What type of terrain did the early explorers have to cross?
Depending on the rainfall amounts the Portage would be a combination of swamp,mud,and thickly woooded trails. Fox Island Park gives us a good example of what the area looked like two hundred years ago.
Most of the area surrounding what was to become Fort Wayne was very dense forest. Most of it untouched since the last ice age
and difficult to navigate.
The Portage trail in which the travelers carried their canoes would have looked very similar to this trail in Fox Island Park. Ironically, Fox Island Park is directly southeast of where the trail meets Little River.
The travelers could canoe through the swamps located on the southwest section of the Portage. Depending on the season they could cut their carrying distance in half.
