Great trail

Great trail to ride , the hog farm near Williamsburg smells terrible and at least 3 times big Rottweiler dogs have chased us and nearly wrecked us at the hog farm entrance. Very scary and dangerous. We ride 5 days a week and don’t see them everyday but potentially a terrible situation. Other than that a great ride and well maintained.

Great trail

We rode the Panhandle Pathway on Saturday Oct 3, 2020, from Winamac to Royal Center and back, so this review applies only to that segment. Easy parking in downtown Winamac, at the northern trailhead. We had a gray, unusually cool day with steady low wind from the south. Very few other riders/walkers. Overall a very pleasant experience, kudos to the Friends of the Panhandle Pathway for their work.

It's a nicely maintained trail, mostly smooth pavement through flat countryside. North-to-south mileage is painted on the trail every tenth of a mile, so that's easy to keep track of. Water/snacks available off-trail at Winamac and Royal Center.

One important thing to know is that there's relatively little tree cover or canopy between Winamac and Royal Center, to protect against wind or sun. Factor this in if you have a windy or aggressively hot/sunny day.

Several hills on the trail, with turns at the end. Some sharp turns and narrow lanes that would be hard to have two bikes on at the same time. Stretches of the trail are near the highway, but overall a quiet ride.

Rode this trail 2020 August...trail is well maintained and in good shape. Bathroom at start of trail only in Winamac, however, you do go through a couple of other small towns with bars and restaurants which would have bathrooms, as well the trail is heavily wooded for the most part. Trail has a couple of nice bridges over rivers with seating/resting ares. Half the 22mi tail parallels Hwy 35, being approx 25 yards off same...so you have a lot of traffic noise. The trail ends basically in the middle of nowhere, with a picnic table, bike rake, and no bathroom or anything else. However, nice trail will ride again.

This was a great ride. I rode from Kokomo to Peru and back. There was a lot shade, very peaceful and it was not crowded at all. I look forward to riding it again.

I enjoyed my ride on the Panhandle Pathway, but to be honest, there is really nothing unique or special about the trail that would make me want to go back and ride it again. It is straight as an arrow and offers little shade, so you may want to ride on a cooler day or one that has some cloud cover. There are some nice views of farms, but no towns to stop in along the trail. Even Winamac doesn't have a whole lot to offer for places to eat, etc. I guess the main use of such a trail would be exercise or training; there were not many other bikers on the path. The one thing I did enjoy as I rode in early August is the huge variety of butterflies fluttering around the flowers that line the path. That went on for many miles.

Great summer trail! Lots of trees to block wind, especially the further south you go. Heading south the trail ended in Peru, IN but if you have access to mapping software on your phone just head to Western Reman Industrial on the corner of West 7th and North Chestnut and you'll soon be back on the Nickel Plate headed south. I didn't come across a lot of traffic at the intersections until Peru but best to slow down and look. At night the crossings are a lot more quiet. Very well kept trail with only a few spots in need of work and only one construction patch (watch for the cones) just north of Bunker Hill. Looking forward to riding this one again.