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Print Friendly MapAdkinsson Greenbelt Park offers an extensive paved trail running throughout the city of Owensboro in Daviess County, Kentucky. It makes its way through many of the city's parks and to a few neighborhoods. It's a great place for outdoor recreation such as walking, running, and biking, but can also be used as a transportation route as it connects many areas of the town.
There are many parking areas along this trail and at the various parks that it passes through.
Parking at the Joe Ford Nature Center can be reached by heading west on Highway 60 (formerly known as the bypass) until it ends at Henderson Road/4th Street. Turn right. Then, take the first right on to Gradd Way. Parking will be on the right, a couple hundred yards down Gradd Way.
Parking at Miller's Mill Road can be reached by heading east on Highway 60 (formerly known as the bypass). Take Exit 18 to Highway 54/Litchfield Road, turn right. Travel 2 miles, then turn right on to Miller's Mill Road. The parking area will be on the right, in about 0.2 miles.
I have a different perspective than most trail users. I am paralyzed from the waist down. My "daily driver" is a manual wheelchair. However, I also have a handcycle: basically a three-wheel bicycle that I pedal with my hands. The rear two wheels are just along for the ride. The front wheel does all of the steering, braking, and propelling. As my weight is all on the back wheels, it spins out on too steep of a hill. There is one hill on the west end of this trail (right next to Parrish Avenue) that I had to ride down the street to bypass. There's another hill about 1/4 mile from this one that I could just BARELY handle. Otherwise, this trail is fairly flat with a few small hills. A completely flat trail is kind of boring, but I just can't do a really steep one. The Greenbelt is, for me, the perfect blend of flat and steep.
Handcycle considerations aside, Owensboro has done a commendable job with this trail. It is very nicely constructed and maintained. There are several good places to park, with ample parking spaces. I have ridden it several times now. I suggest doing what I did - try parking at different lots and seeing which one you like best. My personal favorite is the one off of Higdon Road. It is somewhere in the middle of the trail and lets you go either direction. A 15 mile trail (so 30 miles if you do both directions) gives you a lot of options, especially if you're looking for a 5 or 10 mile ride.
As other reviewers have noted, they could have done a better job with signs. In town sections of the trail, it's sometimes a bit difficult to know if you're still on the trail. I'm from here, so I have been watching the trail being constructed for years, so it makes sense to me. If you're new to it, download and study a map of it and you should be good. A map will also show you the numerous parking lots.
There are a large number of road intersections. Owensboro drivers aren't known for paying attention, so be careful! There are good markings and flashing lights at all the intersections. Plus, it's fun to take little side quests down many of these roads that are wide enough for cars plus a wheelchair-width handcycle.
The trail provides a good mix of city streets, farm fields, and woods. There are a lot of spots without shade, so bring some sunscreen if the sun bothers you. The parks departments do a great job maintaining the trail, but there are quite a few tree root bumps in some of the sections. Watch your front wheel, slow down a bit, and you'll be fine. There are about half a dozen portable toilets along the trail, and tons of benches for a rest stop.
Like I said, I live within easy driving distance of the Greenbelt. The only thing more handy for me is to just leave my driveway and hit my local roads on my handcycle, which I do often. However, when I don't want to fight cars or when I have my daughter on her bike with me, the Greenbelt is my first choice. It is an asset to our community. Come check it out. I hope to see you out there!
A diverse trail running alongside busy streets, fields of soybeans, wooded areas, and into small communities with lush greenery and small lakes. Not well marked.
We enjoyed our ride today. Read everyone’s reviews and found them to be 100% accurate. We started off from o Ford nature park and rode the entire trail. It was cool and overcast with very few people on the trail
Went on this trail one sunny afternoon for two miles and found no shade. We just drove 30 miles south to Greenville and found a great paved 6 mile, shaded trail.
Very nice surface but lack of signs makes it difficult to follow the trail in some spots. Nice shade at either end but none in the middle 75%. Be careful crossing the streets. Many drivers don’t respect crosswalks.
