Central Canal Towpath

The Canal Towpath is a trail that is part of the Indianapolis Greenway System. The trail is a little over 5 miles and stretches from Broad Ripple to close to the areas near Marian University. While utilizing the trail, you can actually connect to the White River Greenway, which makes it possible to essentially commute from Broad Ripple to Victory Field, only crossing the road a hand full of time. This is simply a very nice trail.

This is such a delight to follow along the canal. Starts out in Broad Ripple paved, then becomes a narrow gravel path, tricky to navigate when crowded. Crosses over Meridian Street and on through Butler-​Tarkington, then down past Rocky Ripple, Butler University, under Michigan Road, bisects the IMA & 100 Acres park, under 38^th Street, curving gently through neighborhoods until it ends near the Naval Armory. This is where the White River Trail picks up & heads downtown. You can make a mighty circuit by connecting to the Cultural Trail & going back up the Monon to the beginning of the canal path. While on the tow path, I find myself making little detours to Graeter’s or Flying Cupcake, Holcomb Gardens, Rocky Ripple, & 100 Acres. The canal is full of turtles, fish, birds, ducks, & geese; occasionally I’ll see a furry four-​legged critter of some kind swimming there, too. Depending on the time of year, it’s scented by flowers or canopied by leafy trees. I love the way the still water reflects the many bridges that arch over it. The canal path has less traffic than the Monon; but it’s narrow, and does have loose gravel & uneven surfaces collecting mud & water after rains.

It’s truly the heart of the city.

Wonderful walk on towpath. Beautiful, what a gem. Beautiful fall day, We felt like we were a million miles away. Love it! Connects to Ima 100 acres and that makes it even cooler.

There are a lot of great bike trails here in Indianapolis. The tow path is great. It runs from Broadripple to the White River Greenway at 30^th street. One of my favorite rides starts downtown on the Cultural Trail, up to the Monon, then hit the tow path, loop around to the Greenway to arrive back at White River Park.
The tow path is secluded, passing through Butler and behind the IMA. There is a lot of shade and wildlife. It goes through diverse neighborhoods.
And as a bonus, there is always a turtle to see! The wood ducks are really pretty. And occasionally even a Muskrat.
There are no water fountains and the trail is screed (which is a find gravel) that is well packed and I don’t mind riding on my street bike.

LOVE! The limestone is way better and easier on your legs and the views are awesome. I run the Monon and go through Butler campus to get on the Towpath. I’ve biked the towpath and gone through IMA, which is beautiful! Not well lit for evening/​night adventures.

There is no single long distance trail in Indy, so you need to look at the whole trail system. I bike, so a long distance trail is 20+ miles in my head. The canal towpath connects the White River trail to the South and T’s into the Monon in Broadripple. The towpath is used by runners, walkers, and cyclists.
The canal towpath can be beautiful with the sun on the water and the trees. There are usually blue heron along the canal and other wildlife, especially birds. The first rides in the spring and the fall colors are both nice.
The surface is hard packed and you can ride any bike. Some people with narrow high pressure road bike tires may not be comfortable on the trail surface, but I’ve ridden with buddies on road tires. I ride with 35 mm tires, slicks, on a hybrid frame. If it’s rained overnight there will be some puddles.
You want to eat? The Art Museum has food, there are several places at 56^th and Illinois, and infinite choices in Broadripple.
The towpath surface is primarily fine crushed limestone. Looking at it from South to North, the Central Canal Towpath starts at 30^th St. If you’re connecting to White River Trail, there’s a paved bit that runs behind River’s Edge apartments. Cross 30^th St with care as visibility is not great.
At 38^th St the Towpath passes Indianapolis Museum of Art and you can bike through the 100 Acres or the museum grounds. Butler University is adjacent to the towpath from 42^nd to 52^nd St. Near 56^th and Illinois the towpath crosses a bridge to the east side of the canal parallel to Westfield Blvd. There’s about ½ mile of paved trail here, which is really a little used road.
From Illinois to College the trail narrows quite a bit just leaving space for two bikes to pass for about 1 mile. At times the trail here is right next to busy Westfield Blvd, which might make you nervous with young children. The last part of the trail is paved and concrete through Broadripple connecting to the Monon Trail.

