If plans come together, Logansport will one day find itself in the middle of a 90-mile land and water trail along the Wabash River from Lafayette to Huntington.
What a wonderful project.
The idea is to expand the Wabash Heritage Trail already established in Lafayette and connect it to state parks and recreational areas along a 90-mile route. The plan also calls for boat ramps at various points along the river and for the development of campsites along the riverbank and on one of the islands.
Boone Sumantri, president of Emmaus Mission Center, is working to form a coalition of city and county government agencies, outdoor clubs, colleges and universities to plan and develop the trail. Sumantri is no amateur when it comes to trail development. He was involved in developing hiking trails in Pennsylvania and California.
Arin Shaver, Cass County’s assistant planning director, is collaborating with local trail groups such as the Wabash Heritage Corridor Commission and Eel River Run Group to ensure plans coincide with area comprehensive plans and with Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Hoosiers on the Move trail plan.
The hope is to have a hiking and horseback trail made of crushed stone or packed dirt, and the goal would be to connect the Wabash Heritage Trail to the Little Turtle Waterway trail and the Eel River Run in Logansport, and perhaps to other trails, such as the Panhandle Pathway from Winamac to France Park and the Nickle Plate Trail from Kokomo to Rochester.
Funding to complete the project might come from the federal government through the Indiana Department of Transportation or the Department of Natural Resources.
As these trails develop, they will surely become a magnet for visitors, and they might also help to attract permanent residents and industries in search of progressive communities with lots of recreational opportunities.
We applaud Sumantri, Shaver and everyone else involved in helping to turn these visions into reality.
Trails in Indiana
To learn more about Gov. Mitch Daniels’ plan for trails in Indiana, visit the Hoosiers on the Move Web site at www.in.gov/indot/2957.htm.
