Indy’s Grassy Creek Greenway Opens New Connection to Environmental Education
On June 29, 2026, Indianapolis leaders, neighbors and community partners gathered to celebrate the opening of the Grassy Creek Greenway on the city’s Far Eastside. The new trail runs a total of 1.6 miles and provides enhanced access to the Grassy Creek Environmental Community Center.
For the surrounding neighborhoods, the newly opened trail means easier access to one of the city’s largest parks, a new environmental education hub, a new playground, and yet another way to utilize Central Indiana’s growing network of trails.
The project received support from CICF’s Connected Communities initiative, made possible through a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
Jenny Boyts, executive director of The Parks Alliance of Indianapolis (a CICF fund) attended the ribbon cutting on behalf of CICF.
“Parks aren’t simply playgrounds and recreation, as important as those are,” Boyts said in remarks. “More people are choosing to stay in communities that invest in a healthier future. They want to move to and remain in places that invest in quality of life, making it easier for people to live an active life in safer, connected places.”
Boyts spoke about how the economic case for parks and trails has also grown stronger in recent years, citing a 2025 survey by Area Development magazine showing “quality of life” ranking as the second most important factor in site selection for small to medium corporations, ahead of tax rates and local incentives.
Grassy Creek shows what such a talent-attracting investment looks like.
In 2021, Indy Parks invested more than $2 million to acquire 75 additional acres at Grassy Creek Regional Park. Today, the park includes more than 240 acres, making it one of the largest parks in Indianapolis. In 2025, Grassy Creek became one of four Indy Parks focused on nature and environmental education.
The new Environmental Community Center and nature playground give east side residents more access to environmental learning and outdoor experiences close to home. The new greenway helps connect nearby neighborhoods directly to that resource.
The initial $50 million investment through Connected Communities helped create a pipeline that now exceeds $200 million in Central Indiana trails/greenway projects that are either completed or underway.
Those projects are changing how people move through the city.
In October 2025, partners celebrated the completion of 17 continuous miles of trail on the west side by closing a gap on the B&O Trail. Later that month, the Indianapolis segment of the Nickel Plate Trail opened, creating a major connection between the State Fairgrounds, Fall Creek Trail, Monon Trail, Castleton, and Hamilton County.
Grassy Creek Greenway is the latest example of that progress. Future phases will add a four-mile extension south to the IndyGo Blue Line and the Pennsy Trail.
For CICF, these added mobility options and improved connectivity are the goal. They enable safer travel for more residents to more opportunities.
“Today is a celebration of a new trail segment,” Boyts said, “but it is also a celebration of our momentum: momentum toward a city where parks are easier to reach, trails are easier to use, and more people can experience the benefits of nature close to home.”
At Grassy Creek, that future is already taking shape.
