Katy Trail Forum

We didn't camp at Cooper's Landing but I was wondering... (those of you who might know)...are the portable toilets all that are available there for campers and bikers alike?



Do they have live music all of the time?

There is an indoor bathroom & shower that's available during regular store hours. There is a charge for using the shower. I've tent camped there 3 times and found the large portable toilets OK for after-hours use.



They've had live music every time I've camped there. Quality of the music was so-so, but acceptable for the setting.

Never camped there, but again as in Hartburg/found the owners there great. Great Thai food also!

We completed the trail last week and found Coopers Landing porta potties not serviced. It was so bad that we decided to move on to the next stop. We even renamed the place "Poopers Landing" Clean it up.

Stayed there with my 10 year old daughter while we were biking across the katy. The live

music scene got a little rowdy at night and I had to ask some adjacent campers to stop

cursing and yelling (after the show) so we could sleep. Owner was very nice (I think his wife is

the one who makes the Thai food). We probably should have kept going, but it was getting a

little late. I think the owner has no problem with cyclists using the porta-potties as we used

them going the other direction without incident.

Ummmm.... camped there twice last year. Beautiful sunsets. Live music varied each night - no charge to listen too either, always a good thing to tip the musicians. Real cold beer. FRESH bisquits and gravy on Saturday morning.



As to "noise" at night I accept that some people stay up later and within reason I don't bother them. I've seen the owner ask parties to calm down and respect the 10pm quiet rule. If I want total peace and serentiy I go camping in the Applacian Mountains... you'll go a day and a half without seeing someone...!

Polecat Holler - Point made...the AT would be far more quiet...I laud your patience of Job. Regards....Mark of the Dalton Boys

I find the comments interesting on this page. I appreciate the comments saying the owner is nice. I have my moments. We provide 3 portapotties free to anyone who needs them. They get serviced once per week, usually Tuesday. If we have been busy and you time it wrong they will be stinky. We have a rest room in the store which provides shower and laundry for a fee. The toilet is available for free for ladies all the time and for everyone when the portapotties are needing service. We try to only rent campsites to people who will respect the 10 pm quiet time policy. My apologies to people who need to sleep and are kept awake by inconsiderate people. We try hard to provide an enjoyable and safe stay for you at Cooper's Landing. Mike Cooper

My family and I found Cooper's Landing cramped, trashy, loud and overrun with drunks. Therefore we named you Stupid's Landing. How to ruin a beautiful place along the river and Katy Trail.

"Therefore we named you Stupid's Landing."



I bet it took you days and days to think that one up......

My buddy and myself passed by Coopers landing on our first bike trip pass there and found it to be very enjoyable along with some very good Bar-B-Q chicken. We have been wanting to make it back, but haven't found the time to yet! Thanks, from the bikers who know how to show appreciation!!!

Probably longer. The writer doesn't even know his own name to sign it. No one with any sense will give that comment any crediblity.

Camped Friday night at Coopers. Great Thai food. Great campsite. Wasn't expecting the numerous bikers dropping off cars throughout the nite and early morning. Hope they read this and would consider being quieter on there next visit. Great music and fire. Greta trial ride and river views

Has anyone seen the guy with the black Electra Townie lately? I use to run across him all the time between north jefferson and Hartsburg but haven't seen him lately!

I'm riding the trail next week Clinton to St. Charles. I know the MODNR site notes repairs will be happening between mile markers 116 and 188. Does anyone have recent firsthand knowledge of trail conditions? Is the area being repaired still rideable?



I'll be on a hybrid, lightly loaded, with 700X37 tires (and hoping it doesn't rain too much next week).



Thanks.

We rode from Clinton to St. Charles last week on Thur - Sat. We had to stop and walk our bikes in 2 places.



A few miles west of Jefferson City there was a bad washout right in front of one of the houses along Hwy 94. Also, both sides of the bridge over the Auxvasse river west of Mokane were washed out pretty badly especially the east side.



Other than those 2 spots, there were a few minor rough spots here and there. Just keep your eyes open for them. I would imagine that many of them have been addressed by now.



Have fun.

