Katy Trail Forum

I'm worried about crossing the bridge over the river. Is there a bike lane, and if so is it on both sides of the bridge?

Not to worry! The bike lane on the Boonville bridge is on one side, separated from automobile traffic by concrete barriers and a tall fence like rail on the other side, to make a lane that is probably 8ft. wide. It's a great view of the river.

The only Katy Trail related bridge that should cause worry and should not be attempted on a bike is in Washington. Yes, it's been done. But no, it's not advisable to ride this one.

The bridges in Boonville, Jefferson City, and Hermann are all similar with very adequate bike lanes and great river views.

As noted by the others...NOTHING to worry about. I do recommend that people be cautious as they exit the bridge at Boonville on the north side. There is a sharp hairpin left turn that sometimes has sand. But in terms of traffic - NO WORRIES whatsoever!

But, get ready to use your low gear. The Boonville bridge is probaly the steepest part of the entire Katy trail.

Hey everybody,just letting you know we are still here, Jan is more than half over, we are still open ,but 4 days a week til spring. Th, Fri. Sat, Sun. 7:30am-200 pm we look forward to seeing you all soon. Spring is just around the corner. If you have a large group just call and we will get your table ready. :)573-657-9750

Can't wait for warmer weather and a chance to get over and ride the KATY and have breakfast at Dotty's.

Love you Dotty. Keep the good grub a coming. Love those big old slices of pie. Best place on the trail...

Easy Manti

Hello Experts,

First time Katy Rider here and I need a bit of help.

Planning on doing an unsupported ride from Dutzow to Sedalia in March. Will take the train back to Washington (Dutzow) when done.

I see lots of campgrounds along the way, but does anyone know if they will be open in mid-march? I just want to ensure I'll have access to a toilet and a shower.

Thanks so much for the help.
SofiAndMe

Your best bet would be to contact those places that you'd like to stay and have them tell first hand if they'll be open on the days you'd like to stay.

The bathrooms and drinking fountains are winterized, and won't open up until early April. It doesn't mean that those things aren't available (they are), but you will probably have to get off the trail so you can get them at convenience stores, restaurants, etc. You'll also want to bring your own toilet paper (which is usually not necessary for me on the Katy)

You'll be able to find somewhere to camp/sleep without too much difficulty (just knock on a door and ask for permission to do so if nothing else), and/or print off info from this site or use a smart phone to access it. Otherwise, make sure you get hotel/B&B reservations.

If you use a CamelBak and 2 water bottles, and fill them up at every opportunity to do so, you should be fine on liquids.

Bring plenty of your own food, warm and wet weather clothing, tubes/repair stuff/etc. just in case you need them (because they won't be as readily available as they would otherwise be)---not that you wouldn't bring them anyway, but bring extra.

Otherwise, have a great time. Hopefully, the weather will be great.

Best wishes with the ride. Sounds great.

If it was me, I would have reservations and know where I was going to be spending the night...

That's just me. I don't like riding along "worrying" about where I will rest my head. It takes away some of the enjoyment for me...plus I like the idea of knowing where the goal is for the day. Again - that's just me.

As suggested earlier, I would be on the phone trying to find out what was open for re-supply and MANY places are shut down until April.

Since I have ridden the trail end to end in late march, weather and trail condition are a bigger concern than summer time. Planning as the others have said with reservations, since not much is open, carrying as much as possible with you and knowing starting and stopping points are a very good and wise idea.

Thanks all for the help. Sounds like official camping spots may be hard to find in March. I'll have start calling around and identify who is open. I was trying to not lock ourselves into any specific timetable that way we could go as fast slow as we wanted. Generally shoot for 40 miles a day but don't mind slowing down or speeding up depending of what we see and hear. Also don't want to "have" to ride in the rain just to stay on "schedule". Thanks again. Please keep posting if anyone else comes up with a stroke of genius that has yet to be mentioned.
R. SofiAndMe.

Starting in Dutzow I would go to Bluffton Day 1, Hartsburg Day 2, New Franklin Day 3 Sedalia Day 4. Camping available at each spot. Yes, call ahead.

We loved staying at Doug's house! He is a very fun host and we consider him our friend! He had "valet parking" for our bikes, keeping them out of the rain. He has a wonderful fire pit, well, actually a fire mound, enabling us to thaw out after a chilly ride. He is a great cook, as well! I'm really glad he has opened his home to us bicyclists, as there isn't a whole lot of other lodging in the vicinity. Thanks, Doug!

Yes! Doug is a wonderful host. I did not get to go in 2012, but I did for four years in a row prior. I stayed with Doug each time. Always great cooking, and LOVED the fire pit. It was so enjoyable to meet and visit with other cyclists.
Highly recommend!

