Katy Trail Forum

Call this the Big Water thread. Yes, water between Jefferson City and St. Charles can be a problem. We were in Augusta today and there was no water. Of course it was easy to find in town but the businesses aren't always open. While I don't expect the Katy to "serve" me, at the same time I agree that MDNR ought to put water in a few of these isolated type areas. Treloar, Augusta, Defiance, Weldon Spring. Not sure where / where not the water is between JC and McKittrick for example. I know it would take some time but if someone could compile a list of non-DNR spigots / water areas that may help.

Amanda in a different thread today noted the water spigot at Rhineland ballfield. Klondike Park east of Augusta has water and I am pretty sure they have frost free spigots, available year round. The spot at the campground in Portland has a spigot. Etc. We need water in Defiance, where is it? Not sure. If you go up the Mo Research Park trail to the treatment plant there's a water fountain, app MM 52.

For the visitor types to our beautiful trail, I would say don't take no water at the trailhead for an answer. With a little searching you can find it. The song Proud Mary says "people on the river are happy to give." Well, people on the Katy are happy to give too. For real. You oughta try it.

I fill water bottles from the restroom sink at Katy Bike Rental east of the trail head in defiance. They are right off the trail across the wooden bridge. They sell Gatorade and ice cream treats also.

Come on Hank, you're a local boy and seems you know where the water is and is not. That section probably has more water than other stops west of Treloar. As I told Ginnis get a iced bladder for especially days of over 100F temp and holiday rides or use a few coins and go to the pay areas. Begging, not my style unless offered first.

There is a drinking fountain that can be used to refill supplies at the Dutzow trailhead. Did it a couple weeks ago.

It is not apparent, but at Huntsdale, there is a public bathroom/shower/water at the campground. There is a red building/store right on the trail (Katfish Katy's), and the campground and bathroom are about a quarter a mile south on the gravel. It is a block building, visible from the trail.

Here is where we got water this past week: N. Jeff city (water at trailhead), Tebbett (Biker's Hostel. inside or vending on porch), Mokane (general store in town), Rhineland (gas station or cafe) Marthasville (trailhead or gas station) Dutzow (trailhead or cafe) Augusta (brewery has ice water jugs), Defiance (Bike shop/restroom) MO Research Park parking lot( .75 mile) and St. Charles.

Thanks Tess. I am compiling a list and will post when finished. I think Rhineland has a spigot near the ballfield, but I forget where?

If I'm remembering correctly, there's a spigot under or next to the shelter house in Rhineland... right off the trail. There are also nice bathrooms and you can get water from the sinks in there. Also a vending machine. Hard to remember for sure, as last time we spent awhile in the shelter it was to escape a heavy downpour, so water wasn't our priority.

What about Treloar, anyone?

IIRC at Treloar there is a soda machine across the parking lot that had water.

Thanks everyone for sharing this info. Next week I will be on the trail myself and will double-check and verify what businesses and services are out there, and will update all the listings here.

The soda machine in Treloar has been removed--no source there anymore.

That's too bad the soda machine at Treloar is gone. Has the bar gone out of business too?

It appeared closed, signs removed, soda machine gone and a closed sign on the door this past Sunday when they were usually open.

There is also water in McKittrick. Loutre market is very close to the trail and easy to get to with several vending machines outside. And when the McKittrick Farmers Mercantile is open or if Joey and Rich are around they will happily give you water.

You can always stop at the Dutzow Deli & Restaurant if traveling west from St. Charles before you get Treolar. Water, Gatorade, Soda, Ice and Good food is available.

Re: Treloar
Apparently the bar was run by the Twin Gables in Marthasville. According to Don in Marthasville, there was a rent dispute and the restaurant closed, taking the vending machines with them. It's a long stretch between Marthasville and McKittrick...

An unapparent resource is the Railwood Golf Club Pro Shop, located 1/2 mile north of the trail, 2 1/2 miles east of the North Jefferson City Trailhead, on County Road 4037. It is relaxed and open to the public. It is open 8 until dark, weather permitting, i.e., not raining, snowing, temperature above freezing, 7 days a week except Christmas day. The grill is open 11ish to 1ish. Water, soda,
tea, beer, snacks, candy, and expensive snake bashing sticks, are always available.

There is an outdoor spigot at the Augusta Brewing Company. Go up the outdoor wooden steps, turn left. The spigot comes straight up out of the ground past the outdoor table.