After posting my comment I reread and realized it had an error. The Auxvasse river bridge is east of Mokane not west. Sorry about that.

And it's the west side of the bridge that you HAVE to get off and walk not the east. At least yesterday unless they repaired after I went thru.

Does anyone know if it is okay to park for 2-3 nights in Greenridge? We would be doing a down and back on the trail. Is there anywhere to park other than the trailhead?

Me and mine friend Adam are going to bike the Katy trail, weekend in October from Kirkwood ,St.Louis, Alton, St.Charles,and all the way to the end on Single speed MTB's, 32/16.It is going to be fun :-)

My husband and I are planning a ride in early Oct. We will start in

Clinton park in Sedalia plan to ride the train back to Sedalia. Is Washington the best place to take train back. We are planning to camp along the trail. Info on camping would be appreciated. We are

also wondering what the weather will be and do you think the trail will be in good condition. any info would be appreciated.

thank-you

The weather, tradionally, should be beautiful mid to low 70's maybe upper 60's, dry. October is pretty dry but you never know. The trail will be good shape, and washington is about 4 miles off trail with a narrow bridge to cross with no shoulder. You also can catch the train in Hermann , this shortens your ride about 30 miles but much safer bridge to cross and only 2 miles off trail. Hope this helps.

As previous responder indicated, the bridge at Washington is very dangerous. You can get a cab ride for $15. Hermann is a great place to cross to get the train--separate bike lane.

Book your Amtrak bike reservation early. They allow only 4 bikes on each train (not each car, each train!). There is no baggage car on the train--they put the bikes in one end of the passenger car. We just rode Amtrak 3 times (due to flooding last week, our end-to-end plans changed) and I asked the conductor if they were strict on bikes. He said "we try to accomodate folks, if there is room, even without a previous reservation." Each bike costs $10, regardless of how far you are going on these four St.Louis-to-Kansas City trains. Can book seats at Amtrak.com (bikes are booked as an "view upgrade options").



Try to arrange to camp at Doug Rendleman's in Bluffton--Doug's passion is the trail--he is a wealth of info.



If you need more info, you can email me direct at dgat1989@yahoo.com

Dutzow is a good stopping point also. The restaurant right on the trail is an oasis after a

days ride--there is also a winery just off the trail. However, I would call a cab to take you

across the bridge. My husband regretted his decision to ride over and bring the car back

for me!

Catfish Katys is the only place I have stayed along the way and the camping was 'ok'. The hosts of the campsite were very friendly and the hot shower was nice as well. The campsites themselves are a bit rocky and uncomfortable if you don't have some padding, but hey, it's a campground.



I had expectations of camping in Hermann last year during Oktoberfest and after what I witnessed last year, I will never consider camping in Hermann again. The Hermann website makes their park look like a huge oasis of secluded camping.......not the case. It's a small city park with about half of the MO population camping in it. Fire pits are limited to just a few and it was noisy. I packed up my stuff in the evening and headed down the trail and camped on the side of the trail, in solitude.....it was much more peaceful and less trashy.



I have actually stayed at a campground called 'Lazy Day Campground', north of Hermann. If you call ahead, I would imagine that you can get a ride from Hermann to this campsite which is probably a 20min or so ride. I really like this campground because it is not overrun by people and the campsites were extremely clean and well maintained. They have a laundry facility next to the bathrooms which is nice to be able to wash one's stinky biking clothes. Probably the nicest and most accommodating place I have ever camped. They had their pool open last year during Oktoberfest as well and it was heated, which made the 40-50 degree weather outside seem awesome.

The Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival is October 11th and 12th and we expect 50,000 plus people to attend. Biking in off the Katy Trail is one of the best ways to attend. We will have music and over 18 food vendors and over 250 craft booths. Come have a good time.

My dad and I are planning to ride the hole trail and would like some suggestions on which is

the best place to start and finish. We plan on taking our time and do about 50 mils a day and

would like to know some good places to eat and camp.

