Indiana | TrailLink

The " Great American" Route Through Indiana

A dozen trails will host the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail in Indiana—which will take a diagonal trajectory across the state from Richmond to the Chicago metropolitan area. The route is hosted by well-loved trails such as the Cardinal Greenway, which connects the eastern side of the state to urban Muncie and Marion, and the Nickel Plate Trail—which features the famous bucolic corn-belt landscapes the Hoosier State is known for.

When RTC met with officials from the Indiana Department of Transportation to discuss possible routing options in the state, they were so excited about the potential of the Great American Rail-Trail that they asked RTC to consider including as many trail miles as possible in Indiana. Later, in September 2018, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the state’s Next Level Connections program, a $1 billion investment in infrastructure projects including trails, which will be important to completing a trail across Indiana.

Favorite Trail in Indiana

February 2026 jonzinnel

For many years, I lived in Richmond about half a mile from where the Cardinal Greenway and Gorge trail meet and have spent hundreds of hours riding a bike on the trail. It is by far the best greenway I have used in Indiana and might be my favorite trail of all time. I now live further away, but plan to make drive at least a few times this year to ride on it again.

Here are the highlights:

1. The trail is long. You can spend hours on the trail without having to loop. I'm looking forward to it becoming even longer too as it combines to form a segment of the Great American Rail Trail.

2. It's smooth. There are a few parts here and there that have worn, but overall, the organization does a superb job of keeping up with wear and damage. They also seem to have a robust crowd of volunteers who mow and keep the trail clean and tidy.

3. The trailheads are some of the best I've seen on trails. They are numerous and offer more amenities that many other greenways. Most have a decent amount of parking. Several have drinking fountains and bike tools. During the warm months, they also put out Porta Potties. Of course, there's also small towns along the way with various amenities.

4. The Indiana countryside is beautiful, especially on a sunny spring or summer day. I gained a new appreciation for rural Indiana. Beautiful small, but rolling hills with green pastures and grazing cattle. Small towns with rustic mom-and-pop shops. Amish wagons puttering along. Shaded, wooded areas with quiet rustling leaves. This trail has it all!

What are you waiting for? Get out there.

Short trail itself but a nice addition to the connecting Sweetser switch trail and the Cardinal Greenway .

June 2024 mojohoover

Short trail itself but a nice addition to the connecting Sweetser switch trail and the Cardinal Greenway .

Trail is closed at Rt. 30 heading North from Erie Lackwana trailhead.

June 2025 tduffmcg3623

Trail is closed at Rt. 30 heading North from Erie Lackwana trailhead.

This is my home area trail. It's going to need some work soon but is great over all.

October 2025 hatchet.howard

This is my home area trail. It's going to need some work soon but is great over all.

Indiana Trail Reviews

Accordion

Nice trail. Hopefully it does connect to Erie trail out of North Judson one day. If it does it needs to stay one one side since HVRM owns right of way to Monterey. This be nice trail if both railroad and trail share same ground!

March 2020 secretary2

Good trail, liner than expected

October 2025 peterdevity

This trail was very good, highly recommend for people. The gap in between has lots of areas to eat, so you can’t get hungry. Some of the fast food places and grocery stores are McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Subway, Kroger, and ALDI. Just a note, this trail can reach around 10 miles farther than what the trail says, if you start at Fansler Park in Rochester. Very well paved, not many bumps. It would take about 25 miles to reach Peru, which is the middle town. The road section is pretty short, around 3-3.5 miles. From there, it will take you another 20-ish miles to reach the end. However, the end leads to another trail, which goes to a splash pad and some parks, great for the early summer and late spring. We visited in the fall, but you might have an even better experience in the warmer seasons.

Nice Suburban Trail

July 2023 trob4cy

Some areas could use some resurfacing but overall good trail.

my favorite trail

August 2024 andy_marsh

Run in this trail and the connecting converse junction trail several times a week. Feels like a safe place, lots of shade, pretty flat. Kept in good shape.