Notice a lot of post from Dallas/Plano and surrounding towns. I live in Dallas and love the trail and ride when I can. Older rider who rides alone and likes the B&B's. Be interesting to see if others from the area are inteterested in sharing e-mails and possible buddy rides in the future. Cove148@yahoo.com

You do realize this site pertains to the Katy Trail in Missouri don't you?

absolutely. Love to start my ride in Clinton and finish in Saint Charles.

Great, this will be my 4th year to ride end to end and we also make several weekend trips during the year.

I understand that a trunk line was installed in east Texas with a "turn around" at Colmesniel Texas. I would like to get information on and possibly the location of this "turn around".

The rail line that was associated with the MKT was the Trinity and Sabine Railroad that terminated in the Colmesneil area. It was not part of the main MKT RR in Texas. It had a turntable at the Colmesneil junction to connect it to other railroads but not sure of its location. You can google Trinity and Sabine Railroad for additional info. However, with google maps you can still see where the abandoned Texas and New Orleans Railroad ran north and south through Colmesneil but can't see where the Trinity and Sabine came in from the west. This leads me to believe that the Trinity and Sabine was wiped out by roads after it was abandoned.

Sorry for just now responding. I appreciate the information. I'll do more research on the alternate railroad.

My family plans to ride the KATY west to east in June of 2012. We will ride with a tandem, and we were disappointed to see previous comments regarding a problem with Amtrack for one-way shuttle. Would Amtrack permit a tandem with wheels removed? (Our tandem is 69 inches long without wheels compared with 63 inches for a conventional bike with wheels.) If not, how could we ship the tandem separately to Sedalia? Is there shuttle service we could hire? We would prefer not to drive back and forth with cars since part of the appeal is green transportation. We would appreciate advice from anyone out there in the know!

Use the trip planner link above to find shuttle services. Note: they will also have to use gas to drive back and forth. You would have to contact Amtrak directly to answer your question, but would still probably need shuttle services if you are looking to ride the entire trail, because Amtrak does not go to St. Charles or Clinton

Amtrak will not take a "special" bikes as a roll on in the bike spaces. That includes tandems and recumbents. As MidSouth noted, contact them directly about how to package your tandem as cargo. Couplers may be in your favor.

We also ride a tandem and enjoy it, but sometimes the half bikes are better suited to the trip plans.

I would check out the bike shop in Defiance and see if they could help,Katy
Bike Rental. They transported us and our tandem from St. Charles back to Clinton where our car was parked. Good people,very helpful! We enjoyed the Katy on our tandem. Have fun!!

"half bikes" - heh, good one, Trek. :-)

Since you appear to live in St. Louis, probably the most convenient and least expensive would to be call in a favor from a friend or relative. When my wife and I ride the entire trail we pick up a relative in St. Louis, they ride with us to Clinton, spend the night with us, then in the morning we take off on our merry way and they drive our car back to St. Louis.

If you are a Face Book user you can use their new search feature to see how many of your 1000+ friends live in St Louis that might shuttle you.

The STL-KC Amtrak route has a couple of seats removed in one of the cars, just big enough to park a couple of upright bicycles in. That's why they only allow 4 bikes per train. They don't run a baggage car, either, so checking the bike as luggage won't work.

we shuttle bikes(tandems included)...Call Rhona at Lococo House II & II.....636-946-0619

I've ridden across several times. Some of my experiences are below:
The Casino in Boonville is ok. You can't beat the convenience. I don't like the smoke. They've changed the rules in the past few months to actually allow you to take your bike to the room. The Frederick is nice, but pretty expensive in my opinion. The Comfort Inn out by the highway is not one of the better Comfort Inn's I've stayed in and is hassle to ride out to.

The Globe. Jeanette is SUPER nice and quite inexpensive, but I won't stay there again simply because I DO NOT LIKE CATS and she has several of them.

Amanda at the Dollhouse in Rhineland is a very, very helpful hostess. Not the cheapest place to stay, but nice. The food across the street at the Trailside Bar and Grill has gone downhill bad in my opinion over the last couple years. I thought it used to be a lot better.

McKittrick is fine. I like Hermann with a variety of meal choices. I have stayed at the Vinchester a couple times and that has worked fine with me. Very basic-but clean-hotel room but the price was very pretty inexpensive FOR HERMANN. Especially true if you're not trying to stay during festival weekends. My recommendation is to stay away from Hermann all together if its a festival weekend.
Lococo House in St. Charles has been good to me in terms of shuttle service etc. That said - I prefer hotels to B&Bs so have used several good options in downtown St. Charles.
Hope this helps. It is JUST ONE OPINION. Take it as that. Have a great trip!

Thank you for all the info!

Hi gang! I was interested in the possibility of a ridiculousness long entire length, out-and-back in one shot Katy Trail run and wanted to know if this is even a remote possibility from a legal standpoint. I like the stupid long endurance stuff and thought this might be a nice challenge to do it all in one shot, no camping, and only catnaps if even necessary.
This would require riding all night of course and, knowing that the park closes officially at sunset, could one obtain a permit?
Secondly, is anyone else interested in this sort of thing?
Thanks for the insight!