The Central Canal Towpath is a great trail, but does have a few different faces depending on where you are. I use the trail primarily for running, because I find that the crushed limestone that makes up large sections of the trail is more comfortable than some of the other trails that are made of asphalt, although certain sections of the Towpath are still asphalt as well. While this material is nice to run on, it also means that it can get wet and muddy after rains so keep this in mind, and it also means that it’s probably not something you want to ride a road bike on.
I usually start on the trail where it connects to the Monon. It would be really nice if a bike rack was available for people who want to bike the Monon to get to the trail head, but there are enough local business around the area to find somewhere to park and walk. From the north trailhead heading south, the first quarter mile isn’t much to see until you get across College Ave at which point you connect to the limestone part of the trail. The next mile and a half follows right along Westfield Blvd, so while you have the Canal immediately to your right with trees and wildlife, the busy road is also about 5 feet to your left. This section of trail also requires you to cross a few major roads including Kessler and Meridian, so plan to be held up a little bit at these lights. At Illinois St, the trail crosses over to the other side of the canal and offers a much nicer experience, since there are trees on your right and the canal on your left. I routinely see ducks, geese, and even blue heron along this section of trail. This area is also past most of the major road crossings and provides a much more unobstructed trail in that aspect. The trail eventually turns to pavement for a while and then back to the crushed limestone farther down.
I can’t vouch for much of the trail south of Butler, although I think that that is the nicest section of the trail, but I can say that the areas between Illinois and the Butler campus is a great section of trail with nice scenery and is much less busy than the Monon usually is. If I ever get my cardio up, I would like to make it down to the IMA and White River areas of the trail as well.

I’m in love with this trail. It’s walking next to water, with mature trees, lots of animals to look at, and I feel centered in a way I rarely experience, moving myself down this trail. I love also how it goes from west 30^th St to Rocky Ripple, with the diversity that implies, and really, the only thing I don’t like is the parking– I could leave my car on the 30^th St end… ha, I crack myself up. Anyway– it’s nice pretty much anytime, barring high noon, where the trees offer no shade.

What a nice connector to loop the community. We started on the Monon Trail just south of Broad Ripple and rode into Indianapolis to the Cultural Trail. The trail through the city is fantastic. We grabbed the trail next to the Zoo and rode out to the Central Canal Towpath and brought it back to the Broad Ripple area. All in all a great 20 mile ride and an up close and personal experience of Indy.

I have to agree with everything that Cyndi C. and Todd R. have to say about the Towpath.
I usually do a 10 mile hike on the Towpath every Saturday and sometimes on Sunday with the IHC. Lately, we’ve been breaking up the routine by getting off the Towpath at Michigan and wandering through the Art Museum grounds for shade and diversity and getting back on the Towpath at the red bridge by 100 Acres.
I have long envied the people who live along the canal as it seems to be a place rich with wildlife… four and two legged :-)
Blue Heron, ducks, geese, turtles, and fish all inhabit the canal along the Towpath. In the spring, it is fun to see the new hatchlings and hope they all make it to adulthood.
Many times we’ve stopped on the trail and re-​filled our water bottles from the hose one neighborly resident makes available for human and canine.
While I don’t mind sharing the Towpath with runners and walkers, many times the bicyclers go too fast and don’t announce themselves. Someone needs to remind them that people DON’T have eyes in back of their heads. Not all bikers are this inconsiderate, but unfortunately, many are.

This was a very nice path right along the canal. There are bikers, joggers, walkers, dogs, kids, ducks, anything and everything along the path. The tree lined path is mostly paved but there are some gravel areas and some areas where you have trees on one side and a road on the other of course being separated by the canal. Along Rocky Ripple a nice home owner has placed out their garden hose for water use (THANK YOU DEAR FRIEND!). The path is a bit jagged and there are sections where you have to use a cross walk to pass the street which for me is always a drag. I also think that there could be some water placed upon the path since I didn’t see a public water fountain.
That said, the trail was very nice but the lack of water and inconsistent flow of the trail makes it A-​OK and not great. Walking it may be better, biking for fun it might be ok, but jogging or serious biking I would imagine would not be stellar experiences.

This five mile trail follows the Indianapolis Water Company’s 19^th century-​built canal through spectacular neighborhoods of unique architecture and native Indiana woodlands, past Butler University and Broad Ripple’s unique shops, under busy freeways and across some of Indianapolis’ main arteries., But this Indianapolis Greenway provides a certain je-​né-​sais-​quoi to the Butler Tarkington/​Meridian Kessler area. The Canal is as unique to Indy as all that the Canal passes through.
In many ways the Canal and feeding the ducklings is a rite of passage for this community of generations of families. It ties together a vast section of the north side that makes this area feel like one big beautiful neighborhood of Broad Ripple. Actually, anyone who has gone to IPS in the past 30 years and lived near the Canal probably went to Broad Ripple HS.
So anyone who has seen the beautification that the city did in the early 2000’s shows that the city understands and appreciates why this area is considered a landmark to the residents. It is a point of our collective reference, a place where we rode our bikes, scuffed up our knees on the uneven (but now paved) ground, had our late night strolls, shared first kisses, and from where we went home with twenty more mosquito bites than we had before.
The Monon Trail that intersects is very nice, but it is somewhat monotone in its presentation of either neighborhoods, businesses, neighborhoods, businesses. The Central Canal towpath changes venues, if I may, and links to so much that is unique to, and is essentially, Indianapolis. Come take a stroll, jog, or bike ride down memory lane. Remember what Indy means to you!