Trail project takes shape

The Corydon Democrat continues its new feature for this year, ‘Top 26 of 2006,’ that takes a look at 26 people, places or things that our readers suggested make Harrison County a great place to live or work. The remaining eight stories will be published before the end of the year.
Walking, running and biking opportunities ‘ without being on the highways ‘ are provided in Corydon by the Indian Creek Trail project.
The idea for a public trailway came to the public’s attention in 1997 when a group of interested persons began meeting to pursue the idea. They wanted to give people a chance to enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
The group was officially incorporated a few years later as Indian Creek Trail Inc. and members completed their first trail section ‘ 960 feet of concrete ‘ next to Little Indian Creek. It was dedicated in memory of Logan Hall, the six-year-old son of Greg and Dana Hall of Corydon who was killed by a car in the summer of 1998 while riding his bike.
Logan’s Trail runs between South Mulberry Street and Rice Island in east Corydon.
A second section of trail ‘ this one .6 mile ‘ was completed earlier this year. It winds along the west bank of Big Indian Creek between S.R. 62 and just shy of the railroad bridge near the north end of Capitol Avenue. The goal is to eventually extend the trail to the YMCA of Harrison County.
Indian Trail will have a third section ‘ the final and most ambitious of the project ‘ between the Harrison County Fairgrounds and the back of Hayswood Nature Reserve. Surveying began early this year, soon after former Harrison Countian Samuel P. Hays, who now resides in Boulder, Colo., donated 18 more acres to the Harrison County Parks Dept.
In a letter during the trail group’s early inception, Bill Gerdon, who was then chairman of the Indian Creek Trail’s board of directors, wrote, ‘We think this series of trails would provide many recreational and economic benefits to all the people of Corydon, especially young people and senior citizens, not to mention all the tourists who come here in the warm months. A trail linking the downtown with the YMCA would be an excellent safety measure: kids could ride their bikes all the way to the Y without having to ride on a major highway.
‘We have a unique natural resource, and we’d like to see it preserved for all to enjoy for many years into the future,’ he said.
Persons interested in helping with the Indian Trail Creek project can contact Dennis Mann, the current board president, at 738-9077.