Indianapolis, IN - Monon Trail (5/11 - 5/13/24)

Not far from our last stop, we took a couple of days to ride the Monon Trail near Indianapolis. This trail was another HoF trail on our bucket list. While here, we stayed at the Indianapolis KOA Holiday just east of the city to provide us access to the trailheads.

Since this trail was only 27 miles long, we decided to ride it in two days in out-and-backs. We chose to use the Monon 96th St Trailhead (right off the beltway) as our starting mid-point to explore both the northern and southern ends of the trail.

Going south on day 1, you ride towards the big city but still have many scenic viewing opportunities along the way.

Although it doesn't flow along the trail, there are some river crossings with nice views.

The trail also passed next to the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Another near new looking bridge crosses busy traffic below.

At the end of the south end of the trail was Centerpoint Brewing, an ideal place to break at the halfway point of our day.

On day 2, we rode north for a total of 34 miles. In this location in Carmel, we were crossing a busy area where the trail separated from walkers and bikers.

Like many urban trails, big money is spent sometimes to cross a busy intersection that may not have existed when the trains were running in the past.

We stopped at the Grindstone on the Moon for lunch on the patio right on the trail and very close to the bridge above.

The trail was fully paved and in great condition with much of it shaded.

On the north end, we were greeted with an obvious sign that we had reached the end of the trail. Sometimes the trail endings are not so obvious.

We liked Grindstone on the Moon so much that we that we actually stopped here again on our way back.

On our way headed for Iowa, we stopped at another Harvest Host. The Lavender Crest Winery had a restaurant and wine flights for us to enjoy. Harvest Hosts are a great place to break up a long drive for a one night stay. Next stop, back home to Iowa!!!