Making the connection: trails and paths can link park and recreation sites, promoting destinations and diversions.

As a recreational device, trails can provide diversion and fitness in the form of bird watching, bicycling, skating, walking, running and cross-country skiing, offer a refuge in a world marked by traffic and noise, and, lastly, present a pleasant alternative for travel between two points on a map.

It's nice, too, when they happen to have interesting or useful stops along the way. Good trails, according to Gregg Calpino, a principal and land planner with JJR in Chicago, are supported by amenities to serve those traveling them. "If you have a greenway," he says, "it's nice to ride your bike for 20 miles and have a place to stop for two hours."

While expressing the conviction that trails should provide sanctuary for wildlife inhabiting increasingly urbanized areas, Indiana Trails Fund (ITF) President Richard Vonnegut, acknowledges the value of other benefits that trails can offer a community. "Trails serve roles both of transportation and recreation," he says. "In addition, patrons can use trails as geographic and exercise extensions of parks for creating mental moods, physical conditioning and social exchange."

In the Midwest, one park and recreation department is working on an ambitious park project that will expand recreational opportunities, as well as serve as a major venue along a trail route that links recreational, social and civic points of interest.

Bypass to a Wonderland 

Planned to be the "jewel" of the Carmel-Clay, Ind., park system, the 160-acre Central Park is being developed along a stretch of greenway once occupied by train track that carried the former Monon Railroad. (For more information on converted railroad corridors, see Trailblazers on page 88.)

Comprised of both active and passive recreation zones, the park will feature a range of paths and trails that connect a lagoon, wetlands and other natural areas, an aquatic center, a number of pavilions, a boathouse and a community center.

Aside from the wealth of amenities planned for the park, a key feature is the park's site, which encompasses a stretch of the Monon Trail. "The park was designed to be a place along this 15-mile-long trail where you could get off and spend a few hours using the park's trail system, facilities and concessions," explains Calpino.

"It's meant to be an extension of the Monon," he notes, "or a bypass where you can get off the main trail into this wonderland of a park setting."

Carmel Clay Director of Parks and Recreation Mark Westermeier says, "Our concept was that the park would be like an oasis along the trail, widening to a plaza to provide a gathering place for people."

"Foremost in this concept," he continues, "is that trail use not be interrupted for users who do not want to stop at the park, keeping the thorough-fare open but allowing users the opportunity to stop and rest, utilize the park facilities or visit with neighbors and friends."

The Common Thread

The regional trail will serve to connect Central Park with Carmel's city center. The beauty in this arrangement, observes Calpino, will be particularly evident on days when special events occur in multiple locations, such as on the Fourth of July. Fireworks take place at the park, while concerts play downtown. Revelers can experience both by taking the trail instead of hopping in their cars to sit in traffic.

"Within the city, the trail provides a vital link between different elements--the park is definitely a destination stop, however just a mile north of the park, a performing arts center is being considered, and a mile further north is an area that has been redeveloped as an artistic area," explains Westermeier.

"Each of these attractions provides recreation for our citizens but also provides an economic component that is positive for the growth of the community," he continues. Westermeier believes that the trail is the common thread that links the venues together.

"The trail and feeder trail system allow children and adults to easily bike, skate or walk to the park," continues Westermeier. "We are constantly working on new trails and extensions that will connect the neighborhoods together using the Monon as the spine for the integration."

Indeed, points along the Monon Trail from Indianapolis's River Park to the city of Carmel' Civic Square, include the state fairgrounds, the Indianapolis Zoo, and the campus of Butler University. Along the trail in the immediate Carmel-Clay area is an old train depot housing the Carmel-Clay Historical Society, a former fire station with equipment on display, a variety of dining spots and even a winery.

Curving, Theatric Trails

Not only does Central Park represent one node in providing an adjunct experience to the Monon Trail, but it provides trail experiences within its environs, as well. "The park is really a web of different trails originating at the Monon Trail," says Calpino, pointing out that it contains a series of boardwalks, 'soft' trails and smaller versions of the regional Monon Trail.

"Basically, all of these complementary trails spin off from the Monon," says Tom Poulos, a principal with Williams Architects. "What they've tried to do is facilitate the pedestrian or bicycle experience to get to the various park facilities."

