The B&O Trail began development in 1994 as a collaborative effort of the Rail Corridor Development (now the B&O Trail Association) and Hendricks County Trail Development. The plan was to convert this former rail line to a rail-trail that begins on the outskirts of Indianapolis and extends Westward with the ultimate plan for a 60+ mile trail that will include North Salem, Roachdale, Russellville, Marshall and, eventually, Montezuma. There is some thought that eventual line abandonment could allow the trail to extend even further West - possibly into Illinois.
According to the B&O Trail Association website, B&O currently has about 6.2 miles of actual paved trail with the majority of it being in Hendricks County. Today, I had the pleasure of experiencing the trail for the first time, somewhat surprising considering how much time I spend on trails, as I participated in a Geocaching clean-up event on the trail in partnership with the Town of Brownsburg and the B&O Trail Association.
As a wheelchair user who accesses trails quite a bit, I will say that B&O may be a trail for which having a companion is the best option for a number of reasons.
There's parking at several spots along the trail. For the western segment, parking is available at SR 267; farther along, trail users can park where the trail crosses Odell Street; for the eastern segment (where I was at today), parking is actually available in the center of the Wynbrooke subdivision on Northern Dancer Drive. There's also a small shelter at Wynbrooke that would serve as a good gathering place with paved access to the trail. While parking is not technically accessible here, it's street parking and traffic is light-to-modest.
I will note that this area doesn't have traditional curb cuts, the first reason why a companion would help. They have the slightly slanted curb - it helps, but it's not a curb cut. As independent as I am, I had someone behind me just to make sure I didn't tip over.
The trail itself? I absolutely loved it. It's a reasonably wide trail with adequate room for even power wheelchairs. There's runners and the occasional biker, though it's far less than most Indy folks are used to on trails like the Monon. I tend to prefer a steady presence of people, if only for safety. However, I tend to prefer it also not be super busy. The terrain has some very minor inclines, though the vast majority of it is remarkably smooth. However, it's worth noting that a good majority of the trail has significant drops on both sides of the trail. While the wide pathway helps make sure there's not a likely fall, those prone to one-sided weakness might be more vulnerable.
We were cautioned, somewhat mildly, about the possibility of wildlife along the trail including geese and other animals. There's an increasing presence of coyotes in Central Indiana, though they were not specifically mentioned and I'm not sure about their presence on the B&O. The only wildlife I saw involved birds and the occasional chipmunk along with dogs accompanying runners/walkers.
There's a short tunnel under Ronald Reagan Parkway that is quite beautiful, though bridges always seem to be subject to some sort of graffiti. Today, the delightful B&O Trail president cautioned those bringing kids that they might want to watch considering some of the language they'd not yet been able to address.
We took out quite a bit of trash today, though I would emphasize the trail actually didn't appear to have a lot of trash. It's a well taken care of trail with both the town and the trail association working well together.
The B&O is an active trail with events throughout the year. The folks present from the town and trail association seemed excited to have a wheelchair user out using the trail. I was quite touched that nearly every runner who passed us thanked us for cleaning up the trail.
Another slight negative worth noting is that there are no restroom spots along the trail. At one end, there's a Speedway Gas Station. However, once you're on the trail you're out of luck.
The B&O Trail does advertise itself as wheelchair friendly and welcomes bikes, inline skates, and walkers/ runners. Much of the trail on the east end goes through residential areas, again increasing the feeling of safety, and overall I had a delightful time on this trail. I'll definitely go back to it. As a matter of note in terms of Geocaching, there's some really clever caches on this trail - I snagged a few, though most required some level of physical assistance. However, if you're into this activity this is a terrific trail for it. read more