Walk the stretch of Halter Road where it meets Hursh Road and the pavement still looks too new. No cracks yet, no faded crosswalk paint, just a clean strip of asphalt cutting through what used to be a gap between two dead-end sidewalks. Two years ago this connection didn't exist. Now it's part of a nearly 5.5-mile trail that finally does something Leo-Cedarville has wanted since before most of the town's current construction projects had names.
If you've lived here through the cones, the flaggers, and the one-lane detours on Hosler Road, you already know something's been happening. What you may not know is that the project is, for practical purposes, done. And the one piece still missing isn't a ribbon cutting. It's a parking lot.
Seven Years, Five Government Bodies, One Trail
The Cedar Creek Parks Trail didn't arrive with a single groundbreaking. It came together in phases, funded by five different entities that each had to agree on their share before a shovel went in the ground. The town of Leo-Cedarville put in $796,489. Allen County contributed close to $2.9 million through its commissioners and county council. The Allen County Fort Wayne Capital Improvement Board added $1.5 million. Grabill kicked in $200,000. Altogether, the trail represents a $5.4 million investment stretched across roughly seven years of planning and construction.
Kent Castleman, executive director of Fort Wayne Trails, put it plainly at the March 2025 ribbon cutting: this trail represents true collaboration with so many partners working over the last seven years to accomplish a 5-mile trail connecting two main street communities and five parks.
That ribbon cutting marked the completion of a 1.5-mile section along Halter Road and Hosler Road, running from Hursh Road to Center Street at State Road 1. It was a big chunk, but not the finish line. Eight months later, in November 2025, a second ribbon cutting added two more pieces: a 0.45-mile segment from Grabill Road to the Leo-Grabill Sports Complex in Grabill, and a half-mile connection linking Metea Park North to the existing trail at Hursh Road and Halter Road. That second event pushed the total length to just under 5.5 miles.
Which means if you've been assuming this project is still "in progress" because you remember the detours from a year or two ago, the ground has shifted under that assumption. The trail is largely built.
What Actually Connects Now
Here's what that 5.5 miles buys you. Starting from downtown Leo-Cedarville, you can now walk or bike along Halter and Hosler to Center Street, cut over toward Hursh Road, and continue out to Metea Park North without touching a car. From there, a separate half-mile link ties into Grabill, running to the Leo-Grabill Sports Complex on the west side of that town.
That's a route connecting two main street communities and five parks, all without a car being part of the equation. It's the kind of thing that sounds modest until you try to imagine doing it two years ago, when these were disconnected sidewalk fragments that dead-ended into ditches or private property lines.
The trail isn't finished expanding, either. Town planning documents note that the corridor is eventually meant to extend to Hurshtown Reservoir, which would link the walking and biking network directly to one of the two reservoirs that give this area its name and its recreation identity. That extension doesn't have a firm completion date yet, so treat it as a "someday" rather than a "this season."
The One Piece Still Missing
Here's the detail that separates a genuinely finished project from one that just looks finished on a map. According to the town's most recent project status report, filed in March 2026, Leo-Cedarville purchased the property at the southwest corner of Amstutz and Hosler specifically to build a new trail parking lot. Right-of-way acquisition was already done. Design was underway. The stated target was completion by early summer 2026.
We're past that window now. If the timeline held, that lot should already be paved and striped by the time you're reading this. If it slipped, as these projects sometimes do, it's close. Either way, that parking lot has been the last unresolved piece of the puzzle: a place for people who don't live within walking distance of downtown to actually access the trail without parking on a residential shoulder. Future plans also call for signage and an information kiosk at the site, though those aren't part of the current construction contract.
If you're planning a first visit to the trail from somewhere else in Allen County, that corner is worth checking before you drive out, since it's the difference between a dedicated lot and hunting for street parking on a road that wasn't built for it.
Where the Trail Actually Takes You This Month
September is a specific month to be asking this question, because a few of the things that make this network worth walking are winding down for the season.
The Leo-Cedarville Farmers Market runs Thursday evenings, 4 to 7 p.m., at Riverside Gardens Park, the same park the new trail segments connect to. It's run by the Leo-Cedarville Foundation, a community development nonprofit, with sponsorship from Jackson Pest Management and regular vendors like Creekside Meadows Flower Farm and Gateway Farms. Here's a small wrinkle worth knowing before you plan around it: the market's own promotional materials don't fully agree on when the season ends. Some list the last Thursday of August, others push it into late September. If a Thursday evening walk to the market is part of your plan, it's worth a quick check of the Foundation's current listings before you go, rather than assuming last year's schedule holds.
Paddling season is still open, at least for now. Hurshtown Reservoir allows canoeing and fishing from May through September, so there's still time this month before that window closes. Separately, Steady Eddy's Station, right in the heart of downtown on the banks of the Cedarville Reservoir, serves as the Leo location for canoe and kayak rentals through Fort Wayne Outfitters. These are two different bodies of water with two different rental setups, and now, thanks to the trail, both are reachable on foot or by bike from most of downtown.
The Imagination Station playground and the splashpad at Riverside Gardens Park round out the family-facing side of things. The playground runs year-round; the splashpad is seasonal and typically closes as the weather turns, so if a hot afternoon is still ahead this month, it's worth checking before assuming it's running.
What's Actually Along the Route
A short list of what you'll pass if you walk the connected trail from downtown toward Metea Park North:
- Steady Eddy's Station, the downtown put-in point for Fort Wayne Outfitters canoe and kayak rentals on the Cedarville Reservoir
- Riverside Gardens Park, home to the Thursday farmers market, the splashpad, and the Imagination Station playground
- Olde Church Shoppes, housed in an 1860s building on Main Street, one of downtown's older commercial structures
- Wayne Home Design Co., a home decor shop on Center Street
- The trail segment linking to Metea Park North, currently the eastern end of the connected network
- The separate half-mile spur into Grabill, ending at the Leo-Grabill Sports Complex
None of this existed as a single connected loop before late 2025. It's a genuinely new version of the town, built quietly, phase by phase, without much fanfare beyond a couple of ribbon cuttings that most residents probably didn't attend.
Quick Answers
Is the entire Cedar Creek Parks Trail finished? The main connected sections, downtown to Metea Park North and the Grabill spur, are complete as of the November 2025 ribbon cutting, bringing the total to just under 5.5 miles. A future extension to Hurshtown Reservoir has no confirmed completion date.
Where do I park to access the trail? A dedicated parking lot at the southwest corner of Amstutz and Hosler was targeted for completion by early summer 2026. Check current status before relying on it if you're driving in from outside downtown.
When does the farmers market end for the season? Sources disagree, with some listing late August and others late September. Confirm with the Leo-Cedarville Foundation's current listings before planning a visit.
Can I still paddle this month? Hurshtown Reservoir's canoe and fishing season runs through September. Steady Eddy's Station rentals through Fort Wayne Outfitters are a separate option on the Cedarville Reservoir.
A town's daily rhythm changes in small increments, a trail segment here, a parking lot there, until one day the whole shape of it is different from what you remember. That's exactly the kind of shift Daniel Morken and the team at Morken Real Estate Services pay attention to, not because it changes what a house is worth overnight, but because it's the texture that makes a place worth living in, or worth watching if you're thinking about your next move here. If you're curious what any of this means for your own property in Leo-Cedarville, reach out anytime.
