Monon Trail

The Monon Trail is a rail trail located entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon Railroad was a popular railroad line connecting the cities of Chicago and Indianapolis, with stops at major settlements along its route. After the decline of railroad travel and the sale of the company in 1987, the portion of the line between Indianapolis and Delphi, Indiana was abandoned.In Northwest Indiana, the trail is only long, running through Lake County from Munster to Hammond. In the Indianapolis area, the trail consists of running through Hamilton and Marion counties, connecting Indianapolis, Carmel and Westfield.The first portions of the trail were created in the late 1990s, but it has been consistently extended in both of its segments since then. Today, the trail is a shared use path complete with trailheads, park amenities and local attractions near it.Northwest Indiana segmentNorthwest Indiana's portion of the Monon covers, starting at the Pennsy Greenway near the Illinois-Indiana border in Munster, and running north to the Erie Lackawanna Trailhead in downtown Hammond.