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The Indian Creek Trail links two states, four communities, and a multitude of parks along Indian Creek. The trail provides numerous connections to the surrounding areas, making it an excellent resource for members of the community for both recreation and transportation.
About the Route
The western trailhead for the Indian Creek Trail is located in Hampton Park, which opened in 2000 and offers water, benches, and picnic tables for trail users. This newer section of the trail extends north from the park, crossing S. Ridgeview Road, and W. 159th Street (and the adjacent 159th Street Path).
From 159th St, the trail treks north until it crosses through Southdowns Park, afterward converging with S Lindenwood Dr., along which trail users will pass Olathe South High School, Indian Trail Middle School, and Scarborough Elementary School. The trail reaches the MidAmerica Nazarene University campus just before winding through dense woodlands.
The Indian Creek Trail eventually enters Olathe, passing close to Olathe East High School on W. 127th Street and meeting the Eastbrooke Trail and Blackbob Road Trail on opposite sides of the school. At both W. 109th Street and College Boulevard, the trail leads to the Overland Park campus of Ottawa University and adjacent office buildings. The trail continues north through more neighborhood parks, passing under Interstate 435 just west of Antioch Road.
At Nall Avenue, the trail links directly to the northern endpoint of the Nall Avenue Path, which leads to the world headquarters of Sprint Corporation and other points south. The trail continues along Indian Creek, passing through a number of neighborhood parks on Overland Park’s eastern side.
Continuing eastward, the trail crosses the 66-acre Leawood City Park, followed by the Kansas–Missouri state line. The park contains soccer fields, tennis courts, baseball fields, volleyball and basketball courts, a playground, and an aquatic center, and is the northern trailhead for the Tomahawk Creek Trail. The eastern end of the trail meets the Blue River Parkway Trail, near the confluence of Indian Creek and the Blue River in Kansas City, Missouri.
Connections
Near Frontier Park, the Indian Creek Trail intersects the 159th Street Path.
At Leawood City Park, trail users can connect to the Tomahawk Creek Trail.
At Nall Avenue, the trail links to the Nall Avenue Path.
The trail meets the Eastbrooke Trail and Blackbob Road Trail on opposite sides of Olathe East High School on W. 127th Street.
At the eastern end of the Indian Creek Trail, trail users can connect to the Blue River Parkway Trail.
The Indian Creek Trail runs between S Warwick St. (South Hampton) and Blue River Trail (Oakwood).
Parking is available at:
Please see TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
We've enjoyed living a stone's throw from a relatively quiet section of Indian Creek's Hike/Bike (not just Bike) Trail for over 20 years. It used to be safe for walks, jogs and bicycling. Over the past few years, bicyclists seem to be increasingly assuming it's solely for their preferred use. They do not observe even basic courtesies (including yelling obscenities as they speed by, belatedly declaring "right of way"). Collisions and injuries are increasing. I respectfully suggest: there are more appropriate places to train for your upcoming "Tour de Suburbs", complete with aerodynamic outfits (eyeroll) that bely any pretense you're responsibly sharing a multi-use community area.
Today was the first time I have ridden this trail. I have ridden trails all over Minnesota and Iowa. I was so disappointed in the part of the trail that goes east. The trail is very rough and narrow. The tree branches have not been trimmed. Part of the trail is under construction and part of the trail is gravel. There are no signs posted that shows curbed etc. Be prepared for a lot of homeless people that have built there camps by the trails. Very disappointed in KC lack of attention to this trail. On a positive note. The wildlife is great and so is the waterfall
Been on ICT since the early 2000s. The park and rec of OP needs to serious repave vast sections of asphalt on the trail where the nearby tree roots have caused significant damage to the asphalt. No reason super rich JOCO can ignore the neglect of the trail.
I went tonight for the first time, and some of the trail is better maintained as far as cracks... but, some is also filled with that black sticky seal coat and it can get a little rough.... Still a go to!
Rode this and much of the Leawood south loop. The trail along the creek is pretty but on a Sunday morning was really busy. Lots of walkers, dogs, and other bikers. That said it’s close to the house and has some pretty bridges and creek views
We took our 3 dogs on a walk here and it was great! The bikers were super friendly and so were the other pedestrians. My dogs really enjoyed the creek too!
On the trail at 127th by 8:00 am riding to nall ave...on the way back 8:50 am the trail was very busy with walkers, runners and cyclists. Many cyclist flying by little kids with no trail manners. Normally we find this trail very nice to ride! Enjoyable easy ride.
We started at frontier Park and headed north east. The entire pavement was covered with tar strips and under every bridge was muddy. We are experienced in line marathon skaters and have no problem going over a few rough patches but this was definitely not safe to skates. If someone knows if the trail Is better in other areas please let me know
great trail, friendly peeps, nice views
I love this trail. I walk it often in multiple locations. I’ll drive to a different section just to try a new route. So many nice views and the trail is in pretty good shape. I bike it occasionally as well. Highly recommend.
