Friends of the Howard Trail

Trail includes bridges, stairs, fallen logs, and other woodsy type things. The Howard Trail by Steve Howard, Captain, U.S. Navy (retired) Trail overview: The Howard Trail is located at Crane, a 100-square-mile Navy base in southwest Indiana. Construction of the trail started in 1991 and completed in 1995. Originally, the trail was more than 17 miles long, encircling 800-acre Lake Greenwood. Currently, about eight miles are available for use. Only persons who have access to Crane may use the trail. Trail History I assumed command of Crane in August 1991. Later that year I hiked around Lake Greenwood. While there was little elevation change on the route, the hike was challenging because of the extensive undergrowth, much with thorns. The hike took about nine hours. After the hike, I suggested to Lynn Andrews, the Crane Natural Resources manager at the time, that a trail around the lake would be a valuable recreational asset to people living on the base, and to visitors. He agreed and began to lay out the trail. Initially, the trail was marked with the small metal tags that one can still see, especially in the marina area; later we added mile markers. (The marina is in the same area where the state park was prior to the 1941 Navy takeover. The park was constructed in the 1930s by the work projects used to provide employment to Great Depression sufferers. Some of the original park structures are visible near the trail, including the four “burner” wood cooking fireplace shown at the top of this page. Nearby, one can also view original trail steps and several hand stamped metal plaques identifying tree types. There is also an old outhouse. The jewel among the old buildings is a picnic shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid-1930s. It is still used.) Many individuals and groups were involved in the trail construction, including scores of volunteers, work release prisoners from nearby county jails, the Natural Resources staff (especially Lynn Andrews), Boy Scouts (often doing Eagle projects – usually bridges across small water courses) and teams from the Student Conservation Association (http://www.thesca.org/). SCA teams included high school students under the care of college student volunteers. These teams lived in tents near Lake Oberlin, cooked for themselves and worked very hard on the part of the trail north and east of the Lake Greenwood Dam. It is interesting that virtually the entire trail was built using only hand tools. That meant that Boy Scouts had to carry lumber – sometimes several miles – to bridge projects. (Occasionally, Lynn authorized a chain saw to clear large trees that had fallen on the trail.) As we completed the trail, the Crane security department officials got worried that they would not be able to locate someone who was lost/hurt along the trail, so they required us to install markers every 1/10 of a mile on the entire trail. At the time I didn’t like the idea – we weren’t building a superhighway. However, I’m glad the markers are there as we resurrect the trail. The trail got a lot of use for a number of years. While I was still Commander, I often took groups around its more than 17-mile length and gave participants a certificate of completion. That’s a lot of miles for some people; hike participants seemed to like having a souvenir of their accomplishment, besides blisters, sore muscles and ticks. (It’s interesting to do the math. If one has a three-foot stride, one takes approximately 30,000 steps to walk the trail. I used to tell that to groups near the end of the hike, not at the beginning.) In 1994, I retired from the Navy and became the President of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. From then until 2001 I took many groups from Bloomington on the hike. I think I’ve hiked the trail 20 or 25 times, either alone, with a friend or with a group. In 1999, after my wife Nancy died, my son Mark kindly suggested to the Crane leadership that the trail be renamed the Howard Trail. Generously, they made the change and in October 2009 there was a very nice ceremony dedicating the trail. All my kids were in town at the time to participate in a memorial service for Nancy. We hiked the trail together, which was very memorable for me. Because of the added security imposed after the terrorist attacks in 2001, use of the trail dropped off dramatically. Brush reclaimed it in many places. It was essentially unused until recently, when Kaye Seeley, the wife of a Navy officer assigned to the base, decided to try to stimulate hikers and the Crane leadership to get the trail back in useable shape. Kaye had, on a previous tour at Crane, used the trail and was disappointed that it had fallen into disrepair. Many people helped build the trail and more are now resurrecting it. It is always dangerous to single out people in a large group, but I would particularly like to thank three individuals: Lynn Andrews, for planning and building the trail; Kaye Seeley, who is the spark for getting the trail back in commission; and, Commander Jimmy Stewart, the current NSA Crane “mayor,” who is providing a welcoming and supportive environment for rebuilding the trail. I appreciate the interest and hard work by all of the Friends of the Howard Trail as we restore this valuable recreational resource. About 80 people have become Friends of the Howard Trail to help get it back in shape. Thank you all. (I’d be happy to respond to your comments/suggestions/recommendations about the trail. My email address is [email protected])

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