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

Calumet region The Calumet Region is the geographic area drained by the Grand Calumet River and the Little Calumet River of northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana in the United States. It is part of the Great Lakes Basin, which eventually reaches the Atl ...

of northwestern

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, 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 interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend International Airport i ...

, along the NIPSCO

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/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". An easement is a property ...

. The trail runs for about from Mineral Springs Road in Dune Acres, Indiana, near

Cowles Bog Cowles Bog is a 4,000-year-old wetland complex in Indiana Dunes National Park, near Chesterton, Indiana. It is named for Henry Chandler Cowles who did his pioneering work in ecology and ecological succession here. His work brought international a ...

, to a point by the county line of Porter County and

LaPorte County LaPorte County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 111,467. The county seat is the city of La Porte, and the largest city is Michigan City. This county is part of the Northwest Indiana and Michiana ...

, 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, f ...

landmark, Mount Baldy. The surface is of crushed

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

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

Deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...

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 state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

state line to near the

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

state line, bringing trail users in proximity to

Indiana Dunes National Park Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation ...

and Indiana Dunes State Park. 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 of 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