Most of the trails in the park's internal trail system are asphalt--or what Calpino calls "the backbone of the park"--and are geared toward bikers and skaters as well as pedestrians and casual park users. An exception is along the park's 5.75-acre lagoon and adjacent wetland, where boardwalks and aggregate trails are being built. Accommodating to wheelchairs and strollers, these latter types are tailored more toward pedestrians, and present trail experience options to a wide audience and encourage a leisurely traffic pace, explains Calpino. "The softer surface of the aggregate trail encourages travel at a slower rate," he says.

Explains Westermeier: "The trail system within the park allows users of the Monon to venture further into nature by visiting the eastern side of the park, which is largely undeveloped and a haven for wildlife of all types.

"The western section of the park is the active side and provides areas for recreational play, family gatherings, as well as gardens and nature trails."

One of the landscape design considerations was incorporating into the park what Calpino calls, "showy vegetation." By this he means not only introducing visually compelling plantings and vantage points that showcase the lagoon, but also putting in "curving, theatric trails that create dynamic, organic spaces featuring ornamental plantings to emphasize those curves."

An Extension

While the determination as to what attractions would be developed within Central Park has been largely guided by the objective of achieving balance throughout the community's entire park system, selection and location of park amenities was influenced by the proximity to the Monon Trail.

For example, cites Calpino, "To avoid having 1,000 parking spaces, the community center was centrally located to be accessible from the Morion Trail." The Monon Center, which will house a gymnasium, fitness facilities and social gathering spaces, will straddle the Morion Trail, which has been raised to accommodate access.

According to Westermeier, "The community center is providing additional recreational and fitness activities for the users of the trail system. For many trail users, this is just an extension of the healthy lifestyle they have already chosen."

According to Poulos, patrons inside the center will be able to maintain a connection through the facility's design, which, he explains, was influenced by the concept of fusion with the Monon Trail and the park layout.

Presenting an east-west axis that reflects the park's linearity and composition, the facility's design features internal Passageways to promote interconnection with the Monon Trail and trails within the park. Windows with views of trail scenery, suggests Poulos, will allow patrons to maintain a sense of the trail experience even while inside the building.

Once back outside, he says, patrons will be able to "reunite" with the trail experience. Given the features of the Monon Trail and of the trails that wind through Central Park, visitors should be able to choose a trail encounter suited to their liking.

For ITF's Vonnegut, an idyllic trail experience would be one depicted in an enchanting reverie: "From time to time," he relates, "I try to think of ways a wide spot in a trail could become a quick audience area of lightweight folding seats in a summer twilight, where fireflies cascade over an ensemble of strings and humming insects."

Linking Sites in Lincolnshire

Another community example that has worked to integrate trails with other recreation sites is the Village of Lincolnshire in northeast Illinois. Recalling a project to develop a master plan for the community's 62.5-acre North Park, JJR's Calpino says, "There was a series of regional trails that linked up to this site that we were tying into."

And, as with Central Park in Carmel, Ind., a trail system was designed for inside the park. North Park's trails, explains Calpino, were a catalyst for the design of other components in the park, which contains 25 acres of active and 37.5 acres of passive recreational areas, including extensive path systems offering interpretive information.

North Park's ball fields and other outdoor recreation facilities are complementary to the trails. Williams' Poulos cites as an example an outdoor shelter pavilion he describes as an "offshoot" of the trail system, and which was designed to visually integrate with the natural surroundings. "The pavilion is a place to sit and relax or have a picnic out in the open," he says. "The aesthetics of the facility express a vernacular that is a direct interpretation of nature."

Neighborhood Connectors

North Park is but one community site that is connected to other local destinations through a network of trails and paths. A path extends from the park, located on the village's north end, to Riverwoods, its neighbor to the south. Plans are in place to further continue the path to reach a county forest preserve and another town.

"Once that connection is completed," explains Lydia Scott, assistant to the director of public works, "this path will tie into the Des Plaines River Trail at Daniel Wright Woods. We are also working on the east-west connection," she adds.

What Scott refers to as "neighborhood connectors" have been created throughout the village. "These connectors allow residents to access portions of the village by using forested areas off of village streets."

