Last July, the day after I got a new bike, I rode from Middlebury to Goshen with my husband. Since everything was new and different, I did not realize until we stopped for ice cream at the Chief that my phone mount had broken off and my phone was gone. We retraced the entire route searching frantically for my phone, …
If you are a Pumpkinvine “regular,” chances are you might have seen Lori Copsey on the trail. A 25-year Goshen resident and avid cyclist, Lori Copsey lives near the library, so it’s convenient for her to access the trail at Abshire Park where she begins most of her rides on the Pumpkinvine these days. Before the Pumpkinvine was built, Lori …
An article published in the Aug./Sept. issue of Elkhart County Living recalls the vision and development of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail. The article is available here.
Read Rachel Shenk’s recent article in the Goshen News about bicycling on the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail. Download the article as a pdf file.
In 2016, the Goshen Park department used the Goggle Trekker to map the major trails in Goshen, including all of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail. The results are available for use in Google Maps. Google Trekker allows you to see any part of the trail you choose. You can move the “trail view” along the trail by manipulating an arrow. Follow …
Many creeks and drainage ditches cross the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail are often unnoticed because they flow under the trail through small culverts. Sometimes the culverts are at low points in the trail grade causing rain water to gather at the culvert and flow into the drain ditch at that point. The heavy rains this spring eroded the soil around a …
Land ownership disputes dominated development of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail in early stages of the project. Settlements with neighbors sometimes involved trading parts of the railroad corridor for strips of land around the perimeters of farm fields. Friends hired Blake Doriot to conduct an especially difficult land survey of the railroad corridor between County Roads 127 and 26 in Elkhart …
In 1888 the Canada and Saint Louis Railway Company acquired land for the Pumpkin Vine Railroad by issuing land contracts to the property owners. On August 17, 1889 the Canada and Saint Louis Railway Company was acquired by the Sturgis, Goshen and St. Louis Railway at a foreclosure sale. Soon the land contracts were purchased from the owners in exchange …
Why is there a masonry wall along the trail in Middlebury? This story is about a decision made in 1888 that influenced the design of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail over 120 years later. Edson and Mary Foster owned a farm immediately south of what is currently Sunrise Drive in Middlebury. In 1888 the Fosters granted a warranty deed to …
