Numerous street crossings are the only drawback on the northern section. The rest areas are frequent and the porta-potties clean. One bench sits underneath a highway overpassin the shade..which was greatly appreciated. Hotels near Cardinal Greenway: (1.14 km) Courtyard by Marriott Muncie at Horizon Convention Center (5.42 km) Hampton Inn & Suites Muncie (4.90 km) Super 8 by Wyndham Muncie/Ball St. College Area (1.52 km) Budget Inn - Muncie (4.08 km) Best Western Muncie; View all hotels near Cardinal Greenway on Tripadvisor FREE bike rental is available during peak season. The Cardinal Greenwayand the American Jazz Age Cardinal Greenway | Photo by Jane Holman, courtesy Waynet, Inc. You really have to slow down and watch what you are doing. I had a great bike ride and will always remember it with the best of other fine adventures I've been on. Make checkout easy by booking all your reservations at once. Its fine if youre on foot. There should not be these safety issues present on a paved trail. Cardinal Greenways Horse Trail. One exception is the Losantville gas station where you can find something cold, which was appreciated. The Cardinal Greenway (TGC) is a multi-use recreational network combining a rail trail and an on-street route that together cross 62 miles (100 km) and five counties in east central Indiana.The greenway, which was designated a National Recreation Trail in June 2003 and in 2018 was named to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's "Rail Trail Hall of Fame." There's some cool things here and there, but cmonit's Indiana. If you are interested in a specific campground or site, or availability is limited, we suggest you checkout promptly. Finding the trail in downtown Richmond was not intuitive or obvious, even with my GPS. Great trail all paved, level, mostly shaded! The only thing that wasn't fantastic about the ride was all the stop at intersections. So far worst trail Ive been on. In 2.4 miles, turn left onto Richmond Ave. This neighborhood was first settled by members of the Society of Friends, later by free blacks and German immigrants. The trailheads, while not fancy, are very nice with good benches and clean, well-maintained, roomy porta-johns. . There is a building with bathrooms and water fountains, but theyre usually not open. Highly recommend! Trail south of Muncie the best. To the right is a big hill. The trail appears very well maintained, though a little less so towards Richmond. We do agree with the recommendation that others made in previous reviews that you need to make sure you have plenty of your own liquids, as there are not many places to hydrate along the trail. In about a quarter mile, the trailhead parking will be on your left. Directions there are at the bottom of the post. No RV? I came from out-of-state and drove up US35 from I-70 where they insect in Richmond nice route!The trail is smooth and flat with a few cracks and sharp bumps in and near Muncie. Very scary and dangerous. You cant go inside the building except for special events, but you can use the parking lot any time. Five more miles will be added to the south end of the Muncie section this summer. toilets, benches, but no drinking water. The lady attendant was helpful and very pleasant. I would recommend the Greenway very highly. National Model Aviation Museum. 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. All blacktop surface makes a good ride. This trail crosses the beautiful Whitewater Gorge on a 700+ foot trestle and again over the Whitewater River. I am impressed with the depot in Muncie, although must admit l am a Railroading fan for many years, l appreciate they kept in place the original mile posts along with many whistle posts as well. * Only at participating KOA locations. The staircase is in the tree line. D STREET TRAILHEAD Great trail and well maintained. It's hard to believe that an Amtrak train ran through here! Marion Located in Grant County, Marion is the northernmost segment of Cardinal Greenway. Written May 28, 2022. Quiet ride through the countryside of Indiana. It was a very hot week, and I remember sections without much shade, though the fields were pretty. Traveling from Gaston to Muncie, you will experience farm fields along the trail, and shaded canopies offering relief from the hot sun during the summer. The trail is easy to follow. (Richmond). Kudos to everyone at the Cardinal Greenway! They may have water, I just dont know for sure. Split-rail fences are positioned along that edge, but, in my mind, they give a false sense of security: if you go off pavement, the wide-gapped fence may not really catch you. North Phoenix Campground. It is well maintained, clean, the people are friendly, and really smooth to ride on. Heading south from the depot, you will find yourself in the quiet residential neighborhoods of Muncie. Between Milepost 137 and 2.4 miles east, you parallel the old Cincinnati-Chicago mainline C&O on a trackside trail, and as you approach the trail's "grade crossing", you see the beautiful welded rail that Amtrak's Cardinal ran over until 1985. Whether youre exploring the local area or hanging out at the campground, KOA Holidays are an ideal place to relax and play. Excellent parking facilities with restrooms are conveniently located at most trailheads.We started in downtown Muncie, where a large overhead arch identifies the trail, and rode north to the end of the trail, and then headed for the south end. Theres a bike shop very close to the trail here as well. This is the easiest access point if you have a bike trailer. Places to eat are scarce along the trail. The access points have a consistent appearance, with wood encased and serviced porta-potties, attractive signage, historical markers, high-quality rest benches are set in concrete. 