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Indian Creek Trail

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Fleur de lis irises

6/2/2020

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This is the time of year to share a story about these irises you may see around Corydon. Here's the account from Bill Doolittle:

     Jim Brewster, of Corydon, purchased the bulbs in Paris the day The Great War (World War I) ended in 1918, with church bells ringing all day across the city. Brewster brought the bulbs home to Corydon and planted them around the Brewster home, the Griffin residence (now State Historical Sites) and the Corydon Presbyterian Church. Of course, the Fleur de Lis iris is a national symbol of France. Many regard it as a symbol of the bond between America and France.
     Jim and his wife Kitty Slemons Brewster also planted some of the bulbs in their large garden in the bottom across Indian Creek by the West Bridge -- and now the Indian Creek Trail. Those he propagated and gave to relatives and neighbors (that includes my family, Jim was my great uncle, died the year I was born in 1948), with present day descendants including Bill and David Doolittle, Leah Sample, Alice McCollum, Paul and Charlie Conrad, Pat Griffin, Dookie Royse, their kids, and others. Many of the irises were planted in the nearby neighborhoods along High Street, Farquar Ave., North Capitol, etc.
     In 2018 I walked around the First State Office Building (later Brewster residence, where I lived 1948-54) and did not see any of the irises. They once were all along the brick walk up to the house, removed by state, and all around the yard. The only strong patch I know of now are those in front of the Governor's Headquarters (Griffin home). I have two small patches in my yard in Louisville. But I bet there are more. Brewster descendants all know the Armistice Day, 1918, Paris to Corydon irises story and some have saved some of those irises.


I'm a little late in posting these photos--they were taken May 21st of this year--but with luck, you might catch a few late blooms if you look this week. Indian Creek Trail volunteers have also propagated these to the planter bed at the YMCA trailhead. Watch for them every May, and remember their connection to The Great War and Armistice Day 1918.
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New trail-user counters are counting

11/18/2019

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This past summer, Indian Creek Trail, Inc. installed three electronic trail-user counters along the trail corridor to begin learning more about how and when the trail is used. We believe this information will help us and our partners as we work together to care for and expand the trail. We thought those of you who use the trail might be interested in what we're learning as well. The graph above shows weekly trail use on the new trail connection over the last three months. You'll see that during the busiest week in October, the trail saw nearly 2000 users in one week! The effect of last week's winter weather is also apparent, though the trail still saw 500 intrepid visits during that frigid week. If you're curious, we are using infrared trail counters from trafx.net. These devices recognize the temperature difference when a warm body passes in front of the counter. We purchased the counters with funds from our endowment at the Harrison County Community Foundation. That money is income earned by investing your donations along with the Foundation's match. Thank you for using and supporting the trail! We'll keep you posted as we learn more about trail-use trends.
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And it's open!

1/29/2019

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With a small ceremony on a chilly winter day, the Harrison County Parks and Recreation Department opened the new bridge and trail connection at noon on Friday, January 25th. Community partners and trail users came together to recognize the efforts of many individuals and institutions over the last 25 years that have brought this vision to life. With this new one-mile connection, Indian Creek Trail now has a continuous three-mile backbone reaching from Hayswood Nature Preserve to the YMCA, with additional trail options including Logan's Trail in Corydon and connected walking trails within Hayswood Nature Preserve. See the trail map linked on this site for details. The parks department is planning a larger celebration of the trail connection on April 20th.
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New bridge in place

11/26/2018

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On Tuesday, November 20th, two skilled crane operators and a support crew placed the refurbished Valley View Road truss bridge across Indian Creek, connecting the existing Hayswood section of Indian Creek Trail with the newly-constructed section that follows the creek behind the post office and ties into the Doolittle section by passing beneath the west bridge on IN-62. See the trail map for a visual aid. The Parks Department expects to have the trail complete and open before the end of 2018. Stay tuned for that announcement! Higher Eye Photography got some really nice aerial shots and a put together a time-lapse video of the process.
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Anticipation

11/6/2018

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2018 is an exciting year. The trail underpass under Highway 62 is complete and the connection extends to the new bridge site. The new bridge is assembled on site and has been painted to match the existing bridge. The bridge setting date has not been determined but should be in a few weeks. The access ramps will be competed and then the long awaited and much anticipated grand opening!!!!  
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2018: year of the connection

11/6/2018

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2017: year of the connection

3/16/2017

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The trail connection will pass along this section of creek behind Slemmons Ave. in Corydon.
Here's the latest on the connection of the two main sections of Indian Creek Trail. (For a refresher on the route, check out the trail map.) The county had planned to have trail construction substantially complete last fall, with the bridge being placed this spring. In short, there have been delays--but only garden-variety delays, and nothing that threatens completion of the project. County officials plan to construct the trail this summer and expect to open it before the end of 2017. We'll keep you updated during the process. When it's complete, we'll have a continuous trail from Hayswood to the YMCA--more than 3.5 miles!
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This is one of the new wayfinding maps on the square downtown. The existing trail is shown in yellow and new trail in orange (the trail lines aren't on the sign itself--only on this image). This shows only a piece of the overall Indian Creek Trail.
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A good trail season

10/6/2016

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PictureBoard member and volunteer Jim Isbell keeps the Doolittle section clear in late summer.
There's no bad season on the Indian Creek Trail. Spring means wildflowers and inviting weather. Summer is long evenings and warm water. Fall brings crunching leaves and brisk air. And winter is a great chance to find solitude, spot wildlife, and make first tracks in the snow.

From an outreach perspective, though, we think of spring and summer as our annual season for spreading word about the trail. This spring, we launched a new website (www.indiancreektrail.org), invited trail lovers to support the trail, and performed our first annual trail counts--and we'd like to document some of the success of those efforts. 41 people joined or renewed their membership this spring and summer, more than doubling our member list. Membership continues to grow every month. Our Facebook page has continued to grow, and it's now approaching 1000 likes. Toward the end of May, we counted trail users in a couple locations at various times. On a sunny Sunday afternoon near the red bridge in Hayswood, we counted over 100 of you enjoying the trail in a single hour! We're looking forward to comparing trail counts in future years as the trail system grows.

It's been a great spring and summer, and fall is on the way. See you on the trail!

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Trail connection work has begun

4/26/2016

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PictureThis overgrown area adjacent to Slemmons Avenue was cleared to make way for the new trail section.
In late March, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources notified Harrison County officials that all tree removal needed for the new trail connection must be complete by April to avoid disrupting sensitive animal habitat during the summer months. Leaders from the parks and highways departments worked promptly with property owners to get permission to complete the tree work in time to keep the project on track. It was an unexpected early start to the construction phase, and the county isn't planning further site work until summer. Officials expect the new trail section to be complete in fall of 2016, though the new bridge will not be in place until spring of 2017. At that time, Indian Creek Trail will be continuous from the YMCA to Hayswood Nature Reserve. The trail new trail connection is jointly funded by Harrison County and the Harrison County Community Foundation.

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The new section of the trail will provide public access to this stretch of Indian Creek behind Popular Street and the post office in Corydon.
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