Fort Wayne, Indiana has had bike trails for quite a while now. They started out with trails along Fort Wayne’s 3 rivers … the St. Joe Pathway to the north, the St. Marys Pathway running north and south then turning to the east, and the Maumee Pathway to the east. The St. Joe River and the St. Marys river converge together forming the Maumee River. The trails total 21 miles in length. Then other trails have been added thru the years and are still being built. Right now there are a total of 165 miles of trails. 110 miles of the trails are within the city limits. The city offers both paper maps and online information including trail maps, trail rules, sidewalk and trail ordinances, trail closures, trail construction status reports, and various trail information.

There are also some special trails with more being built. Here is a tree canopy (or tree top) trail near downtown built along the St. Marys River.

We have a trail which is part of a State Visionary Trail. Our section is called the Pufferbelly Trail. It is completely built with a couple of exceptions and is about 13 miles long. The counties to the north and south of us have not built their portions yet. The name Pufferbelly comes from the nickname steam locomotives used to be affectionately known as. This trail is a rail to trail conversion project. The planned 82 mile trail when completed has both a website and a Facebook page.

Trails are open from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily for your enjoyment. The trails are built by the city of Fort Wayne and maintained by the city. There is also a separate organization known as Fort Wayne Trails which helps as advocacy and fund raiser. They also offer their assistance during events.

I mentioned that the Pufferbelly Trail is completely built with a couple of exceptions. One of those exceptions is a connector across a busy 6 lane highway. A bridge up and over the highway is planned and will be built fairly soon. Obviously that is an expensive project and there is opposition to it. Some people think it is wasteful and that the money could be better spent. Of course, they are anti-trail people. Here is an artist’s rendering of this bridge.

As you can see it will involve some long inclined ramps to get up and over the highway. At first they had planned on building the crossing at ground level but the Sheriff’s Dept. would not approve it. I am glad somebody had some common sense and concern for the safety of trail users.

So if you are ever in the Fort Wayne area consider riding the Fort Wayne Trails. It is best to ride in the summer months than it is in the winter months.

Of course, Spring and Autumn offer special beauty.