Our Trails Are Open From Dawn to Dusk Every Day
Cope Environmental Center is situated on 130 beautiful acres in Centerville, Indiana. The property features over 3 miles of hiking trails meandering through hardwood forests, grasslands, over 12 acres of prairie, 2 wetlands, 3 ponds, and a significant collection of conifers. The Jim Cope Conifer Trail highlights over 50 different species of conifers from around the world and was dedicated in 2002.
The property is used by hikers daily and is the outdoor classroom for thousands of school students each year. The trails also host hundreds of summer campers in June and July providing a beautiful setting for community groups and events.
The property is, of course, managed with sustainability in mind. Areas not needing to be maintained for program purposes are often left to their natural beauty to avoid excessive fuel use and habitat destruction. Trails are maintained with mulch from area holiday trees chipped by Richmond Power and Light each spring!
We encourage you to explore our trails, from dawn to dusk, every day of the year! Trailheads are located at the 4910 Shoemaker Rd. entrance and the 1730 Airport Road entrance. Maps can be found at the trailheads - hikers are encouraged to return the maps for reuse by future hikers.
Guides and Trail Maps:
You can click on the underlined text to open these links in a new tab to print.
CEC Trail Map (print)
(Special thanks to Thomas Hill for his ongoing help with this map!)
CEC Trail Map (online)
(Special thanks to Earlham College for hosting this map)
(Prepared by CEC volunteer Ed Fry)
(Prepared by 2010 EC Grad and CEC Bonner Scholar Amy Boxell)
(Prepared by 2011 ESR Grad and CEC intern Dave Wunker)
(Prepared by 2011 ESR Grad and CEC intern Dave Wunker)