I discovered this trail at the southern end of the Cardinal Greenway, and figured why not check out the trail by the gorge? It may well be the most scenic part of the entire connected trail system, going up to Gaston and including the White River Greenway Trail in Muncie. There's lots of green, a river (albeit usually hidden from view), and a good amount of elevation change in a short time. Definitely worth adding on to a Cardinal Greenway ride if you have the stamina to spare.

There also are some nice parks along the way, including by the piano/record factory, and at the veterans park near the northern edge, where you can see the difference in size between a light tank and a main battle tank in real life.

Still, there are a couple shortcomings that make this a trail that could easily be a 5, but isn't quite there yet. The largest is that there is a section near the southern end where the pavement is quite rough, which also corresponds with the steepest area, making it potentially hazardous. The connector up to the high school is even steeper and in rougher condition. There should be the next priority for fixing up.

There also was a tree across the trail almost at the southern terminus, which appeared to have been there for some time, and several of the wooden benches in the southern section were not in great condition any more.

It did look like the section by the veterans park was pretty new trail, and that the overseers were still working on an overlook above that park, so this trail may well still be receiving investment. With a little TLC on the southern section as well, it would definitely be a 5 star trail.

I rode the section of the trail from Richmond to Gaston over two days - essentially, all except the part above the gap to the north. It's a really good trail, but there are just enough shortcomings that I hesitate to put it at 5 stars, particularly compared to trails I've been on in West Virginia and Pennsylvania earlier in the year.

First, I'll note that I didn't notice any pig farms, despite expecting to on the southern section, nor any Rottweilers. There were some cow farms and a horse farm, but the only hazard were the many walnuts on the trail. I did see two cats, a lot of chipmunks, and quite a few blue jays, though ironically not a single cardinal.

The scenery is mostly fairly narrow wooded areas, with farms on the other side, though there are a few areas of denser wooded areas, notably by the nature preserve south of Muncie. This can be pretty, but it's also only partially shaded, and the afternoon sun slices through the trees pretty effectively. If you're doing a longer section, I recommend going northwest in the morning, and southeast in the afternoon if possible. I was going northwest and west in the afternoon of the first day, and the sun was doing an admirable job of trying to blind my left eye.

Amenities are good, but just short of great. There are restrooms every 4-5 miles, most of them with hand sanitizer, which is quite good. There are a decent number of water fountains as well, but of the three I tried on the northern section, two smelled bad, and one (by the Hitching Post, technically off of the White River Greenway but close to the Cardinal Greenway) didn't work. The southern section was reliable in this area. Outside of Muncie, there aren't a lot of places to pick up water in the northern section either, so err on the side of packing more water than you'll need.

The trail condition is generally very good, though it can be a bit bumpy in spots in Muncie. McGalliard Road is a more highly trafficked road crossing than most trails have, but it has an island in the center so you only need half of it to be clear at a time. I recommend jogging the bike across halfway at a time if it's a busier time of day.

The elevation gain is not negligible. Including segments on the White River Greenway in Muncie, and the Whitewater Gorge Trail in Richmond, I logged over 2000 feet of elevation gain, and it was noticeable, especially on the southern section where there were moderate, but extended, hill climbs. By comparison, I logged less than 1200 feet of elevation gain on the Greenbrier Trail in West Virginia, which is also longer. So don't assume that because it's in Indiana, you won't have some decent climbs!

I also should note that it's worth going into town in Muncie, whether that's the White River Greenway, which intersects with the Cardinal Greenway in two places, or grabbing some food at some of the excellent restaurants or breweries downtown, which is easily accessible from the trail. I always try to find a cool town or city to serve as a base when exploring a new trail, and Muncie did a great job in that regard.