35 south of Muncie, IN to CR 500 S. go east. From the trailhead, the greenway seamlessly connects to the 3.5-mile Whitewater Gorge Trail, which heads southwest to Test Road. I would not like to take this trail on a hot summer day because the rest stops do not have shade and in some areas the trees are not fully grown to protect against sun and wind. Now I am not an avid road cyclist, but compared to other trails I've seen this one is superb. First stop was Richmond IN, southern terminus of the Cardinal Greenway, another Rail-Trail Hall of Fame trail [My 4th]. As the greenway approaches the outskirts of Richmond, you will pass under I-70 and through local parks and woodlands. After experiencing one especially bad heaved area, i will say that people riding bikes at a higher speed really need to watch these. You should visit cardinalgreenways.org for more information. Use the map given that you purchase from the trail head in Muncie. This is considered downtown, but its on a small side street. It was an easy ride, gentle slopes, a lot of tree canopy and benches along the way for some rest time. Another 0.3 mile south is the beautifully restored Wysor Street Depot, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which serves as the main office of Cardinal Greenways, Inc. last summer(about 71/2 miles one way). So if you are planning a trip from Marion to Muncie, pack for weather conditions. This was the first rail-to-trail I'd ever been on. Both the color and scenery were beautiful. Several miles outside of Muncie, you can take a short side jaunt on E CR 650 S to the Prairie Creek Reservoir. Towns Along the Trail Hoosier towns along the 62 miles of Cardinal Greenway are worth discovering! The Cardinal Greenway is a Great destination trail. The trail is in excellent condition. I have been on all sections numerous times, with the exception of Gaston to Marion, most rides 40-60 miles per trip down, about an hour and a half from home. One can imagine the collective Hoosier hooray when the final leg of the Cardinal Greenway was put in place last summer. My estimate would be that this trail is less than 50 percent shaded. As of this date, everything has been maintained very well. One feature which I appreciate is that there are porta-potties spaced at each of the frequent trailheads - about one every 3 to 4 miles in this particular section. By the way, take a look at the still intact stub of the Pennsy at the grade crossing at the nearby trailhead. WHAT:Stay Friday night, May 12th at a participating campground, and get Saturday night, May 13th for just $20*. Copyright Cardinal Greenways - All Rights Reserved. WHY: The Big Weekend helps raise funds to send kids with cancer to medically-supervised camps all across North America. I am from Northwest Ohio. Its not the trail terminus, but Union Pike is the simplest trailhead to get to if youre driving in, especially from I-70. For a stretch at the beginning of the Cardinal Greenway into Marion, the path runs adjacent to and then crosses an active Norfolk Southern line as the greenway passes through a flat, rural landscape that highlights industrial and farmland scenery. I would recommend riding the Muncie section of the Cardinal Greenway in the late fall after the leaves are down or in the early spring before leaf on. This is a super trail that allows you to experience rural Indiana at its finest. Learn more about cookies in our, National Museum of the United States Air Force. We were extremely pleased with the mild terrain grade on both days! This is an old trailhead and is closed off to traffic with barriers. Farther south, the McCulloch Boulevard trailhead allows for a connection to Muncies White River Greenway, which follows the trails eponymous river. If you have little kids on bikes, or if you ever stopped paying attention and drifted off the pavement, then read up. From I-70: Take Exit 151. It has been fully restored and is quite a nice sight to behold. You can park your car here and go up a steep switchback to get to the Greenway. Here, you will also be faced with two bridges: to the right, a historical trestle bridge; to the left, the bicycle and pedestrian bridge that takes you across the White River. There are N, S, NW, and SW (but not NE or SE). That being said, its not real rugged either. Drove from Tennessee to ride most of The Cardinal Greenway in early July 2013 and I was quite happy with it. There are hitching rails, a mounting . You may know Richmond for its preserved architecture and being the cradle of recorded jazz, but did you know it is also an exceptional place for a family vacation? A