She relates that the village recently required a developer to build a connector to link the Des Plaines River Trail to a cinema and restaurant district, and that paths are being created to connect the high school, library and corporate campuses. "This comprehensive path plan," notes Scott, "will allow residents from all corners to access all parts of the community via path."

Monon Memories

Cited by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) as "a testament to the power of rail-trails to reshape communities," the Monon Trail stretches along a route that, in an earlier era, reshaped communities through other means: train transport of passengers, materials and goods.

Prior to merging with the L&N railroad 124 years after its founding in 1847, the Monon Railroad (named The Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway until 1956) operated passenger and freight service and extended from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River.

"The Hoosier Line," as the train was fondly called, provided connections with all other railroads operating routes in the state, including the Illinois Central, the Nickel Plate and the Chesapeake & Ohio.

Monon rolling stock carried Indiana limestone that had been quarried in the southern part of the state; the railroad's passenger service delivered students to university campuses; and a Monon engine pulled Abraham Lincoln's funeral train on a segment of its journey to Springfield, Ill., in 1865.

The branch line of the railroad that operated from Indianapolis to Chicago has now been completely abandoned, notes Frank Van Bree, president of the Monon Railroad Historical Technical Society. "We are happy to see development of the trail along with the preservation of depots and other vestiges of the Monon," he says.

"We believe trails projects preserve the memory of the railroads that crossed Indiana, and certainly encourage and approve of groups willing to create trails that will do so," says Van Bree.

According to the RTC, there are more than 1,200 rail-trails in the United States, including 17 in Indiana alone. The group reports that it has assisted in establishing 12,650 rail-trail miles since 1986, and that another 16,000 miles of former rail corridors are in the project stage.

"When RTC was founded 20 years ago, converting unused rail corridors to public trails was a novel concept," explains RTC President Keith Laughlin. "In most places today, open space options are limited but demand is on the rise. Rail-trails continue to be a viable solution to keeping natural spaces intact and accessible; they recycle already existing land to make a healthy and attractive landscape."

Corridors that once linked communities through steel and steam are now doing so as greenways that support options for travel between a variety of recreational and other attractions. "Rail-trails are more than just nice places to run, bicycle or walk," remarks Laughlin. "They are healthy transportation alternatives in many urban, suburban and rural areas by connecting neighborhoods and schools to parks, waterfronts, recreational centers and other facilities."

To learn more about transforming railways into trails, visit www.railtrails.org.

Trail Types

Would-be trail developers have a variety of choices when it comes to trail composition and, in many cases, trail route. In considering a trail project, applications and aesthetics should be given adequate attention in seeking project success--for just because you build it, doesn't mean they will come.

An inviting trail environment, according to Gregg Calpino, a principal and land planner with JJR in Chicago, should be characterized first and foremost by user appeal. "You want to have a trail that people want to go and ride," he says.

"There's nothing worse when you're riding with the kids than encountering a gauntlet between two menacing-looking buildings, or a trail along an expressway embankment. You may ride it once," he adds, "or maybe just turn around and never return."

Guidelines by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Americans with Disabilities Act and other codes provide technical standards, notes Calpino, but it is ultimately the intended use and setting that will determine the type of trail to be created. He identifies various kinds of trails and their typical uses:

* Concrete walks: Often used near buildings and plazas, such as at park entrances or in sidewalk settings most conducive to walking.

* Asphalt trails: Typically used in support of bicycling and skating activities because of their smoothness, this type of trail generally has a 10-year lifespan.

* Aggregate trails: Fully capable of meeting ADA requirements, this type of trail offers a softer feel, providing "give" for runners and walkers. Typically composed of crushed stone such as limestone screenings or decomposed granite, these trails can accommodate wheelchairs and strollers, but are not intended for speedier activities such as in-line skating. They have a five-year lifespan, but may need to be replenished annually if exposed to heavy use or service-vehicle traffic.

* Mulch trails: These "soft-surface" trails are usually the least expensive option typically used in sensitive nature or garden areas. "Because of their simple construction," explains Calpino, "they are ideal for construction by local volunteer groups lacking heavy construction equipment."

* Boardwalks: An alternative trail type sometimes used in a flood plain or in an area with sensitive vegetation or endangered species. They can be built with or without handrails, depending on local code requirements.