Katy Trail Forum

Snoddy's store was closed for a long time due to the flooding around Boonville. It is open again and is an easy place to stop to get groceries if you are camping at the Roundhouse or to restock supplies along the way. They will also make you a sandwich (known to locals as a "Snoddy burger"). They also stock a variety of hardware type stuff and a lot of other things.

The store is just across the bridge on the Franklin side of the river past Boonville. If you are leaving Boonville and heading towards New Franklin - go across the river and stay on that road and the store is oh, maybe half a mile from the bridge. If you are going the other direction - when you get to the road where you turn right to go across the bridge, turn left on that road and go about half a mile, maybe, and the store is on your right.

Sharon

Good news for sure. We’ve stopped there many times through the years, whether camping at the Roundhouse, staying at the Hotel Frederick, or just passing through. And of course, will surely stop in again. Thanks for the news.

Great news - thanks for passing along this info! I've added that back to the Boonville listings.

Hi all, I wanted to share Bill's updated phone number:
573-289-7544

FYI he doesn't rent the caboose in the winter because it gets too cold. He was incredibly nice during our phone conversation.

Are there any trailheads where you can boondock with an rv overnight? This would be for later this month.

From DNR's website: Missouri State Parks does not provide camping along Katy Trail State Park. Camping is available at public and privately owned campgrounds adjacent to the trail.

Portland and Bluffton in the center of the trail both have private campgrounds just off the trail. Bluffton Barn also has a fire ring and firewood available if you call ahead.

The Roundhouse in Franklin also has RV spaces and it is right along the trail - and a great place to camp!

Sharon

Farrington Park in Windsor has 10 RV spots. You might want to call the office ahead of time

I am researching places to stay for an upcoming Katy Trail adventure and learned that this option no longer exists. I had a FB Messenger exchange with the owner and she noted she sold the Boonville location about a year ago and now operates in Sedalia.

I thought this would be helpful.

Thank you for the heads-up on this; I have updated the listings.

Hi Ray. was wondering what happened to the forum. Haven’t seen anything for a while. I guess just no posts this time of year ??

Yep Gman, you will still see steady posts here through the winter, but spread out a lot more.

Then things will really pick up in Feb-March, when there aren't yet a lot of people riding the trail, but a lot are planning their spring and summer adventures.

Hi all
I'm looking at accommodation for one night in Jeff City as a back-up for if I cannot reach Bill at the Katyrest Caboose in Hartsburg.

Options seem incredibly limited at the moment - I'm looking for the night of Wednesday Nov 25 (doing the full trail solo for Thanksgiving week). Does anyone have an insider scoop?

Hello - amendment to my previous post. I'm hoping to stay at the Katyrest Caboose the night of Wednesday November 25.

Hello, I am trying to see if I can make a reservation at the Katyrest Caboose for Thanksgiving night. I have tried the numbers on this forum but also see the notes about Bill being hard to reach.

Bill, could you please call/text 301-980-2781 or email lpories@gmail.com?

Thanks in advance!

Looking for a shuttle this week or next, and Red Wheel is not available. Any other options in the Jeff City or Columbia area? Thanks.

I don't know if this means the pedestrian bridge will be closed for 10 weeks or 9 months. Either is unacceptable.
"The total project is expected to take nine months, but most of the work will be off the roadway. There is a ten-week period with work on the roadway, but the lane and ramp closures will happen at night. The pedestrian bridge will be closed during the work."
https://krcgtv.com/news/local/modot-shares-info-on-2021-work-on-missouri-river-bridge-at-jefferson-city

My Wife and I purchased the Mount Nebo cottage two years ago and changed the name to the Mount Nebo Inn. The Contact information is wrong for the listing and we would like to update it. Please send me a viable link or email address to make the corrections. When I click on the contact us link it doesn't go anywhere. Our website is mountneboinn.com and has my contact information. Thank you and have a great week.

Your website needs some work. It's a good sell of the area perhaps. The Gallery has no pics of the Inn and has generic headers to insert text. Not knowing where you were located, looking at the map directs me to Mount Nebo Cemetery north of Huntsdale. Not sure which is the weakest link, the website or not being able to get there from here.

