Lincoln Memorial Trail – Bluhm County Park

Submitted by: Donna Lind

Location: Bluhm County Park, 3855 S. 1100 West, Westville, IN Pet Friendly: Yes! Dog park on site Parking: Yes Cost: Free Restrooms: Yes Trail Length: 1.47 miles

Last Sunday I met a friend for a hike at Bluhm County Park in Westville.  It had been several years since I was here last and I remember it being a great place to find woodland wild flowers from spring to fall. Each of us had downloaded an online map of the trails, but we quickly discovered that it was dated 2008 and some of the trails have since been re-marked. In spite of an outdated map, we decided to take the Lincoln Memorial Trail that looked easy to navigate.

The Lincoln Memorial Trail trailhead begins across 1100 W and is a nice, paved trail that runs between the woods and a farm field. Our map told us there was also a woodland dirt trail that ran alongside the paved trail, but we only saw traces of where it might be, so we decided to stick to the paved trail.

The best part of the hike was turning a bend in the trail to find a working windmill and a beautiful pond, surrounded by sweeping willows and other large trees that reflected in the calm water. Several benches are placed around the pond and if you only hiked this far, it would be a peaceful place to sit, read or just enjoy nature.

Past the pond, the trail turns into the woods and when we reached a fork, we took the left trail leading out of the woods, between a fencerow and another field. The trail eventually passes some private property and crosses 350S where there is another smaller trailhead and parking area. The trail continues on from here along a newly added section, retracing the former Monon Railroad.

We retraced our steps back into the woods and the fork, taking the right trail this time and completing a loop through the woods to finish where we began. The entire hike took about an hour and was very low impact. During our visit we saw several families with children and strollers. This trail would be a great family destination for enjoying an afternoon outdoors. Across the street at the main park area, there is a dog park, park shelters and several more woodland and wetland trails that have piqued my interest for another day.