Katy Trail Forum

A friend from East Coast is visiting, and I'm trying to plan a reasonable dayride for "newbies" as a relaxing way to leisurely wind through some wineries and Katy Trail. Will need bike rentals, and reasonable 1 night lodging. Prefer Augusta area, but Hermann may be doable after a night in St. Louis. Any ideas?

Defiance Bike shop has rentals availiable and it is a nice ride on down to Augusta from there. Nice wineries to visit and rest at a bit. The only cautionary thing I would say is that all of the wineries are UP hill...big hills too. But well worth it if your guest can make the climb. As for overnight I am unsure although I know there are B & Bs in Augusta. We rode Defiance to Dutzow (15 miles) in June but stayed in Washington. Enjoy!!!

You are probably aware of the differences between Hermann and Augusta which are radically different. My expertise is the Hermann area. Bike rental is easy and lodging is always available. If you opt. to stay the trail checkout lodging in Mckittrick mile 100.8 I really like Augusta hills and Hermann's architecture and winery facilities. Have a nice trip.

Definitely Defiance for bike rental. Augusta does have B&B's but I leave around there and never needed one. There are several wineries starting in Defiance and going all the way into Augusta. The guy at the bike shop will point them all out if you need him to. He's a great guy.

McKittick is right outside Herman and Joey's Birdhouse is a great place to stay! Joey will even pick you up and drive you the 2 miles into town.

Thanks for the tips, folks! Maybe I'll test-run the Defiance/Augusta area first, then head to Hermann later. I didn't see any bike rentals specifically in Hermann, but saw the references elsewhere to McKittick/Joey's Birdhouse. Thanks for the advice :)

I WAS TRYING TO FIND IF ANYONE KNOWS WHEN THE KATY TRAIN WAS LOCATED JUST OUTSIDE OF LEROY KS. I REMEMBER MY SISTER AND I RIDIND IT TO STRAWN KS I BELIEVE I WAS 5 OR 6 SO THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ABOUT 68 OR 70 YEARS AGO.

You can still trace some of the abandoned section you mention on Google Maps. However, the MKT line you were on was built in the 1870's and abandoned in 1957 with reservoirs that were built north of Burlington, KS in the 1960's permanently severed that abandoned line. The line south of Burlington(to Parsons, KS) was active for a while longer, but eventually it was abandoned(and not railbanked) too....that is if what I just looked up on the internet is accurate.

My husband and I have never been on the Katy trail. Coming from KC, is one portion of the trail more scenic; more flat? What is your favorite 2 day trip?

My friend and I rode the Katy this past weekend. We started in Green Ridge and rode to Rocheport. About 60mi (each way). You can stay at a B&B in Rocheport or pitch a tent (tell Raymond Nunley at the Les Bourgeois) in the grassy area by the parking lot. We started in Green Ridge at 6:45 and arrived in Rocheport at 12:45pm. Plenty of time to relax. We rode back to Green Ridge on Sunday. An easy, shaded ride.

We come from north of KC so we tend to migrate to somewhere between Sedalia and Jefferson City. We've ridden Sedalia to Boonville several times staying at the Hotel Frederick in Boonville, but have also done the out and back the other direction and have stayed in Sedalia at The Bothwell. This part of the trail has a few small grades and is less flat than points east.

We've also ridden Boonville to Columbia and Rocheport to Jefferson City. Tebbetts to Hermann is also a nice ride.

Will be going west to east, last night in St. Charles. What is best way to get from St. Charles to Amtrak in time to catch the 7:30a.m.Amtrak back to KC. Any thoughts on a B & B in St. Charles or anywhere else on trail for last night.

I was pleased with a recent stay at the Lococo House in St. Charles. For a very reasonable extra fee (I think it was $10) they took me and my bike to the Hanley Road Metro Link station where for $2.25 I put myself and my bike on the commuter train and road downtown to Amtrak for the ride back to KC. Worked out great. I was taking the 4pm train so not sure about getting it done for the early morning train. Hope this is useful. Enjoy!

I was looking at the Katy Roundhouse campground here on the site for a potential trip. The campground is very nice. However, I noticed that this site still mentions the restaurant. The restaurant, which used to be open weekends only, has been closed now for a couple of years, to my knowledge. Too bad, we used to love it. Can this be verified, and the information here updated?
Thanks!

Yes it has been closed for a good while I stayed there in June its a great campground and the owners live on the property and are very nice people.

Ray, can you confirm and update the page on here for the Katy Roundhouse? It's still a great campground, but no one should expect to find a restaurant here anymore... Thanks!

Yes, I went ahead and removed the food icon from this business. Thank you for sharing the info.

Thanks Ray! However, I noticed that the page still mentions the restaurant under Hours, and 4 course dinners under Price Range... might be a little confusing :)

Ooops, thanks for catching that - got it.

