The Cedar Creek Trail Is Connected. Its Leo Trailhead Is Still a Vacant Lot.

"Now individuals can safely cross the river to enjoy Riverside Gardens Park and walk or bike into town." Allen County Commissioner Ron Turpin said that at the reopening of the Grabill Road Bridge on October 31, 2025, as 21Alive reported. He was talking about a new sidewalk added to the deck over the St. Joseph River.

That sidewalk came out of a bridge rebuild, not a trail project. It matters because the Cedar Creek Parks Trail in Leo-Cedarville has come together the same way: one county trail segment, one town segment, a stretch of existing sidewalk in Grabill, a shared business driveway, and that bridge. The pieces now connect. The one part still missing is the town's own trailhead parking lot at Amstutz and Hosler roads. This fall, the network is easiest to use if you walk to it from town or park at Metea.

How the pieces connect this fall

Fort Wayne Trails held a ribbon cutting on November 14, 2025, for the two newest segments. That brought the Cedar Creek Parks Trail to just under 5.5 miles. The full program cost nearly $5.4 million. Leo-Cedarville put in $796,489, the Allen County Fort Wayne Capital Improvement Board $1.5 million, Allen County $2.9 million, and Grabill $200,000.

Here's the route from west to east:

1. Metea Park North trailhead on Hursh Road. A 10-foot trail starts here and runs along the south side of Hursh Road to the AEP corridor. It crosses mid-block, then continues on the north side to Halter Road. This half-mile segment was finished in October 2025.
2. Halter and Hosler roads, Hursh Road to Amstutz Road. This is Leo-Cedarville's 1.5-mile section, celebrated in March 2025. Together with the Metea link, it makes about two continuous miles of newer trail from the Metea lot to Amstutz.
3. Grabill, from the western town limits to the Leo-Grabill Sports Complex. An 8-foot trail follows State, Henry, and North streets to Main Street. From there it uses the existing Main Street sidewalk and a shared business driveway to reach the ditch. It then widens to 10 feet through Jack R. Harris Park and ends at the sports complex entrance.
4. Grabill Road Bridge to Riverside Gardens Park. The rebuilt bridge has a sidewalk across the river toward Riverside Gardens at 14701 Schwartz Road. This crossing is a sidewalk, not a separated trail.

On foot, the Grabill end and the river crossing feel different from the Hursh and Hosler stretch. On a bike, you'll share sidewalk and a driveway for short sections. The Metea-to-Amstutz leg is the one stretch built entirely as dedicated 10-foot trail.

The trailhead that is still a parcel

Leo-Cedarville bought the property at the southwest corner of Amstutz and Hosler for a new trail parking lot. Future plans call for signage and a trail information kiosk, though those aren't part of the current project.

The schedule has moved. The June 2026 project status report said earthwork had begun, the town was looking into water issues on the site, and completion was expected by the end of August. By the July 7 council meeting, the picture was earlier in the process than that. Apex Surveying had to go back to the 9924 Hosler Road property to finish the full survey. Drawings showed ideas for parking, stormwater runoff, a drainage pond, and driveway entrances. The town manager said excavation crews would start clearing only after the survey was done and reviewed "with the understanding of water direction." Town maintenance staff were scheduled to install the roof on the property's garage building that week and the siding the week after. A "9924 Hosler Rd Parking Diagram" was on the August 4 council agenda.

The September 2026 status report is the most recent. It lists the lot as "Fall 2026" and says the town is "working to identify a contractor." As of October 1, it's not a parking lot yet.

The location already gets attention for other reasons. In February 2026, the town manager reported that flashing beacons had been installed at the Amstutz and Hosler intersection and that patrols there had increased. A trailhead at that corner would put parked cars, walkers, and cyclists at an intersection that already needed extra warning lights. That helps explain why drainage and driveway placement are getting a careful survey first.

For now, the practical parking options are the Metea Park North trailhead on Hursh Road on the west end and the parks along the Grabill end. From the middle of Leo-Cedarville, walking to the trail is the most direct way on.

Where the town's 2026 trail money went instead

While the Amstutz lot waited on surveys, the council spent on getting people into Riverside Gardens safely on foot. On June 2, 2026, it approved up to $6,000 for a walkway along the south side of the park's entrance drive. The town manager said a farmers market the week before had drawn 800 attendees, with heavy foot traffic crossing Schwartz Road and walking among cars on a narrow drive. The approved walkway would run from the parking area across Schwartz Road into the park and stay ADA compliant for large events, with the town's maintenance team doing most of the work. The minutes record the approval, not a finished walkway.

At the same meeting, the council approved a request for proposals for electrical upgrades at Riverside Gardens. The work will be paid for with a $14,000 donation from the Indiana Michigan Power Foundation, given as its Illuminating Leo sponsorship. The upgrades cover what that event needs plus other improvements throughout the park.

So the river end of the network got a new bridge sidewalk in October 2025, plus approvals in 2026 for a pedestrian walkway and power upgrades. Taken together, the money has gone toward people arriving on foot, with a car-oriented trailhead still to come.

Fall stops within reach of the route

Riverside Gardens hosts the season's main event on the trail. The Town of Leo-Cedarville will hold Trick or Treat on the Trail on October 31, 2026, from 4 to 6 p.m. It's free and wheelchair accessible. The Pumpkin Walk contest starts at 3 p.m. Bring a decorated pumpkin to set out along the trail, along with your own battery-operated light.

The hours above come from business websites and tourism listings that don't show a publish date, so check before you go. Cedar Creek Produce's listed season ends in October, which makes this month the window for pumpkins there. The Metea calendar entries don't list a meeting spot within the park.

What is still on paper

Three more pieces are documented, and each is at a different stage:

• The Henry and North streets spur in Grabill. This 750-foot, 8-foot-wide link would run through NIPSCO property and over the ditch on a new pedestrian bridge to reach the Jack R. Harris Park trail. It's listed as needing design and funding, with no timeline. It can't move forward until NIPSCO abandons the property.
• Leo-Grabill Sports Complex to Hursttown Reservoir. This 1.25-mile leg is on permanent hold because of funding and right-of-way issues, even though the plans are 75 percent complete.
• A westward extension study. Allen County has a study underway with engineering firm ERI for a 10-foot trail from the North Metea parking lot west to Puff Road, then south along the east side of Puff to Union Chapel. It's listed for 2027.

The westward study is the only one of the three actively moving. If it goes ahead, the Metea lot on Hursh Road would sit near the middle of a longer route, and the Amstutz lot would anchor the east end of the Leo-Cedarville section.

Trail access is one of the local details buyers ask about, and the honest answer here depends on how far a house is from a trailhead that's actually open, not the one on the planning map. At Morken Real Estate Services, we track how projects like the Amstutz and Hosler lot change the way a Leo-Cedarville street fits into the town. If you'd like to know how your home's location relates to the trail as it stands today, request your home valuation and we'll go through it with you.