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Final Section of Pumpkinvine Nature Trail Being Constructed

Groundbreaking event June 22, 2023 marks move toward trail completion

MIDDLEBURY, Indiana — The final 2,900 feet of a 17-mile trail will soon be under construction.

The completion of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail is underway. Trail advocates, government leaders, and those who have been instrumental in Elkhart County’s longest and most-used trail gathered Thursday to break ground on the final section near C.R. 35 and C.R. 20.

In 1989, local cyclists began working to establish a trail on an abandoned railroad corridor from Goshen to Middlebury to Shipshewana. Hard work and investment resulted in the pathway that is used by thousands of cyclists, walkers, and runners annually.

The trail has followed some roadways since its inception and the goal has always been for it to be a dedicated pathway. Friends of the Pumpkinvine, a nonprofit entity, acquired private property for the trail and worked closely with government partners to maintain the trail after construction. This final stretch of the trail offers many physical challenges due to wetlands and as much as 10 feet of peat below the surface.

“This is a historic day for this treasured community asset,” said Brittany Short, project director for Connect In Elkhart County. “We are thrilled that this final section of the Pumpkinvine is finally happening. Many people have worked hard to get us to this point.”

Friends of the Pumpkinvine awarded Niblock Excavating with the contract for this final project. A very specialized process of preconsolidation, which prepares the soil for the trail and prevents future sinking, could take two to six months. The original goal was to have the trail completed by fall 2023, but it’s likely to be spring 2024 until this section sees its first users.

John Yoder, one of the visionaries who blazed the Pumpkinvine trail, said, “As I reflect on the beginning of the Friends of the Pumpkinvine 33 years ago, I’m grateful for the trust people had in our small, unknown Friends of the Pumpkinvine organization when we proposed buying the corridor from Penn Central and converting it into a multi-use trail. They gave to a project that some of them knew they might never be able to experience, but they gave because they thought it would be good for the next generation. That’s the community-mindedness that made the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail possible. Now the community has a chance to finish the job by closing this last gap in the trail. Let the digging begin!”