Inside the 2026 Delaware County Indiana Experience Guide
There’s a line in the opening pages of our county’s new Experience Guide that does a lot of heavy lifting: “World-class isn’t reserved for the biggest zip codes.”
And the guide is here to prove it with pages of stories, places, and people that make Delaware County worth the trip.
So, before you flip through it yourself (and you should flip through it), here’s a look at what’s waiting inside.
You’ve got to see this!
LOVE: Two Pop Culture Icons
Bob Ross—yes, that Bob Ross—filmed the early seasons of The Joy of Painting inside a home in Muncie, Indiana. That home, now the Bob Ross Experience at Minnetrista, is the only museum outside the Smithsonian to publicly display his original works. You can stand in the exact spot where he painted his happy little trees. You can even take a workshop in the same building, learning his wet-on-wet technique from Certified Ross Instructors®.
And then there’s Garfield. The famously Monday-hating, lasagna-loving cat was created by Jim Davis, a Ball State University grad who kept his studio right here in Delaware County. To celebrate Garfield’s 25th birthday, local artists painted and decorated four-foot-tall Garfield statues now scattered across Muncie. The Garfield Trail passport lets visitors check in at each statue and earn points toward prizes—part scavenger hunt, part love letter to a comic legend.
The guide’s opening chapter digs into both, complete with a pop culture quiz that’ll test even the most devoted Muncie enthusiast.
FEEL: Where Creativity Means Getting Your Hands Dirty
Tucked into the heart of downtown, Made in Muncie Pottery has its own story. Beginning with owner Toren Scott, a Navy veteran, former pottery student, and now the person shaping what the space becomes for everyone who walks through the door. From open throwing sessions to adaptive equipment for artists with disabilities, Made in Muncie reminds you art was always meant to be for everyone.
The guide’s Arts & Culture section also takes readers into the galleries and performance spaces that make Muncie’s creative scene genuinely worth the detour: Gordy Fine Art & Framing (a downtown anchor for over 30 years), the David Owsley Museum of Art on Ball State’s campus (free admission, more than 11,000 works, 5,000 years of civilization), and the Marilyn K. Glick Center for Glass, where you can watch artists work in a hot shop right on campus.
First Thursdays bring it all into the streets with galleries open late, makers setting up shop, and downtown coming alive with an energy that’s hard to explain until you’re in it.
DISCOVER: The Heart of it All
DWNTWN Muncie is easy to underestimate from the outside. The guide gives you a reason to look closer.
Park once. Walk everywhere. Grab coffee, catch a live performance at Muncie Civic Theater, wander through a gallery, catch a free concert at Canan Commons, and end with a night cap at a bar without ever needing your car again. The Muncie Downtown Development Partnership has built a district where something is always happening, and the guide maps it out in full.
Summer 2026 brings the Muncie Three Trails Music Series back to Canan Commons and Ball State’s Brown Family Amphitheater—nationally recognized acts performing free outdoor concerts through September. Bluegrass, Americana, country blues, electric Cajun, mariachi, gospel. No ticket required. Performances begin July 11, 2026.
The guide also spotlights the Academy of Model Aeronautics—more than 1,000 acres, the world’s largest model aviation museum, and an outdoor flying site that draws crowds and competitors from across the globe. If you’ve never watched a skilled pilot maneuver a model aircraft from just a few hundred feet away, it belongs on your list.
TASTE: A Fork in Every Direction
This section of the guide earns its real estate.
Amazing Joe’s Grill has been a Muncie legend for 18 years, built on house-made everything and a team that’s been together for over two decades. Earlier this year, owner Mike Robinson moved the restaurant to the terminal at Delaware County Regional Airport—not as a gimmick, but because the runway views, the space, and the community spirit made it the right call. Every seat has a view. The steaks remain untouched.
Across town, Ron Lahody’s Trust Your Butcher Steakhouse offers a different kind of theater: enter through an iconic meat cleaver door handle, settle in near the glistening bar, and order a 40 oz. Tomahawk or the legendary Lobster Mac & Cheese. Next door, Butcher’s Lounge pours from a selection of over 200 bourbons and whiskeys.
For something with more history than horsepower, the guide makes a compelling case for the Delaware County Pizza Trail—a passport-style adventure that includes two Hoosier institutions. Pizza King, founded in 1958, lets you “ring the king” at your table using an old-school rotary phone to place your order. Greek’s Pizzeria, a Ball State tradition since 1969, serves hand-tossed dough and signature garlic butter breadsticks in a red-and-white-checkered 50s diner. You can win free pizza. The drive is worth it regardless.
The craft beer scene gets its own spotlight too, from Elm Street Brewing in a restored 1892 icehouse to Four Day Ray in Yorktown and the Heorot Pub’s 70+ taps. And for the coffee crowd, the guide covers everything from The Caffeinery’s award-winning roasts to Rosebud Coffee House, where you can sip a signature pistachio-rose espresso inside a restored bank vault.
EXPLORE: Push Your Limits
Delaware County has been quietly building one of the region’s most impressive outdoor recreation networks, and the 2026 guide documents what’s now available.
The Muncie Skatepark at Westside Park opened in June 2025 and set a new standard with 15,000 square feet of free, concrete park along the White River. It was designed by renowned Hunger Skateparks and features deep bowls, flow zones, and street sections for every level of shredder.
The Cardinal Greenway—62 miles, Indiana’s longest rail-trail, a National Recreation Trail and Rail-Trail Hall of Fame inductee— connects communities across the county. Pair it with the White River Greenway’s 5.5 miles of riverside trail, kayak launches on the White River, and 1,275 acres of open water at Prairie Creek Reservoir, and you have a destination that can fill a full weekend outdoors.
Golfers have reason to take note too. The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown was named the top public-access course under $50 in Indiana by Golf Digest. Seven water holes, championship bent grass, and a layout that demands every club in the bag.
And if you’ve never disc golfed the Carl Scott Memorial Course in Yorktown— 4.3 stars across 1,100+ reviews, tight wooded fairways, wide-open holes—the guide makes a pretty persuasive case for a morning round.
BUY: Made Here
HeidiJHale Designs + Details started with a handmade anklet. Today, the downtown Muncie studio ships to customers across the country, and the work has appeared on Eva Longoria, and Hilary Duff. Every piece is handcrafted from high-quality materials like silver, bronze, and natural stones, with a level of personalization that mass production can’t replicate. Memorial jewelry, custom engravings, one-of-a-kind designs you help create. That’s what the shopping chapter in this guide is really about: things made by people, in real places, worth bringing home.
The thrifting scene gets its own feature too. Caldwell Antique Mall, Old 67 Antique Mall, Frankie D’s Flea Market, Well Made Vintage are all included, because some of the best finds in Delaware County have already lived a life before you got to them.
Get The Full Picture
The 2026 Experience Guide is a well-curated case that this corner of East Central Indiana has been underestimated for too long. There’s a reason locals are proud of it, and a reason visitors keep coming back.
The guide covers everything above and more including places to stay, community resources, a full annual events calendar, and a handful more of feature stories worth reading.
You can request a copy of the guide be mailed to you, you can pick your own up at our downtown office, or you can view it online!
