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1996 — today
The northwest side's trails grew around a farm and a YMCA. Salomon Farm Park, at 817 West Dupont Road, became a city park in 1996 on the donated Salomon family farm. Its paved loop — the City measures the Salomon Farm Loop at 1.65 miles, following the park's perimeter past the Parkview Family YMCA; trail guides give 1.7 — is one of the most heavily used trails in the network, averaging, in the City's count, 407 trail users per day in summer. The loop meets the Pufferbelly on the park's east side by the YMCA entrance, and the farm's interior also carries a natural-surface hiking trail along Beckett's Run Creek, which belongs to the Hike Trails leg. East-west movement on the northwest side runs on the Dupont Road Trail, which the City measures at nearly five miles, from Lima Road to Tonkel Road, tying the farm, the YMCA and the Pufferbelly to the subdivisions; Lima Road itself carries trails on both sides from Dupont Road south to Ludwig Road.
Two more named links complete the northwest pattern. The Fishing Line Trail, one mile long in northwest Fort Wayne, is named for its history as a railroad corridor: it follows the former Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, on which, the City records, Fort Wayne residents used to ride north to Michigan to fish — the line's record is in the Trains leg. Parking is on Ludwig Road, and a connecting segment along Ludwig joins the Fishing Line to the Lima Road Trail; the City's stated plans would extend the Fishing Line into a continuous connection through Noble and LaGrange counties toward Grand Rapids. Around it, the road-named connectors multiplied in the 2010s–20s: the Union Chapel Trail (extended from Corbin Road toward Auburn Road), the Carroll Road Trail (from Pathway Church to the Pufferbelly), and the below-grade Dupont Road crossing that let riders pass from the northern suburbs to Salomon Farm Park without crossing at grade. These connectors are how the Pufferbelly stopped being a line and became a district.
Sources: City of Fort Wayne, Rivergreenway page — Salomon Farm Loop, 1.65 miles, 817 W. Dupont Road, "an average of 407 trail users per day during the Summer," connection to "the existing 13-mile Pufferbelly Trail" and to the Dupont Road Trail, "nearly 5 miles from Lima Road to Tonkel Road"; Lima Road trails on both sides, Dupont to Ludwig; Fishing Line Trail: "named for its history as a railroad corridor. Formerly the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, residents in Fort Wayne used to hop on the trains and head north to Michigan to fish," 1 mile, Ludwig Road parking and connector, plans toward Noble and LaGrange counties and Grand Rapids. Salomon Farm Park record (TripAdvisor/Visit Fort Wayne summaries of the City's account) — park launched 1996 through the donation of Chris Salomon, his wife Maxine, and their daughter Lynne. AllTrails — Salomon Farm Trail, 1.7 mi, paved, connection to the Pufferbelly. Visit Fort Wayne, Outdoor Pass — the Salomon Farm hiking trail south along Beckett's Run Creek and the 1.7-mile farm loop. Smart Living Fort Wayne (26 Apr 2021) — Union Chapel Trail extension, Corbin Road to Auburn Road; Carroll Road Trail, Pathway Church to the Pufferbelly. Input Fort Wayne (18 Apr 2018) — the below-grade Dupont Road crossing, "open around the end of November this year," connecting the North Suburbs to Salomon Farm Park.