It has been nine years since my original review of Indiana's longest rail-trail, the Cardinal Greenway. Despite the popularity of Central Indiana's Monon Trail, the Cardinal Greenway is a much longer trail at 62 miles of paved trail and another 15 miles of road that many bicyclists use (from Gaston to Jonesboro). I just finished the Cardinal Greenway yet again for one of my Tenderness Tour events, an annual long-distance wheelchair event that I use for fundraising and outreach. As is nearly always the case for me, I started at the Sweetser Switch Trail in Sweetser, Indiana, a smaller trail that leads right into the Cardinal Greenway. My review is based largely upon my experiences as a wheelchair user on the trail, though some of my insights will universally apply. As someone who enjoys long distances, the Cardinal Greenway is ideally suited for a 2-3 trek. It's a mostly wheelchair friendly trail, though some with upper body weakness may struggle on some of the inclines. I will also note that while the Cardinal Greenway tends to have a decent number of trailheads with portable toilets, some of these are surrounded by gravel and may be more difficult to navigate for wheelchair users. \Additionally, multiple parking areas had clearly marked accessible parking yet were either only gravel or had a surface that was so uneven you'd be a fool to try it in a wheelchair. So, a little advance planning is probably a good idea for wheelchair users. Fortunately, the Cardinal has a good team behind it and it's fairly easy to get accurate info. I'd originally given the Cardinal Greenway a 4-star review precisely because of some of my accessibility concerns. I'm increasing to a 5-star this time around because, quite honestly, accessibility has improved over the years and I've simply fallen in love with this trail. It's a fun mixture of city and rural sections. If starting in Sweetser, the lovely Sweetser Cafe is directly off the trailhead and a great place to stop for breakfast/brunch or a drink (before 2pm). In the rural areas, you can go for miles without seeing more than a few people. The Marion section, which goes directly through the more urban parts of Marion, still seems to be under-utilized but is honestly a lot of fun. It looks a little rough, however, I've never had a single issue wheeling through Marion. As you move out of Marion, you start to experience the country area and, of course, once you hit Gas City you either decide to try the bike trail (not advised for walkers...minimal shoulder and occasionally busy traffic) or pick up in Gaston. I loved the Gaston to Muncie stretch and it takes you through downtown Muncie. The trail's main office is at Wysor Street in Muncie, an area I was told isn't the greatest but looks deceptively calm. Again, I had no problems at all but staying aware is important. I will note that the Wysor Street Depot is a beautiful historic landmark that serves as the Cardinal office - yet, it appeared they've reduced their hours. After Muncie, you have a fairly significant period of a modest incline. It was an exhausting stretch for me that ended in Losantville. This is a particularly long stretch and those who want to do an overnight will probably leave the trail in Losantville and stay in Winchester. Losantville to Richmond is, with a couple of exceptions, a pretty nice downhill. Among the three major cities on the trail, I was most impressed with Richmond's care for the trail with the exception of the ending D Street Trailhead that is located in a hard to find and rather run down area a few blocks from City Hall. The trailhead itself is nice and I found several nice people upon my arrival, but the area itself just seems an odd place to end such a wonderful trail. I've always loved this trail and the people I meet along it. The Cardinal Greenway is in the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame (as is the Monon) and continues to get even better every time I ride it. The restroom situation, in particular, has really improved and over 20 trailheads now have a restroom option. If you're looking for a modestly challenging and scenic trail, the Cardinal Greenway is a tremendous option and easily within a couple hours of Indy even at its most distant point in Marion or Richmond. read more

My husband and I recently biked the cardinal greenway and had such a nice time. We parked at the stop in gas city and it had a nice lot and bathrooms. We rode north 10 miles and back. The trail is Good despite a decent amount of bumps which can be rough in a road bike. The bridges and scenery were great though. Fun ride! read more

Cardinal Greenway - Parks Near Me - Muncie, Indiana

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Great trail - we picked this up at the Jacksonburg Road trailhead and the reviews and state rankings for this trail are accurate. Grade no more than 3%, clean new and plenty of views read more

