Great American Rail-Trail In Indiana
Indiana’s Cardinal Greenway | Photo by Tony Valainis, courtesy RTC
Nine trails will host the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail in Indiana—which will take a diagonal trajectory across the state from Richmond to the Chicago metropolitan area. The route is hosted by well-loved trails such as the Cardinal Greenway, which connects the eastern side of the state to urban Muncie and Marion, and the Nickel Plate Trail—which features the famous bucolic corn-belt landscapes the Hoosier State is known for.
When RTC met with officials from the Indiana Department of Transportation to discuss possible routing options in the state, they were so excited about the potential of the Great American Rail-Trail that they asked RTC to consider including as many trail miles as possible in Indiana. In 2018, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the state’s Next Level Connections program, a $1 billion investment in infrastructure projects including trails, which is proving to be important to completing a trail across Indiana.
Indiana stories along the Great American Rail-Trail
The “Great American” Route Through Indiana
217.6
Total Miles128.3
Existing Miles89.3
Gap Miles41.0%
Complete
Great American Rail-Trail Route Assessment (2026)
The Great American Rail-Trail Route Assessment 2026 defined the preferred route of the Great American Rail- Trail as more than 3,700 miles—with 2,086 miles of existing trails and 1,674 miles of trail gaps.
Economic Potential of the Great American Rail-Trail Report (2022)
Investments could generate more than $229.4 million in visitor spending, $104 million in labor income, and $22.8 million in new tax revenue.
Trails Along the Route
Gateway Trail: Cardinal Greenway
The Cardinal Greenway is the longest rail-trail in Indiana and an adventure not to be missed with picturesque rural landscapes, fields of wildflowers, a gorgeously restored depot, several bridges, charming small towns—and a history steeped in the American Jazz Age.
In the 1920s, Gennett Records recorded some of the first notes that jazz legends Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke ever laid down. The little label housed in the brick Starr Piano Company building in Richmond, Indiana, opened its doors to a world of musicians. That included the pairing of “Jelly Roll” Morton with the New Orleans River Kings, the first interracial recording session in American music history. Though many influential jazz artists started something big at Gennett, the label recorded anything that might sell, including the sounds of the trains passing by. In addition to jazz, blues, gospel, country and oration offerings, Gennett recorded some of the first sound effects records. Titles included “Hog Calling Contest” and “Railroad Comes Through the Middle of the House.”
Where the railroad once was, the Cardinal Greenway now passes by the preserved remains of the Starr building. Starting north near Marion, the rail-trail travels 61 miles through Muncie to Richmond, where jazz luminaries took some of their first career steps. Read about more historical connections along the Great American Rail-Trail here. View trail map on TrailLink.
Sweetser Switch Trail
The 4-mile Sweetser Switch Trail is an important regional connector that follows the original corridor of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. The paved rail-trail connects to the Cardinal Greenway at County Road 400 West/North 400 West in Sweetser and joins the 2.6-mile Converse Junction Trail in Converse, making the Sweetser Switch Trail a key piece of north-central Indiana’s trail system. View trail map on TrailLink.
Converse Junction Trail
The Converse Junction Trail provides around 2.6 miles of smooth asphalt along a former Penn Central Transportation Company line, linking the small Indiana communities of Mier and Converse. The Converse Junction Trail travels northwest across Pipe and Taylor creeks to reach downtown Converse. View trail map on TrailLink.
Nickel Plate Trail
The Nickel Plate Trail will host the Great American Rail-Trail using 11.6 miles of Segment 1 (between McGrawsville and Peru) and all of Segment 2 (between Peru and Rochester). A 0.7-mile extension of the Nickel Plate Trail into Rochester was completed in 2025. View trail map on TrailLink.
Monterey Erie Trail
The 0.6-mile Monterey Erie Trail occupies the same railbanked corridor as the Erie Trail to its west, and the two rail-trails are planned to be linked in the future. The towns of Monterey and North Judson once saw frequent freight service between the two communities, first by the Erie Lackawanna Railway and, later, by the Erie Western Railway, Tippecanoe Railroad and JK Lines. The 16-mile corridor was put up for abandonment in 2003, and the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum stepped in to preserve the corridor for public use. View trail map on TrailLink.
North Judson Erie Trail
Most recently, a Next Level Trails program grant was awarded in December 2023 to complete 3.1 miles of this gap. The trail will be called the Grand Kankakee Marsh Trail, and will encompass a paved trail from the public library in LaCrosse to County Road 2200 along the former railroad corridor. Construction is slated to begin in the next few years. In addition, the Prairie Trails Club Inc. received an Indiana Trails Program grant in 2023 for a 1-mile section of trail in North Judson that will help fill in other parts of Trail Gap 22. The extension will continue the trail from Main Street in North Judson and extend northwest of town on the west side of South English Lake Road. Construction on this section is expected in 2026. View trail map on TrailLink.
Veterans Memorial Trail
The Veterans Memorial Trail is currently under development in northwest Indiana. The trail will begin in Hebron just west of Cobb Creek and will travel 1.1 miles through Hebron until reaching its first open section.
The Veterans Memorial Trail will connect Hebron to the Erie Lackawanna Trail in Crown Point. The trail is being developed in phases, with acquisition and construction underway. View trail map on TrailLink.
The two open sections of trail encompass:
- Segment 1 – 1.0 mile in Hebron that was completed in 2020, using a grant from Indiana’s Next Level Trails program.
- Segment 2 – 0.6 mile in Crown Point.
Erie Lackawanna Trail
The Erie Lackawanna Trail travels 17.7 miles between Crown Point and Hammond—two former rail junctions along a route that carried goods and people in and out of Chicago for nearly a century. The paved trail is bordered by green space and crosses wetlands and parks along the way. The Erie Lackawanna Trail will host the Great American Rail-Trail for 2 miles in Crown Point, starting from its southern terminus at West Summit and North Court streets and ending at Veterans Lane. View trail map on TrailLink.
Pennsy Greenway
The Pennsy Greenway is currently open between Schererville, Indiana, and Calumet City, Illinois. The 14.4-mile paved trail runs along the former Penn Central Transportation Company rail line and is planned to travel a total of 15 miles once complete. The Pennsy Greenway will host the Great American Rail-Trail from Schererville, Indiana, to Lansing, Illinois, totaling 10.7 miles (10.2 of which are in Indiana, and 0.5 of which is in Illinois). View trail map on TrailLink.
Listen To Oral History:
Completing the Great American Rail-Trail: Catalyst Initiatives in Indiana
In every state along the preferred route of the Great American, needs for completing the trail vary. To spur trail completion, RTC has identified initial catalyst initiatives—projects or challenges that would most benefit from RTC’s national breadth of resources. (View the complete list of catalyst initiatives and criteria here.) Through these initiatives, RTC will support local and state partners, investing time, expertise and organizational resources in specific projects that are critical to the ultimate completion of the Great American Rail-Trail.
Great American Rail-Trail Gaps #14 (Wolf Creek Trail Extension—Dayton to Trotwood), #15 (Preble County Line to Ohio-Indiana State Line) and #16 (Ohio-Indiana State Line to Richmond)
RTC will work with local partners—Preble Trails, Five Rivers Metroparks, the City of Richmond and Preble County Park District—to provide the expertise and resources necessary to complete the combined 31.8-mile trail gap. Activities will include identifying local match funding for the Wolf Creek Trail Extension and coordinating with Preble County and the City of Richmond on activities including a corridor feasibility study, cost estimation, trail design and engineering, local stakeholder engagement, funding strategy and ultimately construction of the cross-state connector project.
Great American Rail-Trail Preferred Route
