Trails at Portage Manor offer second chances. And you still have time to hike, bike them.

Joseph Dits, South Bend Tribune
·2 min read
A sign points to an overlook of South Bend's Pinhook Park, seen from the freshly cut preliminary trails at the Portage Manor property in South Bend during an open house for trails on June 15, 2024.
A sign points to an overlook of South Bend's Pinhook Park, seen from the freshly cut preliminary trails at the Portage Manor property in South Bend during an open house for trails on June 15, 2024.

Dozens of people came Saturday to walk and bike the freshly cut preliminary trails at Portage Manor in South Bend that was, in many respects, a mix of second chances. If you missed it, you’ve got more chances to try the trails.

The open house was a second chance for the roughly 130-acre property that historically served as the county farm. It gave several visitors a second thought about this site at 3016 Portage Ave. and the green expanses hidden beyond the century-old, now-shuttered county home. As they often said, “I didn’t know this was out here.”

How this project started: Hike or bike fresh trails in Portage Manor's wilds, then say: What should it be?

Among them, Brian Reynolds of Niles says he “geeked out” on the trails after taking a hike.

It was a second chance for the men on work release from the county’s DuComb Center, who’d earned pay for their time cutting trails over the prior week. They sat in chairs and cheerfully welcomed trail users at key trail intersections, labeled “Farm Trail East/West,” “Pasture Trail East,” “Sherwood Forest” and so on.

Cyclists ride a dirt drive that links several of the preliminary trails that have been cut on the Portage Manor property in South Bend during an open house for trails on June 15, 2024.
Cyclists ride a dirt drive that links several of the preliminary trails that have been cut on the Portage Manor property in South Bend during an open house for trails on June 15, 2024.

“You see the expressions on people’s faces when they come through,” says Wayne Hoskin, 35, who’d grown up mountain biking at Rum Village Park in South Bend. “It makes me feel like we really accomplished something.”

Drewone Williams, 53, didn’t know if he was capable of the physical labor after having gone through hip surgery about three years ago. But he did. And his hips felt better because of the exercise of working with tools.

“Makes you feel alive again,” he says. “I go home tired, with a sense of worth. Then I can come a year from now and say, ‘I did this.’ Then you see it progress.”

The trails, which are meant to see whether or not there’s public interest in keeping this as a green space, need more feedback — especially from mountain bikers — on how best to build these trails so that they’re sustainable.

Frances Jacobus-Parker and Marius Hauknes take a family walk on the preliminary trails, including this dirt drive, at the Portage Manor property in South Bend during an open house for trails on June 15, 2024.
Frances Jacobus-Parker and Marius Hauknes take a family walk on the preliminary trails, including this dirt drive, at the Portage Manor property in South Bend during an open house for trails on June 15, 2024.

St. Joseph County Commissioner Derek Dieter, who’s organizing this effort, says the trails will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays starting in early July and running through the summer. Folks can also arrange weekend tours by contacting him at ddieter@sjcindiana.com or 574-532-2200. That’s also how you can reach him to offer feedback.

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Portage Manor trails in South Bend open to hike bike summer