Here is the link to our Panhandle Pathway video:
Thanks to our Sponsors for supporting the Panhandle Pathway
Alliance Bank
Bonnell Grain Handling
Cass County Visitors Bureau
Good Oil (two billboards)
Modern Real Estate
One Eyed Jack’s
Pulaski Memorial Hospital
RE/MAX Select Realty
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INDIANA Panhandle Pathway
The Panhandle Pathway is a 22-mile rail-trail corridor running through Pulaski and Cass Counties, Indiana. The trail follows the historic rail path of the Pennsylvania Railroad Line through farmland, shady wooded areas, the beginning of the Wabash Valley, and across the Tippecanoe River. The trail provides wide views of farmland and a dedicated prairie preserve. The Panhandle Pathway is ideal for walking, hiking, running, biking and skating.
Well maintained by volunteers, the Panhandle Pathway is a lovely rural experience offering new things to see and hear on every visit.
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The name “Panhandle” was the nickname of the Pennsylvania railroad which ran between Pittsburgh, PA, and Chicago, IL, via Columbus, OH. When the railroad connection was made in 1926 across the Ohio River at Steubenville, OH, crossing the Panhandle of West Virginia to Pittsburgh, the nickname, “Panhandle” stuck and spread across the entire line from Pittsburgh to Chicago and St. Louis.
Trail Talk: Issue 33: In the Beginning
It was June 2005 when the idea of converting the old, out-of-service Pennsylvania Railroad track bed (the Panhandle) to a recreational trail was first discussed. The first public meeting attracted approximately 50 curious area residents. By June of the following year, and after many additional meetings, that interested group was down to about eight people. That small group included Doctor Rex Allman. Doc and the others began the informal trail committee and the start of the trail project.
In the beginning there were so many questions and so many unknowns. No one in the group had trail building experience, and trail construction was relatively new to the state of Indiana at that time with the existing trails around the state only being in operation for a few years. The team made trips to other trails, including the Pumpkinvine Trail in Goshen, the Nickel Plate Trail in Peru, and the Monon Trail in Indianapolis.
The main question—How did you do this? Much insight was gained from these meetings with the various trail people. The initial local team of committed volunteers contributed $400 each of their own money to hire an experienced trail building grant writer. The first grant application was submitted and accepted by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).
That first grant was used to design and construct a crushed limestone trail from Pulaski County Road 150 South to Key Street in Star City. This first grant was quickly followed up by two more grants, which then paved the trail and extended it south to Kenneth near France Park in Cass County. Since that time, the trail expansion work has continued to lengthen the trail out in both directions. More grants were pursued. Work on the final vision, “Park to Park,” Tippecanoe River State Park on the north to France Park in Cass County on the south continues on today, approximately 20 years later.
As the years go by, word of the Panhandle Pathway of Indiana (Yes. There is a Panhandle Pathway trail in West Virginia and Pennsylvania) continues to spread with visitors from many different parts of the country coming here to use and enjoy this trail. As many as 80 people a day visit the Panhandle. This community asset, available year round, is here to stay for current and future generations.
Have something to say about the Panhandle Pathway? Please share: www.panhandlepathway.org/contact-us/
I remember when some of your founders came to the Friends of the Nickel Plate Trail - Indiana monthly meeting and shared the opportunity and vision. A huge thank you to all the “pioneer” visionaries, passionate volunteers and donors! Keep up the good work for the good of all!!
Our cycling group is The Bikin' Brothers from Goshen, and we plans rides on it a couple times a year. We love the Panhandle!
