NEW PEKIN — The Monon South Trail now has 20 miles open to the public after two additional segments have been completed.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Radius Indiana celebrated the opening of the new segments in Campbellsburg and New Pekin on Friday.
The Campbellsburg and Saltillo segment features 3.53 total miles, with 0.59 miles of asphalt trail and 2.94 miles of crushed stone surface.
The New Pekin segment includes 1.39 miles of asphalt pavement and 3.9 miles of crushed stone surface.
Including the previous segments opened in Mitchell, Orleans, Borden and Salem, Monon South now has 20 miles of trail available to the public.
“With the completion of Phase 1A of the Monon South Trail, Hoosiers living across this region of Southern Indiana gain an incredible new connection to the outdoors, neighboring communities, and to one another,” said Maddy Conner, DNR chief of staff. “DNR was proud to support the acquisition of this rails-to-trails corridor and the first phase of trail construction of Monon South, which will eventually become Indiana’s longest recreational trail.”
DNR purchased the 62.3mile Monon South corridor on behalf of New Albany and Radius Indiana for the combined sum of $5.5 million. DNR granted Radius an additional $22.3 million to support Phase 1A development, offering Hoosiers and visitors more than 20 miles of hard-surface trail along the historic former Monon Railroad rail line.
“Our Southern Indiana region is truly blessed to have this scale of investment in trail infrastructure completed,” said Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius Indiana. “People from seven different communities can now step out their door and have access to a beautiful facility that is an invitation to enjoy the outdoors and take a break from everyday life. We thank the team at the Department of Natural Resources who collaborated with our Radius team and with the local community leadership to bring this phase of the project to reality.”
© 2025 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.