The trail is well maintained and offers a relaxing ride through the wetlands outside of West Terre Haute. Plenty of wildlife encountered on the trail from rabbits to turkeys to deer. Even better is that the pedestrian walkway adjacent to US 40 is now open. This creates a loop completely safe from traffic. The only road riding is though a sleepy little neighborhood. The “no trespassing” signs seen on the trail are on private property. Most likely to keep people from cutting through yards to get to the streets. Mosquitos, when stopped, are the main downside this time of year.

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.