You'll get many varied opinions on the best way to travel the trial (eastbound vs westbound). I took the Amtrak to Sedelia on a Sunday morning, hired a shuttle to take me to Clinton, then rode back to Sedelia that afternoon. The portion of the trail from Clinton to Sedelia is BORING and not worth spending the money on a shuttle unless you simply want to say you did the entire trail. Over the next 3 days I had a headwind 2 days then a tailwind 1 day, so it's usually a tossup on the wind direction, especially in the spring or fall. If I had it to do over, I'd simply start at Sedelia and travel east. I've been on the trail all times of the year except winter, and I think October is by far the best tume of the year to bike it.

If you're like me, your a "purist" and want to do the ENTIRE trail. Gene and Regi Cornell offer a shuttle between Sedalia/Warrensburg/Clinton. Check with Clinton Chamber of Commerce for contact info. From Sedalia, you can ride to St. Charles and take Amtrak from St. Louis back to Sedalia to retrieve your car. I don't know the St. Louis bus/Metro system in detail, but we got off the trail at the Page bridge (we had already completed Page bridge to St. Charles!), rode to Earth City (about 7 miles), got the hotel shuttle to the airport, took Metro to downtown. The Amtrak station is about 500 feet from the Metro civic center stop (new combined transportation center is under construction). Details: metrostlouis.org

Here is some advice from a person that rode the Katy last year for the first time and had a very rude awakening.....(I rode West to East)



If you go from West to East....be very aware that your first 70 or so miles (Clinton to Booneville) is mostly uphill grade. This is not a significant uphill grade, but it's enough that you can't really take a break and coast at all......it gets to be very cumbersome and a real pain in the ass depending on how many miles you plan on riding. 50mpd is quite doable without much stress. Once you hit Booneville and find the river, it's pretty much flat into St. Charles. Also, aside from some odd weather patterns, you should have the wind at your back the entire way.



If you go from East to West......the only thing I can tell you from my many years of trekking and racing is that wind in your face is almost worse than riding uphill. The bonus of this is that once you hit Booneville, you'll have a good 70miles or so of very nice downhill grade to cruise into Clinton on.



Conclusion.....ride from West to East to get the hard part out of the way early. The other bonus is that you hit Rocheport, Hermann and the other 'wine towns' towards the end of the trip which is a great reward for a long ride. There is also much more camping available the closer you get to St. Charles.

In my opinion, if you've been biking very much, especially riding hills, you won't notice much difference while riding the grade between Sedalia and Booneville. If you're not in shape, you will most likely feel the difference.

It's not that they're hard (I ride approx 200mi/wk), but it is a constant grind for 70+ miles with no coasting. If you're planning on doing a century ride the first day or anything close to that, you'll need to be in decent riding shape because that grade is very slight, and it can be very taxing over a full day of riding it.

I rode the whole trail west to east Sept 29 - Oct 2, 2005. Theoretically, it should be more downhill than uphill that way because the Missouri river flows west to east. The Highest elevation is at High Point, mid way between Clinton and Sedalia. If you want to ride the ENTIRE trail, it starts at Sedalia Street in Clinton, south of the trailhead, and it ends about 2 miles past the trailhead in St.Charles. Also, DO NOT camp at the city park in Mokane. The town has no law enforcement and it shows. I was in fear of my safety that night.....

what are the hours of the pumpkin festival on sunday

what are the hours of the pumpkin festival on sunday

Hello,



I am hoping for some guidance from those who have done this before me.

I am planning a trip down part of the trail. I am going to take AmTrak from St. Louis to Jefferson City and start from there (I only have two days). From what I can tell, the only way across the river is to ride 54/63. I have read some of the forums that report that this is a highway. That being the case, is there an emergency lane on the bridge? From what I can tell from the satellite pictures, I only have to go as far as the first offramp.



Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!



Get out there and ride,

David

You will cross the Mighty Mo on a bike lane. It is located on the downstream (east) side of the bridge which is slaso the northbound lane. While busy, unless you are careless or a child, it is easily managed. Take the first exit and it will carry you to the trail.

Arkie is right. When you get to top of ramp at first exit you will cross the bridge going to your left(west) and as you do will see the spur trail,parking lot and pavillon to your right (north) and take it out to the Katy. Super easy.