We just came back from a week long, end to end trip and back and right before we got to the Arena in St. Charles we hit about 50 feet of very loose gravel! They must have put it down after we headed west and about dumped all of our fully loaded bikes. This is not chat, it is regular road gravel with no warning signs! Please be careful!

I just came from the trail a few days ago, July 20, 2012. I booked our B&B stays by getting the phone numbers or web sites through this site. Long story short, booked one night at Katy's Little Lodge, planed for dinner and of course breakfast. After realizing we were going to arrive later than expected, I called "Miss Patty" to let her know what was going on. No answer and no call back, we continued to head her way, finally I called again and she was not so nice and in fact drunk (however we did not know this until later). After telling me a sob story explaining why she was not so nice to me on the phone, she agreed to pick us up in Rocheport due to our being so far out and it was getting late. As I was arriving to the station she was getting ready to back out and leave! She said so herself she had two beers one opened the other not sitting in her cup holders. Unsure of her condition and state of mind (although we were getting a pretty good idea) we were tired, desperate and not really feeling we had many options so against everything we know we get in car with her. We really knew she was drunk or something, we did arrive ok although not without incident but I'll try to keep to the point. She had said on the phone that she had a nice dinner planed for us and blablabla, we ended up just telling her we'd cook our own meal, due to her condition, crying and drunk and we really did not want to be around her any longer. Two tomatoes one cucumber, a can of diced tomatoes, a rotten head of iceberg lettuce that was our nice dinner! OMG we made the best of it and got the heck out of there in the morning. Arriving at our next destination we were told by the owners that they heard from other guest similar events having taken place at this same lodge. This story really needs to be told, nobody should have to deal with this sort of thing. This was the short version of our story you can imagine the rest. BAD BAD BAD!

Wow. That stinks! Thanks for the note.

Yes, wow!

On the bright side, you lived to tell about it. "Remember the time we stayed..."

We rode from Green Ridge to Rocheport this past weekend. We stopped at both new eating places mentioned on this forum. Mullberry's is the first place you might come to if heading West to East. Outside cafe, super nice people, excellent service, good food and drink. Katy BBQ is inside, EXCELLENT BBQ, Very friendly staff. Both places are worth stopping for.

What a wonderful experience. After 70+ miles in 100+ temperatures, this was an incredible overnight. I highly recommend the hotel and the cafe. Happy cycling!

Excellent place to stay. Great stop over between Jeff City and Machens! Nice, comfy cottage with refreshments. Philly's was a great place to relax and enjoy excellent pizza! Enjoy!!

What a delightful stay with Bill & Debbie. The Lindehof is gorgeous and spacious. The hot tub was definitely a bonus after biking on the Katy Trail. The gardens provide a wonderful, relaxing atmosphere. Bill & Debbie are generous, friendly hosts and breakfast was the BEST!

I've stayed at the Lindenhof 2 times and I felt the owners were very nice. They allowed us to safely store our bikes in their shed and were very accomdating. I ate breakfast when they said it was served and didn't ask for cold water so I can't say much for that.

The breakfast was awesome, the rooms were clean and the grounds were very charming.

There are very few places in Augusta to eat or drink after 4pm on a weekday plan accordingly.

I will be staying her next Spring when I tour the trail.

If you are looking for comprehensive, practical information on bicycle touring, check out our new iBook, The Practical Guide to Bicycle Touring. http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9780985919405

We included several dozen photos from our recent trip from Pilot Grove to Defiance.

The format is iPad only?

I saw your add on crazyguyonabike dot com a few days ago. It sounds interesting, but I wonder what it offers above the Journals and Forum there?

Yes, it can only be read on an IPad. We are working on reformatting the book to release on Kindle soon.

We wanted to write this book after we returned from a ride across Europe last summer. Prior to our trip we, we spent a great deal of time learning what we could from the many excellent forums, blogs, journals, etc, like crazyyguyonabike and so on. I also searched through the electronic bookstores trying to find something I could download and keep on my iPad. We were surprised that a search for "Bicycle Touring" turned up not a single book. That is when we decided to put something in the iTunes bookstore. We knew that our readers would want comprehensive information, so we contacted every website on bicycle touring we could find and asked to include them in our book. If you take a look at it, we have around 45 referenced in the book. Our hope is that readers will find our book both a complete source of information, along with several hundred photographs, a few videos, and the many links very useful when planning a trip. Hope you enjoy it! By the way, we are giving away a few copies on our blog right now at www.bicycletouringguides.wordpress.com!
Jason

Text only version now available on Amazon. http://amzn.com/B008QEVX8A

DO NOT BOOK WITH DAVIDSON TRANSPORTATION! I had a group of 6 guys biking the Katy Trail and i booked with Davidson who 'no showed' on us leaving us stranded in Sedalia. Spoke with them a few times before the day we needed the ride to confirm all was well. They told me to call 20 minutes before arriving. I called and no one picked up/left voicemails. They completely left us stranded in Sedalia having to frantically find another ride to Clinton MO where we were staying. No one ever called to apologize, see if there was anything they could do to make it right, etc... DAVIDSON IS THE WORST. DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM.

