A ribbon cutting officially opened the longest stretch of Pufferbelly Trail, a 4.3 mile section of the Poka-Bache Trail. Pufferbelly connects Fort Wayne, Huntertown, and other areas of Allen County.

New Release

FORT WAYNE — A ribbon cutting, attended by over 100 people, marked the opening of the Pufferbelly Trail behind Life Bridge Church, 12719 Corbin Rd., Fort Wayne. The ceremony was held Monday, Nov. 20.

The Pufferbelly Trail is 4.3 miles long, extending from the trailhead at Life Bridge Church all the way to Fitch Road, near the Allen/DeKalb county line. Because the trail goes through multiple jurisdictions, it took cooperation from several different groups to make it happen.

Funding for this section of trail came in May 2019, when Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that this section of trail would receive a $3.2 million grant from the Next Level Trail Grants program, which is administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The grant money allowed construction of this section of the Pufferbelly Trail to begin earlier this year.

According to Megan McLellan executive director of Fort Wayne Trails, Inc., Pufferbelly is part of the larger Poka-Bache Trail, an 81-mile stretch between the Ouabache and Pokagon state parks. Pufferbelly Trail is right in the middle and connects several communities, including Fort Wayne, Huntertown and other areas of Allen County.

Dawn Ritche, manager of City of Fort Wayne Greenways & Trails, shared plans for future trail projects during the ceremony. According to Ritche, Pufferbelly Trail is expected to be finished by the end of next year, with Allen County set to continue building the trail from Fitch Road all the way to the county line. The city of Fort Wayne also plans to construct a section of trail from Washington Center Road at Cookie Cottage to Glenbrook Commons by Ice Way and Lima Road.

A news release from the Allen County Board of Commissioners stated that the Pufferbelly Trail is the longest section of trail built at one time in Allen County in over a decade. The news release also named groups involved in the trail’s construction, including the Allen County Highway Department, the Sheriff’s Department, VS Engineering, Fleming Excavating, Northeast Indiana Regional Coordinating Council, Fort Wayne Trails, Inc., City of Fort Wayne, Town of Huntertown. Neighborhoods, businesses and organizations along the trail route were also included.

An additional mention was given to the Indiana Trails Fund, who purchased two sections of the former New York Central Railroad line and maintained those areas of trail long before Pufferbelly was officially constructed.