The Calumet Trail is an east-west bicycle and multiuse recreational trail in the Calumet region of northwestern

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, United States. It runs roughly parallel to U.S. Route 12 and the right-of-way of the

South Shore line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois and the South Bend Airport station in Sout ...

, along the NIPSCO

easement An easement is a Nonpossessory interest in land, nonpossessory right to use or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B" ...

. The trail runs for about from Mineral Springs Road in Dune Acres, Indiana, near Cowles Bog, to a point by the county line of Porter County and LaPorte County, very close to the parking lot entrance of a local

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

landmark, Mount Baldy. The surface is of crushed

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and is frequently used by cyclists and joggers in the warmer months, and skiers in the winter.

Deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

and other wildlife are often seen along the trail, which loosely connects with other bicycle/multi-use trails in northwestern Indiana in a loose arc from near the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

state line to near the

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

state line, bringing trail users in proximity to

Indiana Dunes National Park Indiana Dunes National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes Na ...

and

Indiana Dunes State Park Indiana Dunes State Park is an Indiana State Park located in Porter County, Indiana, United States, east of Chicago. The park is bounded by Lake Michigan to the northwest and is surrounded by as well as within the authorized boundaries of Indi ...

. The Calumet Trail is managed by the Porter County Parks Department. The trail was constructed in 1976, and is the first dedicated bicycle trail in Indiana. At that time, the trail was paved with asphalt blacktop for its entire length. However, the wetlands the trail passes through deteriorated the pavement, and the trail was unusable by the late 1990s. In 2001, the trail was repaired, and the crumbling pavement was replaced with crushed limestone, and the iconic covered bridge over Brown Ditch was constructed. After years of being vandalized, the covered bridge was removed in September 2012.

References

External links

Calumet Trail website

Calumet Trail review

{{Coord, 41.639285, -87.079398, display=title, scale:500 Hiking trails in Indiana Bike paths in Indiana Bike paths in the Chicago metropolitan area National Recreation Trails in Indiana Protected areas of Porter County, Indiana