At the bottom of every webpage on this site is a link to a feedback page that includes an e-mail address for the site.
https://bikekatytrail.com/contact.aspx

results for rockslide west of portland trailhead

I plan on taking 3 kids on some day trips. Where would
Be some good places. Maybe 10-15 mile round trip

Where do you live? If it's OK like your username suggests, Clinton or Windsor would be closer.

Clinton area is closer, but it's not much farther to Rocheport for a better option for kids. Depends on your kids and how you/they define a good place. Rocheport area and east offers the tunnel, limestone cliffs with ammunitions bunker and petroglyphs, river views, historic oak tree several hundred years old, etc.

Clinton area is closer, but it's not much farther to Rocheport for a better option for kids. Depends on your kids and how you/they define a good place. Rocheport area and east offers the tunnel, limestone cliffs with ammunitions bunker and petroglyphs, river views, historic oak tree several hundred years old, etc.

Thanks for the advice, those sound good

Pilot Grove is a great small town place for families especially during the summer time. Their city park (with free camping) is right next to the trail and their town swimming pool is next to their park. It is fun swimming after riding on the trail and you can even mix in camping if you want to.

I was at Mcbaine the other day, and I noticed the water had been turned off. Have they been turned off at all trailheads? Are they turned off due to covid? Or possible due to winter?

Water is turned and restrooms are closed November 1 - April 1 due to winter weather.

Is there certain hours that you are allowed. To be biking on the Katy or can you bike anytime in the 24 day?

Technically from sunrise to sunset. Night time riding isn't allowed although there are a few rule breakers doing it at times.

Great place to stay. 20% discount if you tell them your on the trail. Had bike storage so you don't have to take your bike to your room the the elevator. VERY VERY CLEAN.

This is a great place to stay! Very friendly staff. Historically significant and attractive building. Beds are so plush!

Unfortunately missed my chance to stop here due to it being closed for the 10/26 snowstorm. Glad to see they're keeping their employees safe but a hot coffee sure would have made the ride go by quicker.

Well then you missed out. The Meriwether cafe is exponentially better now in every way than it was a few years ago. Glad they are there!

Just had a burger there on Friday and it was one of the best hamburgers I have ever had!!

I arrived in Jefferson City after four days on the Rock Island and Katy Trails -- I'd had three flats in those four days and was at my wits' end. Nate at Red Wheel Bikes was able to diagnose the problem -- the rim strip was loose -- solve it and get me going again with no further problems. My bike was a mess from riding in the rain so he cleaned it off and oiled the chain! Highly recommend Red Wheel Bike Shop -- a lifesaver!

I arrived in Jefferson City after four days on the Rock Island and Katy Trails -- I'd had three flats in those four days and was at my wits' end. Nate at Red Wheel Bikes was able to diagnose the problem -- the rim strip was loose -- solve it and get me going again with no further problems. My bike was a mess from riding in the rain so he cleaned it off and oiled the chain! Highly recommend Red Wheel Bike Shop -- a lifesaver!

I had a similar experience in late September during our cross state Katy Trail ride. Red Wheel put on a new front tire with tube. The new tire was problematic in that it was very tight on the rim. The shop told me that I would have had great difficultly especially without a lot of experience and the best tools. I too highly recommend this shop.

I had a similar experience in late September during our cross state Katy Trail ride. Red Wheel put on a new front tire with tube. The new tire was problematic in that it was very tight on the rim. The shop told me that I would have had great difficultly especially without a lot of experience and the best tools. I too highly recommend this shop.

Echo all the good above. The owner is a cyclist and does people right. We used him for an unusual shuttle service last year, and it all was good.

Echo all the good above. The owner is a cyclist and does people right. We used him for an unusual shuttle service last year, and it all was good.

How are trail conditions from Rocheport to Columbia for a ride tomorrow?

The Burr Oak at McBaine was struck by lightening this morning.