Cardinal Greenway - Parks Near Me - Muncie, Indiana

What were they thinking? I've ridden on trails, in a state forest or two, and on city streets around Seminole and Orange Counties in Florida, as well as the streets and roads of Wayne County. Elsewhere in the country, I wasn't comfortable enough to ride, as traffic was careless. Wayne County's traffic hasn't become better, so the trail becomes more important for those who ride bikes. Obviously, winter stops a lot of that here, but I've seen hard-core people do it. I appreciate that they funded the trail, but they misused the money in a huge way. Instead of putting highway-style mile markers, they had large rocks carved. They're difficult to read, unless you stop to face them--some on the top, some in the front. There are locations with a portapotty, but no bike racks. In fact, there are hoops substituting as bike racks, where they even bothered to put anything. Mr. Big Bucks in his $500 biking outfit isn't going to be able to use that, and there are no valet services, either. For some inexplicable reason, there are metal gates at some of the intersections, so that bikers must go around them on a tiny portion of pavement. At one intersection, there is a parking lot, including a handicapped spot with no entrance for cars or trucks. There are huge signs when simpler, less expensive signs would do. The trail itself is fine, but it feels as though a lot of people were congratulating themselves on what they bought. Sometimes, you'll find some great at Target, when you just paid too much at Bloomingdale's. read more

Cardinal Greenway - The trail in Wayne County - Parks Near Me - Muncie, Indiana

Loved this trail for it's long distance and nice scenery! Several friends and I chose to make a weekend of it and rode from Richmond to Muncie, spent the night in Muncie, and rode back to Richmond the next day. This was about 45 miles of riding two days in a row. This trip was in September and weather turned out wonderfully for us. The route is mostly farmland, but the soy beans had excellent color the weekend we rode. It's a rail trail, so it's pretty flat with minimal road crossings. A good portion of the trail runs parallel to highway 35 so road crossings are county roads that intersect the highway and most have little traffic. There's a round barn along the trail. Downtown Richmond has some nice historic buildings and restaurants. There's a great restored train station in Muncie. The route through downtown Muncie was surprisingly scenic and partly along the river. The trail goes a bit north of Muncie to Gaston and there's a gap on roads and another shorter segment. It's a great long distance trail! read more

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Let's face it, this isn' the Camino de Santiago or the Pacific Crest Trail. So why five stars? Because it goes a long way toward improving quality of life in East Central Indiana. The trail is good for bike riding or even roller blading during the summer, though I'm not a big fan of hiking on concrete. It follows the river in some places and it goes through old industrial parks in other places (it IS a rails to trails). I hope that someday they expand it all the way to Cincinnati. read more

This is a pretty nice trail to ride your bike on because it is all paved. However, I tend to walk more often than I bike, so it can be a little boring to have one main path to walk on. But it is the best option for a nature trail in Muncie! There are a lot of trees, so there is plenty of shade on most of the trail. read more

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It figures. I move away from Muncie and they Greenway comes to town. Now, it's my main reason to go back to Muncie! I ride my bike. I ride it a lot. I live 1/3 of a mile from the Monon Trail in Indy/Carmel, and I ride it daily. As nice as the Monon is, it doesn't compare to the Cardinal. Miles and miles and miles of trees, prairies, flowers, wonderful, hand carved mile markers, and more. A couple of things to be aware of. On the Monon, you're seldom more than a few blocks from a restaurant, gas station, or convenience store with restrooms and water. This isn't the case once you get away from Muncie, either south or north, on the Cardinal. Do you best to keep a full water bottle and an empty bladder. And, DO be sure to take a camera with you. You'll be treated to amazing views and if you don't have a camera with you, you'll wish you did. Go. Ride the Greenway. Ride it fast, or ride it slow. Do it the way YOU want to do it. And, if you do it that way...you can't help but have fun! read more

I've gone through much of my life fat, drunk, and stupid and for this, it might surprise my readers that I'm 100% a fan of the Greenway. I've biked it for years and this passed weekend finally put my money where my mouth was and biked from Muncie to Richmond. It's a beautiful ride with very few difficult grades and an amazingly smooth surface. There are a couple decent stops midway - Blue Moon Restaurant, a convenience store, and a bottle shop all in Losantville. Heading north, there is at least one bar in Gaston, and presumably several in Gas Shitty, were one to map out a cafe race. There's nearly 60s miles of trail, and at least 27 are continuous. This has got to be one of the finest recreational facilities in the state for bike riders. Now back my beer and frozen burritos. read more