Richard P.
Yelp
If you know me, you know I'm in a wheelchair.
If you don't know me, hey there, I'm Richard. Thanks for reading.
For 27 years, I've been doing long distance wheeling for charity ranging from a few miles to a 41-day, 1000 mile trek in my wheelchair.
Yeah, I'm not quite right in the head. You can say it.
As I'm getting older, and after 27 years that tends to happen, I'm finding myself less into the hardcore street rides and more into finding interesting and creative trails that are fairly wheelchair friendly.
While I haven't done an event on Indy's Cultural Trail, an eight-mile bike/walk/wheelchair friendly trail that connects Fountain Square, Indiana Avenue, Mass Avenue, The Canal and White River State Park, and the Wholesale District while also connecting to Indy's more widely known Monon Trail. The trail is a legacy of Gene and Marilyn Glick, Indianapolis real estate developers long known for their support of a variety of Indy area projects.
As a little bit of trivia, you have approximately 40 miles of Indianapolis Parks Greenway trails directly connected to The Cultural Trail. You have public art installations and the Pacers Bikeshare program along the path, while the path itself essentially took a former driving lane and turned it into the actual trail. So, by using the Cultural Trail and connecting to the Monon Trail, you can make it all the way to Carmel without ever having to directly ride in traffic. Because The Cultural Trail is more of an urban trail, you will experience likely hundreds of businesses along the way along with a variety of intentionally developed plant life. There's a section called the Glick Peace Walk that I'm especially fond of, but as someone who loves wheeling and experiencing life along the way, the entire trail is one I immensely enjoy.
The trail offers 2.5 hour bicycle tours (Hey, why not a wheelchair tour?). Mostly, I think the Cultural Trail offers a casual, laid back yet enjoyable way of experiencing downtown Indy and some of Indy's more centralized neighborhoods. I've nearly always experienced friendly and courteous walkers/riders and much of the trail is well marked and has appropriate signage. If you start downtown, parking will be more of an issue but there are places you can catch the trail, for example Fountain Square, where you can easily snag free parking.
This is easily one of Indy's more underrated gems and I'm not sure people realize it's actually a fully developed, lengthy trail yet also a trail that lacks much in the way of inclines or obstacles. Give it a chance and experience downtown Indy in a new and awesome way.