That just plain sucks. Not the first "less than glowing" report that has been given on this vendor.

Sorry...but thanks for the update.

This person called me for information about a trip and he didn't ever call to confirm a booking so he didn't have a ride booked and as far as bad reviews on the website you have got to be kidding me , it seemed to me we had several people that appreciated the business. So maybe this person should think back, he says he called to confirm the ride NO HE DIDN'T .The reason he didn't get an apology is because he didn't book the ride.It's hard to pick someone up if you don't have a booking.

I had a very good ride with Davidson and thought they (Debbie) was great. If the story above is true then that's not good of course, but I wouldn't hesitate to book them again.

It happens! In fairness to all; both sides of the story must be considered. It is not for us to be judge and opinion over anothers business. First call of business; is there a paper trail. A cancelled check or confirmation by e-mail. Verbal communication is fine as long as it is backed up with a contract. Comunication needs to be followed up with confirmatio and if you decide to wreek havoc on a mans business you better have it in writing. The accuser can also be liable. Lets wait till the smoke clears

"Lets wait till the smoke clears"

Yes let's, before we call in the lawyers, and plot our strategy against our possible future patrons!

About that smoke, for some people it never really clears, so it all works out.

Is Rivers Edge Campground still in business? I tried calling the number on this site and was told the number is disconnected.

What about the bar in Portland for food?

Called the bar. Bar is open. Campground is open. But you just need to ride into town and "they will set up up". :)

I camped there in May. The owners live just west of the campground...the house with a chainlink fence right at the trails edge, three barking but friendly dogs. Cost was $10, nice hot shower.

So Sorry for the phone issues !We are still open and ready to set you up with a campsite or RV site.Phone is back on course also.We have done lots of work since the pictures too.We have no trailer on the site anymore ,it was a temporary thing for a restroom but now have a blue building with shower bathroom combo.My big sign is down but there is a small sign on the side of the restroom with phone numbers .Will update the pictures soon as we can.

I'd like to do the Katy Trail in about 6 days, give or take about 40 miles per day. Anyone done that and do you have a ready itinerary with towns to stop in and B&B's to stay in? Would you advise to start in Clinton and go to Machens?

Here's a list of places I would recommend.

Sedalia: Hotel Bothwell
Boonville:Hotel Frederick
Rocheport:The Dorms at School House
Marthasville: The Little House B&B
Peers: The Peers Store
St. Charles: The Country Inn and Suites

My in-laws live in Tebbetts and I have the luxury of staying with them so I don't have any experience staying anywhere along that section of the trail. Hartsburg has several places that look nice and I 've heard lots of good things about the B&Bs in Hermann. Also, make sure to eat at Abigails in Rocheport. Good luck!

The High Street Victorian B&B is also a wonderful place to stay, and we treat you with afternoon snacks and evening snacks. Free bottled water, and we serve a large, multi course gourmet breakfast.Feel free to check out our website or read reviews on trip advisor, I'm sure you won't be dissappointed.

Consider Lococo House in St Charles, its a great place to begin or end your bike trip, we have 2 large out door hot tubs for your tired bicycle body, 9 rooms to choose from, private and shared bath and much more to offer, fresh baked GOOSEFEATHERS on arrival...call Rhona at 636-946-0619

We are doing just the same this year,except our second day we are doing 50 miles so we can have a washer and dryer.
Sedalia- Hotel Bothwell
Rocheport-Katy Bed and Bikefest
Jefferson City-Cliff Manor
Rhineland-The Doll House
Augusta-Augusta Guest House
St. Charles -Family
Machens- out and back
All of these B&B are very reasonable during the week and this is why we chose them and why we chose each daily mileage. We have previously stayed at the Katy Bed and Bikefest, CLiff Manor and The Doll House and we were very pleased with the accomodations

If you need a place to stay in sedalia, I might have an opening for you. I am located on the east side of town near the trail. I have good reviews and will start you off with a continental breakfast. Look under Sedalia for a picture of my place. Thank's and have a safe trip. Maxine- "Maxine's rooms for rent".

We are doing the whole Katy in October. Everyone has recommended good places. bikekatytrail.com is great and lists all the good places. I recommend calling the places you want to stay prior so you know what to expect. Also, I recommend getting the Complete Katy Trail Guidebook, by Brett Dufer, the 9th edition. Has information on everything. You can get it on Amazon. Have fun!

I agree with Denise. The guidebook has saved our bacon several times! Also, always best to go from Clinton to Machens as the wind from the south serves as a good tail wind on most days. Becky's Burgers in Pilot Grove is a must stop too! Have a great ride!

Just an add to this nice list. Mile 100.8 is the
Mckittrick Trailhead. Hermann is a hop skip jump as others have noted to the most visited tourist trap near the trail. You have the option of staying "on the trail' or touring Hermann. It is just a matter or preference.