, which is the most affluent county in the metro area. The conditions of the trail reflect this reality. The Marion county section was scheduled to begin resurfacing and widening in 2020, but then 2020 happened. The only improvement to be accomplished in the Marion county section over the course of 2020 was the completion of a bicycle/pedestrian bridge over busy 38th street, which was VERY needed. Near the southern terminus, there is currently (July 2021) massive highway construction that has impacted the Monon. One hopes the resurfacing will be done following all of that.
What I want to point out here, though, is that the Monon trail is actually just the most travelled of a network of fine bicycle trails that fan out over the city. The Monon bisects the Fall Creek trail, which travels from the near west side all the way east out to Fort Harrison state part, along fall creek. This is a great trail with long uninterrupted portions of riding. The southern terminus of the Monon is just a short jog over from one of the ends of the downtown Cultural Trail. You can ride the Cultural trail southwest across the downtown to link up with the Wapahani trail, which goes southward out of town along the White River. Another terminus of the cultural trail in Fountain Square is a short ride from the Pleasant Run trail, another creek-following trail that runs east out to the cool old neighborhood of Irvington. The Fall Creek trail now intersects, at its current western terminus, with the Canal Towpath trail, which is my personal favorite trail, though it is maybe the shortest of these. Up in Hamilton county, there are more trails spurring off of the Monon than you can shake a stick at, as they lead into the many suburban neighborhoods up there.
So, if you are looking at the Monon as a possible destination trail, please take time to consider it in its full context. We have a fun little city here. You can ride your bike along a combination of these trails to get to just about any of the fun parts of town. Our little group of bike riding friends regularly put in 30-50 mile rides all over the place, with very little street riding.
We started at the Williams Dam and rode to the end at Bedford, then back. Very shaded and nicely packed trail. Nice scenery and many bridges make it an interesting ride. The trail was in good shape the whole way. It was a great ride.
We parked at Community Park and went north along Hurricane Creek. It was shaded and very lovely. We went on several connected bike paths not shown such as E. King Street, Eastview Drive and Hurricane road. Wish we had time to go along Young's Creek!
Walked part of the trail today and was impressed! Clean, paved & well marked. I was surprised to see mile markers. Both families and individuals were walking, running and bike riding enjoying the day.
Monon is a great urban trail. I recently rode it from Westfield to 10th St. Its well marked and well paved. But it has many stops. All are well marked but be alert. If you are riding for pace you will be disappointed. Its very picturesque. It travels through upscale Carmel and artsy Broad Ripple. Very cool train murals at lower end of the trail. Enjoyed it! Mike
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