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The twentieth century's end to the present
One trail: The riverwalk is one trail that happens to cross a city line. From the Mishawaka line west through South Bend's downtown, and from downtown north along both banks toward the state line, the paved path along the St. Joseph River runs continuously — through Howard Park, past the East Race, under the bridges, and out both ends of the city. A rider can leave the path at its eastern end only by crossing into Mishawaka, and the path does not stop there: Mishawaka's own riverwalk picks it up at River Park and carries it through that city's downtown parks. The municipal boundary is printed here because it is real — two park departments maintain the two halves, and Mishawaka's half belongs to Mishawaka's own history, told in full when that city is built — but the trail itself pays the line no attention, and neither does anyone riding it. The trail crosses the line, and this section says so.
The system that grew around that spine is the subject of the articles that follow: the East Bank and Northside trails on the river's east side, the West Bank Walkway downtown, the Riverside Trail up the west bank, the county's LaSalle Trail to the Michigan line, the SR 933 pathway past the colleges, The Link to Notre Dame, and the Coal Line Trail over its railroad bridge. Together they form the Indiana side of the Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail, the two-state partnership trail accounted next.
Sources:
- City of South Bend and St. Joseph County Parks trail publications (the segments' own records, in the articles below).
- Indiana Michigan River Valley Trail partnership accounting, published by the City of Niles (a partner municipality), map dated September 2020 (the system's components, in the article below).