I've heard that hotel rooms anywhere near Columbia, MO are getting booked solid on weekends that MU plays at home, now that MU is part of the new conference, what is it SEC? I don't know. Anyway, this would include Jeff City, Fulton, Holt Summit, probably Boonville and others. This is just meant to be a heads up for people planning to bike the Katy Trail on Fall weekends. I'm not sure if it is affecting B & Bs.

Yes, football weekends affect Boonville and the B&B's there. We stayed in the one east of Snoddy's several years ago that was booked full with bike riders and football fans who came in for the MU game.

The SEC is all about football. Their fans will travel to the ends of the earth for their team. My daughter went to Ole Miss so I have experience with the SEC.

We have two really nice B & B's in Hartsburg that the SEC fans count rent. We are 20 miles away from MU. Use this Bike Katy Trail for Hartsburg and call Cath or Jeannette.

Thanks for starting this thread. Yes -- Rocheport B&Bs fill up on football weekends. Glad we're discussing this! I'm sure other towns within a 20 minute drive of Columbia do as well. Here's the dates for home Mizzou football games -- Sept 1, Sept 8, Sept 15, Oct 6, Oct 13, Oct 27, Nov 17. Check mutigers.com for updated schedule info. If you are planning to ride the trail this fall, and are staying in Central Missouri, this is something to keep in mind. We still have plenty of availability, but it will book up closer to these dates. Please check out our availability calendar for Rocheport's Katy Trail Bed & Breakfast at www.katytrailbb.com. See you on the trail!

Planning to do about 50 miles per day. This will be my first time to do the Katy Trail and I plan to both camp and motel/hotel/B&B. Would appreciate any and all comments to make this a great trip. Riding a Trek 700

Where do you plan to start Gene? How many days are you riding? You may want to look down stream to the post by Ripson "Bike Trip Spring 2013/Tent Camping the Katy Trail". Good comments there from those that have done it.

Hi Darrell,
I plan to start at Clinton and do 50-60 miles a day so basically four days. Your comments will be appreciated.
Gene

Gene, looks like you have some excellent choices for camping and lodging at those distances per day, for a four day trip. You have probably checked out the milage chart, but if not, you can figure the distance you think you want to travel and click on that town to see what is available.

Precautions; Get water when you can, between Sedalia and Pilot grove the Beaman Market is about it, it's left off the trail on the hwy about 1/4 of a mile. No water at Clifton City. Some businesses are closed on Monday and Tuesday. Carry patches and an extra tube or two, probably won't need them, but....

My personal favorite highlite of the trail, shortly after Huntsdale you come to an asphalt road, look to your right, the Champion Burr Oak, the short jaunt down to it is worth the time for sure.

Enjoy your tour of the Katy.
"Don't Hurry, Be Happy"
DW

Be aware that Machens has no services (except a dry bathroom) and is quite hard to find by car. Some of the local b&bs that cater to trail riders could probably pick you up there, but otherwise you have limited options.

1 Ride out and back: a cab etc. could probably find the Black Walnut trailhead a few miles east of Machens, or ride back to St. Charles.

2 ride a few miles of fast country highway with no shoulders to get to Alton via bridge (West Alton) or ferry (Portage Des Sioux)

I'm planning an end-end Katy Bike tour for next spring. I'm running the numbers on doing one staying at hotels/b&b's. I would also like to do one where it's primarily tent camping. Any suggestions about the various campgrounds, fees, distance from trail and wether they have showers would be helpful.

How is the Mo. State Fairgrounds in Sedalia? I would like to do about 35-40 miles a day. Clinton-Sedalia-Boonville-Hartsburg-Rhineland/McKittrick-Augusta-St.Charles.

Also noticed alot of places closed on Monday's for eating.

We have both B & B and tent camping in Hartsburg, come try us.

We just finished an end to end (then back again) trip. I don't know where you're starting, but we started in St. Charles. We mixed up the camping/B&B/hotel. The places we stayed were: Joey's Birdhouse (B&B $70-80, and highly recommended in McKittick). Cooper's Landing camp in Easley (fair but with shower & laundry), Best Western in Sedalia (Very nice and under $60) on the return trip we camped at Katfish Katy's in Huntdale (best place!) and Rendleman Home in Bluffton let us camp in his yard. All the places had showers, some with laundry. Klondike park near Augusta is a great place to camp.