No permits that I know of to be on the trail after dark.

Me, So you will do out an back about 475 miles in how many hours? Depending on your Forrest Gump plan.. eat when hungry and sleep when your tired? I could be interested but I was looking into a full day one way in late June. Both ways could be brutal.

I used to ride the Katy Flyer from New Franklin to St. Louis back in the early fifties. I even road in the caboose (on the Moberly Local) with my dad who was a conductor/brakeman on the Katy. Great times. I wish we had the old trains back. I sure miss 'em and all the wonderful people I met who were Katy employees.

Was your father stationed out of New Franklin? They have a Katy caboose sitting downtown if you ever go back there. My dad remembers working in the fields along the Katy as a kid during WWII and seeing transport trains of German POWs going by. The Germans were actually happy to be in the US, out of the war.

I worrk as a brakeman on the Moberly branch for a short time

Is the Katy trail paved or is it packed hard enough to ride a Road Bike? Or is it best to ride a mountain bike with wider tires? I am wanting to ride the trail from east to west and back this spring. How many days should I plan for the trip -one way? Thank you.

It's hard packed chat that works well for either a hybrid or road bike. A mountain bike is overkill. How many days depends on you and your ability and desire to either smell the roses or simply have another production ride.

The Katy is not paved but very hard packed limestone. It can be soft in spots when wet.
I suggest you use whatever bike your comfortable riding for a long distance. I've been end to end on a mountain bike with no problems. But thats what worked for me. If you use a road bike you may want to consider some heavy duty tires.
I can't tell you how long your ride would take not knowing how many miles you can/want to ride each day. Be sure to enjoy the sites along the way.

Paulie

Check out the FAQ on this site: Click "Katy Trail Home" up above, then "Read the FAQ".
Look for the topic "What's the best kind of bike tire for the Katy Trail / can I use a road bike?"

Last October, I had the opportunity to ride a portion of the KT for the 1st time. We rode from Rocheport to N. Jeff City and back. We used Hybrids, with skinny road tires and found the trail to be an excellent ride. The section of trail we rode was well maintained, packed peet gravel. It was covered by a lot of leaves at the time, which made for some guessing about what might be beneath. But an excellent ride and great scenery on this stretch. Can't wait to do it again.

I am observing, at least between Hartsburg and Tebbetts, where I am doing my daily rides, that the trail surface this winter, 2012-2013, as compared to last winter, is much "stickier." Last winter, even during wet weather, the trail got "doughy," when it thawed, but not "sticky," or muddy. I think this is because we had such a dry summer and fall. The likestone dust was not washed away by frequent heavy rainshowers, so it accumulated. Now, when you add a little moisture from drizzle or melting snow, the result is a sticky, slippery surface. My daughter said it would be perfect icing for a mud pie.

So the point of my post, in keeping with the discussion of what tires/bikes to use, is to alert riders from outside the immediate area to avoid potential disappointment with the conditions by riding early in the day when the trail is frozen and solid, or expect that wider tires may work better for the immediate future, and to expect that more bike maintenance, such as cleaning and re-lubing may be necessary. Someone posted not long ago, that, "We take what the trail gives us." I like that. The trail provides year-round recreational/fitness opportunities for me if I make small adaptations for the conditions. Thanks for providing the trail!

The KATY is solid, but not smooth. Add some nasty thorns when we have hot dry weather like last year and wider tires are the way to go.

While riding on 23cm tires will work just fine, you may be a little more comfortable with something a bit wider. It all depends on the rider.

The choice of bikes and tires also depends on the time of year. The trail is packed, but, does have some wide cracks to be aware of, Last July at 107 degrees on 700x28, 3 blowouts in 2 days, due to heat and chat. went back in Sept. on Hybrids with 700x32 better luck. Enjoy yourself and go with the flow.

My husband and I have recumbent trikes and plan to bike from Clinton to St. Charles. Is there any type of shuttle servive that could get us and our bikes back to Clinton after completion of the trip? We are planning to do it latter part of April this year. Has really been a problem for us without having to bike both ways.

The FAQ on this site talks about that: Click "Katy Trail Home" up above, then "Read the FAQ". Look for "Can I get my bike shipped for a one-way ride?" The train & B&Bs are also options, although the train doesn't go directly into Clinton.

Pat, I think your best best would be to call the Lococo House at 636-946-0619 in St. Charles and see what arrangements can be made to get you and your trikes back to Clinton.

Agree with the Lococo House recommendation.

Is there any bike rental shops that will rent me a bike to do the entire trail?

I believe there are several, I know that Katy Bike Rental in Defiance will rent you bikes and shuttle you out west as well.