In my view the bridge at Jefferson City is dangerous to cycle across. The "bike lane" is separated only by a white line from three lanes of 60 mph traffic. The local taxi company will transport you and bikes for about $10 - $15. Checker Cab 573-636-7101. They do not require advance notice for bikes.

The Jeff City bridge is OK--wide lane for bikes, but not separated like the bridge at Hermann. The one I would NOT cross on my bike is the Washington bridge!

I agree that the Jeff City bridge is not difficult--I hate traffic, but it was a very WIDE

shoulder. We did it on a quiet Saturday morning, and most cars moved over a lane to give

us room.

Timing is everything when crossing the Missouri at Jefferson City. It can be a frightening experience if you try to cross it during rush hours on weekdays. This is because you have traffic from Highways 50 and Highway 54 plus two local streets entrance ramps all merging down to three lanes at the head of the bridge with everyone jockeying for positions to be in the two left lanes. If you are riding into town you will be facing this madhouse with a four inch white paint line separating you from them. It's an exhilarating experience.

Stay in Hartsburg.. You are 20 seconds from the trail... No bridge to mess with.

"Stay in Hartsburg.. You are 20 seconds from the trail... No bridge to mess with. "



I believe he said he was taking AmTrak to JC. There is no way to get to Hartsburg from JC without "messing" with the bridge.

We are thinking of riding Amtrak from Kirkwood to Sedalia on the 22nd of October in the afternoon. Does Amtrak run on time? And is there a shuttle to Kirkwood from St.Charles?

Thanks

Amtrak does NOT run on time. Can be anywhere from 30 min. to 2 hours late.

We just rode the Katy a few weeks ago. The four (two each direction/day)St. Louis/Kansas City trains do not have the best on-time performance of Amtrak trains. Because of the flooding, we ended up using Amtrak on three occassions/days, and all three trains were less than 30 min. late. You can check on-time performance for recent periods--the past five days. I just looked at train 311 and it ran 2 min. to 24 min. late for 9/25-30 period for Hermann, MO. The Amtrak folks on the train are very helpful and friendly--the conductor on our trains is a Katy biker himself.



As far a shuttle, I'm not sure about Kirkwood, but I used our hotel shuttle to take me to the airport, and then got the Metro which takes you to the center of downtown St. Louis. The new downtown transportation center is still under construction and Metro/buses/Amtrak will eventually be in one building, but currently the Amtrak terminal is about a 500 foot walk from the Metro terminal.

call 636-946-0619 or e-mail Rhonaloc@charter.net we shuttle to the

Kirkwood station

I rode the Katy last year from Clinton to St. Charles and really had a difficult time finding any decent places to camp along the way, aside from just plopping down on the side of the trail somewhere. The first night I stayed in Huntsdale (which was 'ok') and the second night, which I had planned to stay in Hermann, was shot down due to no more camping available. I'm considering staying at the hostile listed in the guidebooks (would love some feedback on that place) but I would love any other suggestions anyone has for a mtn biker doing this ride in 2-3 days with a tent and a bag. Thanks!

First of all I think camping and a two day trip would be next to impossible. If you are by yourself you may consider just sleeping on the many benches along the trail.

I stayed at the hostel in Tebbetts last week. It's $5/night and was

great. We were the only people there. Had hot showers and restrooms

and was only a block (if even that) from the trail. I would

definitely stay there again.

Hartsburg has a place to camp free in Volunteer Park in the downtown next to the Gazebo. If there are several riders you can make arrangements to stay in the Lions Park at the baseball field. The MKT Trail bathrooms are close to the Gazebo and the ball park has its own facilities.

Thanks for the advice. The hostile was definitely a consideration and would put me on pace to finish in 2 days if possible. This is my 'gut check' trip to see how fast I can do it. If all goes well, I'll be hitching a ride back to Hermann to get my drink on as a reward when I'm finished, lol.



I'll be on the trail the weekend of Oct 18th, so if any of you run across a guy having a great time, enjoying the scenery......that probably won't be me. I'll be the guy on the blue trek mtn bike with the Salomon pack on and complaining of my ridiculously sore butt, lol!!



Anyone know how strict they are on making reservations for the hostile in advance?