A friend and I rode the trail west to east and back on a cool, sunny March day. The trail is 100% paved. Newer sections are very smooth and wide enough to ride two abreast. Older sections have occasional abrupt tree root bumps and are narrower. Parts of the trail reminded us of the Pumpkinvine Trail in Indiana, which has frequent 90 degree turns. Other sections of the trail are long straightaways. The latter had no shelter, so you definitely feel the wind. Portions of the trail are rural; others go through parks and by residences. We enjoyed the mix of bird calls, forsythia in bloom and early spring flowers in parks and yards. The east end of the trail is at Millers Mill Road. We rode north 2 blocks and west 1 block to a welcome cup of coffee and scone at Great Harvest Bread Company. An earlier review mentions two places where trail signage is misleading or missing. It was helpful to have downloaded the map.
We rode 28 miles on the Adkisson Greenbelt on Sat (9/15). We started on the west side at the Joe Ford Nature Center and ended 15 miles to the east at the Millers Mill Rd parking lot. The weather was mostly sunny with a high 91, so it was a pretty hot day. Overall it was an enjoyable ride, but the trail definitely had some minor issues in spots. I’ve laid out the good & the bad below.
The Good: Trail is paved, wide & in very good condition. Several opportunities for public restrooms & to refill water bottles. Lots of lakes & ponds on the eastern half. Benches are plentiful. Kentucky’s famous Moonlight BBQ restaurant is just a block off the trail (expect a wait). Trail passes by a few parks and hiking trails. Several trail heads offer multiple parking opportunities. Rental bikes available on the trail. Not a lot of bike traffic on the trail.
The Not So Good: There are a few major road crossings. You ride parallel to a few major roads in spots, so lots of traffic noise. Some very exposed areas and no shade in some spots. Most importantly, there is signage, but it is small and missing in some critical spots, making the trail hard to follow. Specifically, when traveling west to east, after crossing the light at Parrish Ave, turn right on the side walk then left at Old National Bank (there is not a sign there). Also, when crossing Carter Avenue, you will see a sign for the bike lane straight ahead on Tamarack Rd. Do not follow it! After you cross at the light, immediately turn right onto the sidewalk on Carter Rd and follow it down a few blocks until the trail makes a left turn.
Know Before You Go: I recommend riding east to west. The signage is better in that direction and easier to follow. There is a large pipe across the trail on the south end of Fishers park. You will need to lift your bike over the pipe.
Rating: This is definitely not a destination trail, more of a trail you’d stop to ride en route to somewhere else or if you are local. Due to signage issues, road crossings & noise, and not a lot to see on the trail, I’d give this trail a 6/10.
Rode this trail today. We had planned to ride end to end but without signs we only got 10 miles in and had to turn around. Until we got home and really looked at a map online we had no clue of the turn we missed. Trying again next week! Awesome surface, mostly flat, plenty of benches and rest stops with water fountains if needed. Wish we lived closer than an hour away. I would ride there daily.
I love the idea of this trail in that it connects different areas of the city, but it is very difficult to follow. Signage is minimal and there were numerous points at which I took wrong turns or almost completely gave up on it because it wasn't clear where the trail went at an intersection. The sections were the trail is just a double wide sidewalk are definitely the worst part. I rode close to the entire trail on an unseasonably warm veterans day Friday and couldn't believe how few people were on the trail. In 12.2 miles I saw only two other people on bicycles and a handful of walkers/runners. The four star rating is due to the usefulness of the trail for people who live there. If you are looking for a great ride, it gets less stars. And it's pretty lame that it's closed dusk to dawn.
lots of twists and turns. unfortunately, the turns are rarely marked, so take your smart phone with google maps on it; i needed it the whole time. the bicycling option on google maps chose some relatively safe bike routes through the downtown, so i was largely able to return that way. all-blacktop surface is largely good, but even the newer sections have tree roots poking through more often than expected. not crowded at all on a crisp fall saturday in late october, and the few folks that i did encounter were rather friendly.
Due to the mostly flat land in this area this is a well kept trail for everyone. Bobbing in and put youll have a chance to see everything from from farm living to city life. This trail also has drinking fountains,restrooms and rest areas.
Cant say enough of how well kept with all the annuities.
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