short section of intact old C&O of Indiana begins your trail ride at classic concrete C&O Milepost 137 (137 miles northwest of Cincinnati). Then look to the Historic Richmond Depot District! You will not find, grassy edges that are routinely mowed. Funds raised from May 13 support KOA Care Camps which distributes more than $2.2 million dollars annually to support 132 oncology camps each year. Its not flat the whole way so if you want less challenging landscape, skip ahead to the D Street Trailhead. Choose from seven RV-developed sites for your stay. Spanning 62 miles from Marion through Muncie to Richmond and East Central Indiana. In this video, our RV expert discusses the different types of RV batteries We are all about living in the moment and enjoying the current season of camping that youre in. It is a great trail but we picked a bad time to ride as it rained from Gaston till we got to Harris Chapel Church where we spent the night. At the Medford trailhead (County Road 500 South), equestrians can access the 3.5-mile Cardinal Greenway Horse Trail that parallels the paved Cardinal Greenway and extends to South County Road 534 East. This can be pretty, but it's also only partially shaded, and the afternoon sun slices through the trees pretty effectively. The only one is at the Losantville trailhead, so if you're starting there and going to Richmond and back, you'd better start out with all the water you'll think you'll need for the whole trip. Although the towns' businesses have abandoned along with the railroad, we met and talked to some very friendly and interesting people. I rode the entire 75 mile corridor round trip this spring and found it to give a wonderful variety of experiences. Within just a couple of hours drive in any direction, you can explore places like The Ark Encounter and Creation Museum in Williamstown, KY, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, or the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, OH, just to name a few! Found this by accident while on a bike tour across the states. The Cardinal Greenway is an asphalt paved rail trail from downtown Richmond to a point north of Muncie. Losantville parking area is just off US35, 3.7 miles N of intersection of US35 and IN1; well marked and easy to find. Cardinal Greenway Bike Ride and Camp. It was very convenient and a great place. They were well marked, however. Give it try at home or on your A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO CAMPINGCamping is the ideal getaway because you can tailor your trip to fit your needs, wants and level of experience. My husband was not happy with the water quality though . The trail is in very good shape with very nice rest areas that are spaced at very friendly intervals. Bring your water bottles. Cardinal Greenway. I had even showered immediately after my ride but I had a severe allergic reaction. Hop on down to our Easter Eggstravaganza!A weekend full offun and games!We will keep your little bunnies "eggcited" all weekend long!Staff lead:Arts & CraftsCandy Bar Come relax with us while you "sip and create" to celebrate Mother's Day.This one is just for the Moms. Some suggestions I would like to make. You can also print the map by clicking the "Printable Map" button below. Posts about Cardinal Greenway written by manandhisbike. This trail is totally asphalt except for the bridges. Cant wait to ride this again. Laveen, AZ Pinnacle Farms is a diverse orchard with over 1200 fruit trees on 7 acres nestled at the base of South Mountain in Phoenix's old agriculturally diverse Laveen area. We live close by the trail and typically use the White River Greenway to connect to the Cardinal. In addition to boasting a swimming pool area, the park is close to several shopping centers, including the Metrocenter Mall and Christown Spectrum Mall. 2. I live in FL now and am looking forward to the day when I can return to the cardinal greenway to ride the new sections and connectors. b) Beware the cliffs in Richmond. Very flat except some slight grades at the southern 20 miles. TEST ROAD I saw one metal relay case 2 miles west of the Jonesboro trailhead, but there are no doubt more, as the forested trail lines virtually all of the Marion suburbs. Plenty of places to stop for breaks, nice surface. The many log fences lining the trail are quite nice, as are the many large rocks that are imprinted with the mileage and the greenway logo. I found the trail to be very nice. Hayes Arboretum. Used the Cardinal Greenway from Marion to Muncie for the first time in my life and mostly the first time I had ever biked to a destination outside Grant County. I do agree with some others that a few more water stops along the way would be beneficial, l have been out there on 90+ degree days when l could have used it, although realizing electricity is not really an option at rest stops without considerable costs, it seems maybe a couple bbusinesses along the way, close by could sponsor water stops, that would be well marked from the trail, for example, two points between Losantville and Richmond. Is totally asphalt except for special events, but its on a 700+ trestle! 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