We've done it both ways (sort of). First time we started in Clinton. Stayed at Best Western in Sedalia, Katy Rest & Ride in Rocheport, Hostel in Tebbetts, Little House in Marthasville. Second time, also started in Clinton. Camped at Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Katy Roundhouse in New Franklin, then stayed at the Globe B&B in Hartsburg, Rendleman in Bluffton (although we ended up staying in the B&B), and then stayed at Lococco House in St. Charles. We added some extra on this last trip. Lococco took us over the river to Alton, and we rode up to Pere Marquette State Park using the Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail. Then rode back down that trail to camp at the KOA in Eureka (St. Louis West). The final day we rode over the Chain of Rocks Bridge and down the Riverfront Trail to the Arch where we were picked up by family.

Kim, that Riverfront Trail from the COR bridge downtown to StL is how far and is the trail and surroundings decent?

This was in 2009. The Riverfront Trail was very nice. It really varies in that some areas are in a park setting, some are industrial, some are on the levy, and closer to the Arch it goes through some "back alley" type areas. We were close into the city, but as we were biking on the levy area, we encountered some wild turkey. On the other hand, the Vadalabene Bike Trail varies from being next to, or ON the highway, to going off up into the bluffs with some rolling hills. The Chain of Rocks bridge is awesome!

Here is my experience on camping with showers.
Sedalia has showers
Katy roundhouse has Showers
Hartsburg city park no showers but a good place to stop.
Tebbetts Turner Shelter has showers
Portland, Rivers Edge campground has showers
Herman city park has showers
Marthasville ball field has showers
Klondike park has showers (last camping on trail)
This above is all based on about 35 miles a day, there are other places.
I usually do either Tebbetts or Portland but not both in the same trip. This has always worked for me and I have done the whole tail about 7 times camping all the way.

Allen

I camped at the Marthasville ball park last weekend. You can camp on the ground or under the shelter (you could also hang a hammock there) and there are restaurants and convenience stores nearby. Just call, they'll open the bathroom and showers for you. Cost $5.

Can anyone recommend a good local cafe for lunch in Windsor? Seems I saw in this forum that Raymond's is pretty good.

This just in. the bridge on hwy 94 at Portland is open as of today, tuesday 8-21. YAY!

There was an article in the 7/12/12 Jefferson City News Tribune that says, "After a month and a half of detours, the East Wing Creek bridge over Missouri 94 east of Mokane has reopened to traffic..." The article goes on to say, "On Monday, another spot along Missouri 94 was closed by the Missouri Department of Transportation to rebuild another bridge. This time it was the bridge over Eagle Creek west of Portland." I tried finding Eagle Creek on mapquest and was not successful. If anyone has information and can give us a detour (for vehicles on 94) that does not require a drive to China and back, it would be appreciated. Please note, this bridge work only affects vehicles on 94 and not bikes on the Katy Trail. But since many people biking the trail depend on support vehicles that use 94, the information about shorter detours is helpful.

Cathy, I regret to inform you and other riders, but there is no easy way around this bridge out. There are no gravel roads that make for a shorter drive. Sorry. This bridge is actually in Portland and even the locals are having difficulty with it. It is a much needed improvement though and should end up in a much safer drive through town.

Doug, I haven't been down there yet, but wouldn't county road 466 or Market street through Portland work as detours?

Sorry, they are on the wrong side of the work. I must say though, that the work on the other bridges went WAY faster than thought so let us hold a good thought here. In the end however, It takes what it takes.

Perhaps I should have said, " They are both on the east side of the bridge with no connection to the west side"

Doug, would the shortest detour be Missouri highways D,O, and CC then?

Doug, thanks for the information. I was hoping you or another Katy Trail regular would know the scoop. I suspect you are right and they will get the work done as soon as possible, especially to avoid disrupting school bus routes in the Fall. Gary, the route you gave is the same the paper had: Route CC to Route O to Route D and back to Missouri 94. That's the detour if you are coming from the west.

Correct. Unfortunately there are no gravel road short cuts. On a more positive note though, a support vehicle would be going right by the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant and could take the highly informative tour. Or forego headlights for a few days.

MODOT still shows 94 is closed. Any chance the bridge was finished early & 94 might be open today (8/19)?

Don't know about today, but it wasn't open on Friday, August 17.

The Jeff City paper reports that the bridge is now open.