The Monon Trail travels from the Bottleworks (a reconverted, massive CocaCola bottle manufacturing plant), an exciting new shopping district at the edge of downtown Indianapolis, for 26 miles to the town of Sheridan. Ushered into form by the legendary Mr. Greenway, Ray Irvin, it has become the gold standard by which other trails are measured.
A reconverted rail bed, it is a paved linear art park with tastefully positioned statues, community murals, paintings and metal sculptures – there is even a network of pipes painted on the side of a utility substation. Other wall paintings along the way adorn a freeway underpass and the sides of a few warehouse buildings. Strategically positioned bridges take you over Monon Trail creeks and busy roads. Many of the backyards through which it passes have been landscaped so they blend in with the trail.
The Monon has even spurred a building boom. Many parts of what was once a blighted part of town are now like premium, beachfront property for the homes built nearby. Those constructed right next to it have small front yards that look out on the trail.
The green and the beauty in nonstop…
1950’s view the Monon railroad once connected Indianapolis with Chicago, Dating back to the 1850’s its complete name was the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway, and it became fondly remembered in Indiana as “The Hoosier Line.” Turning it into the trophy Greenway it has become, Ray Irvin, Mr. Greenway, slogged through interminable resistance from property owners all of whom now fully embrace this amazing, world-class pathway.
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