Driving a Golden Bicycle Spoke celebrates trails
connecting the Cities of Elkhart and Goshen

Mary Cripe, Goshen City Engineer, Mayor Dick Moore of Elkhart and Mayor Allan Kauffman of Goshen drove a golden bicycle spoke into the MapleHeart Trail at Ox Bow Park on October 20 to mark the completion of eight miles of non-motorized trail connecting the two cities. Fourteen miles of uninterupted trail now runs from Hively Ave. in Elkhart to Goshen and then into the countryside on the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail to County Road 33. View construction photos here.

Volunteers build permanent deck on wooden-trestle bridge

The wooden-trestle bridge immediately east of County Road 43 was rebuilt by Beers and Schlabaugh Construction Company in 2009. A temporary deck was installed to avoid lasting damage during subsequent trail construction. On October 8th six volunteers along with three employees of Elkhart County Parks built a permanent deck on the bridge.

Seven wooden-trestle bridges on the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail were renovated as part of trail construction. The first renovation was on the bridge at Rock Run Creek in Goshen in 1999 and the work on October 8 finished the restorations. Thanks go to volunteers Bruce Nofziger, Chuck Thompson, Brad Hamilton, Elvie Bontrager, Darrell Moore and Bob Carrico for donating their time and equipment to the project. They worked along side Steve Gangloff, Tony Timmons and Lynn Matthews from Elkhart County Parks.

Native grasses and flowers will be sowed along the Pumpkinvine in 2012

If you were on the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail last summer you probably noticed several plots of blooming flowers between County Roads 127 and 33. There were strong displays of Coreopsis, Black Eyed Susan, Evening Primrose, Bees Balm, Prairie Partridge as well as other flowers. Preparations were started last summer to sow an additional ¾ acre of native plants including two small plots in LaGrange County.