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2001 — today
The Aboite Trails are the network's suburban half: a web of paved paths along the roads, parks and hospital grounds of Aboite Township, southwest Fort Wayne, built by the citizens' group Aboite New Trails (founded December 2001; see the Fort Wayne Trails entry) in a part of the county that had almost no pedestrian or bicycle facilities when the work began. The group's method was road by road and subdivision by subdivision: by the end of 2006 nearly four miles stood built, with three more projected that year; in June 2009 the group counted 11 miles built with 3.5 more scheduled, was raising $350,000 in private money, and held the ambition that organized the southwest's building for a decade — a 41-mile cross-county trail corridor running from Aboite through the Towpath and the Rivergreenway to New Haven. The named segments run along Scott, Eggeman, Aboite Center, Homestead, Liberty Mills, Amber and West Hamilton roads — the Liberty Mills of the project's working list is this roadside mileage in the Aboite system, not a separate trail — and include the Lutheran Hospital loop (the hospital's "Health Circuit") and the loop at Indian Trails Park.
How much Aboite mileage there is depends, again, on the counter. Indiana Trails' listing gives about 18 miles; the City of Fort Wayne's current trails page invites users to "explore more than 28 miles of trails in southwest Fort Wayne on the Aboite Trails," counting the trailheads at the Towpath Trailhead (Engle Road and Statesmans Way) and Indian Trails Park (Aboite Center Road and Westlakes Drive), and noting the system's hilly ground. The two figures stand as published. Since 2011 the Aboite Trails have been part of the merged Fort Wayne Trails network; Aboite New Trails' separate existence ended in the merger, and its founders' larger result — a trails manager on the city staff and a county-wide organization — outlasted the name. The Towpath Trail (above) is what physically joins this southwest web to the rivers.
Sources: The Waynedale News, "Get Caught on the Aboite Trails" (17 Jun 2009) — created December 2001; 11 miles with 3.5 more scheduled for 2009; $350K being raised; the 41-mile cross-county corridor; the named road segments including Liberty Mills Road; the Lutheran Hospital Loop Trail and Indian Trails Park loop among the event's routes. The Waynedale News, "Aboite Trails Awarded $1.5 Million" (22 Nov 2006) — "currently nearly four miles of Aboite Trails throughout the Township with a projected three more to be complete by the end of 2006"; fundraising campaign begun January 2005. Business People (10 Nov 2011) — Aboite New Trails raised $13 million and built over 20 miles (the organization's whole Allen County record to that date). Indiana Trails, "Aboite Trails" — about 18 miles. City of Fort Wayne, Trails page — "more than 28 miles of trails in southwest Fort Wayne on the Aboite Trails"; the two trailheads; the Towpath connection of 2011.