DandETravelers: we travel with two small dogs, so nice walking trails are wonderfully. Really enjoyed 6.77 miles of this trail today.
Went longboarding on the Indian Creek Trail with my Son last Wednesday. He had already been on the trail so we had no problems getting from the Parking lot near Olathe East High School to Chipoltle on College in Overland Park, KS.
It had rained the night before so there was some debris on the path that rising water had left. There was also some mud under a couple overpasses and broken branches in various places.
We walked the blind curves to avoid running into bike riders. Bikes can sneak up on you as they don't make any noise.
We'll explore the South Western part of the Trail next to see what it looks like.
My wife and I ride this trail several times a week. It is fairly well maintained asphalt with wooden bridges. During cooler temperatures, the bridges will ice over before the trail does, so be careful on cold mornings. Best time to use this trail is early morning, as it's mostly commuters and the occasional walker/jogger. Everyone is typically pleasant and will return your greeting. Later in the day, the trail is jammed with families, pets, and strollers, which is nice but they don't understand trail etiquette and can be difficult to safely pass.
My only negative comment about the trail is the mud. There are sections of the trail, especially around overpasses, where during heavy rains mud covers the trail. My wife went down pretty hard on one of these sections. Some sections will also have standing water, days after a rain. If they could concentrate on those sections and work out the drainage, this trail would be perfect! It certainly beats taking your chances with cars on the surface streets for commuters like me.
Is there anywhere to park at the entrance off Bannister?
Rode the Indian Creek trail and got on the Tomahawk Creek trail by mistake but both were excellent. Winds along the creek, great opportunity for pictures. Signage could be better. One of the prettiest trails yet in my quest to ride in all 50 States.
This trail seems to be a lot of small neighborhood/city parks with connectors to each other and connectors to city streets. The signs are not good at all, and in a 1:15 ride I only got 14 miles because of all the backtracking.
I parked at 3 trails center on Holmes and 99th and headed west. At the soccer complex, (previous commenter said they crossed the field to stay on trail), when you come to the fork stay to the left, then turn left to get back to the trail instead of going straight. There is no sign.
When the path ends at the street corner at Suburban Lawn and Garden, turn right and it starts again after the bridge that you cross under. There is no sign.
You immediately come to a small park with a loop track. Fork left onto the track and turn left off of the track to get back onto the trail. There is no sign.
When you cross under the next bridge you can stay on the trail or cross and go on the other side of creek. If you stay straight you will come out in a neighborhood with a sign that says trail starts 600 feet ahead with an arrow pointing into the neighborhood. It should point to the left, past the run down tennis courts.
103rd and Lowell to roe has several hills which are challenging for senior riders.
I love this trail! I've biked it from Leawood park to the end in Olathe and back dozens of times, and it's such a nice trail, so much beautiful scenery, friendly people everywhere. Gets crowded on weekend mornings when the weather is nice. I finally rode east of Leawood park this morning to the end at Blue River rd., and was so taken away by the beauty of all the nature! Despite amazing weather, it was nearly empty. Surprising, considering how nice it is!
One thing that piqued my interest was this random stone dwelling near the end of of the trail near the blue river. My biking companion and I climbed down to explore it and found it rather intriguing. Decaying a bit, looked abandoned for ages, and had a bit of ornate sculpture work inside, appeared it'd once had a water fountain...? Does anyone have any information about this? It left me so curious!
To me the bike trails in Kansas City are one of the highlights of this city, well actually Johnson County, KS. Get a good free map as many of these trails are interconnected!
Either running or riding, this trail is a great trail. I have rode the entire length of the trail and run a portion of it several times each week. It runs besides the creek almost the entire way and is really great for the fall colors. It weaves in and out of the wooded areas and through several parks. There are parks with water stops all along the way and just a few hills. Folks on the trail are friendly and courteous. I have seen police on bikes on the trail several times, so you feel secure.
Awesome walk, only taken this from Lydia to Wornal and back and it was dark, but can't wait to go back during daylight!!! Beautiful, clean. Wouldn't walk it by myself, but in a group had no problem whatsoever
The Indian Creek trail is beautiful. I just rode it for the first time the other day and loved it, except for the fact that there are so many places to get sidetracked. First, there are a few detours that are very inadequately marked. At one point I could not figure out a way to get back on the trail, so had to cut across a soccer field. Even without the detours, there was very little signage indicating which was the main path when there was a split. I was very frustrated because I enjoyed the riding, but don't know if I would go on it again.
A favorite place to jog.
This trail makes it easy to forget you're in a city. Sure, you can see some homes from portions of the trail, but overall it feels like you're in a beautiful woods! What a rarity ... I've lived in a number of large cities and have not come across any trail which is both accessible from many locations and which is also peaceful.
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