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/historic-bur-oak-tree-struck-by-lightning-during-friday-morning-storms/article_9ddcf1f4-1542-11eb-b1c5-bbb90ee60239.html

Any updates on the status of the tree? Do they think they saved it?

If you need a rain-out rescue call Tony at Bike Stop Cafe. 314-973-4422.

Great thin crust pizza. Very friendly place to bikers.

Good Bar food and beer selection. Tenderloin sandwich is huge.

We spent the last night of our Columbia to Augusta trek at the Lindenhof. It was delightful. Very well designed for cozy comfort. Kathy was a superb hostess. Unfortunately, we forgot our bathing suits for the hottub, but it looked inviting. The outside area is charming. All was very secure. The food was excellent from the nibbles she provided to bountiful breakfast. We really enjoyed the themed roomes. Highly recommend staying here.

How does rain impact the trail? I’m planning on riding Friday, but looks like rain in the early morning.

Not all that much as the trail is pretty hard packed in most places. Wet leaves could be an issue. Hopefully you have fatter tires. Try running them nearer to their minimum pressure.

The one thing that I like is fenders on the Katy. They keep me and the bike cleaner in both wet and dry conditions.

We stayed at the Katyrest Caboose on 10/15. What a cute little place. Full bed and twin bed, fridge/microwave. All the amenities you needed. Bill was a great host and let us use his guest bathroom in his house to shower. Even had some breakfast/snacks for us. Plus who doesn't want to stay in a caboose.

I spent the first week of October 2020 riding the trail east to west with three others. We rode east to west and found it was pretty easy. I know most people go the other way saying that there was slight downgrade going that way. I have to say, that as many of the times we had ups we had just as many going down. It was great to be able to pick up some speed! I thought I would share the places I stayed as they were all great. A Piece of Heaven B&B in Marthasville, in the Cowboy cabin. It was truly outfitted with cowboy decorations. They picked us up at the trailhead and brought us to the B&B. Only problem was that they only had a bike rack for 2. No problem, it gave us time to decide what we wanted for dinner. By the time we got there, there was a nice fire in the fireplace. Very homey. There isn't anything to eat near the B&B, but you can get delivery. I do have to say, though, the upstairs loft has a ladder that is straight up from the bottom. Though, at 63, I was able to manage!! On the first day, we were lucky enough to come across a place with an Ocktoberfest celebration! Very fun. 2nd night: Jefferson City. I was warned about the ramp that goes around and around going up from the bottom to the top of the bridge. It was a piece of cake. Very easy ride into the city. 3rd night: Rocheport: Loved Katy BikeFest B&B. Very comfortable. Because of covid-they basically had frozen breakfast food available, juice, milk, coffee, cereal and other breakfast items. Right on the trail. 4th night: Sedalia, Hotel Botwell, Loved the old historic hotel. They had a bike wash which I thought was great to get all of the dirt off. 5th night: Westbridge Inn. Was not a bad ride to it. Looks like it was newly remodeled. Very clean and good breakfast selection. 6th night: Back to Sedalia and stayed at Maxines! She rents rooms out, very reasonable. Maxine and her husband made us feel very much at home as we took over the kitchen and played cards. We had a shuttled planned to pick us up in Sedalia and bring us back to St Charles. My experience with them was not pleasant. I spoke with the owner, Tony, I told him what i was looking for and we settled on a price and day and time. Thought I was all set. He then text me and offered to pick us up a day earlier, which I put out there that it was a possibility. He gave me a time in the afternoon, but increased it to $40. Said I was possibly interested but didn't know why the increase. Never heard back, so I called him after a few days. He then wanted to pick me up earlier than he stated on earlier day and added another $10. He sent me invoice when I originally booked and paid a $50 deposit. I asked again why, one reason was because it was late pickup (he changed it to an earlier time, so it wasn't late, then it was because he was picking us up at the west end. Really, he is going to charge us more for drive the same distance and same about of time? He said he made a mistake on the quote. He then got snippy and said I have lots of people that want it, do you want it or not! What could I do? Not the kind of person that I wanted to deal with. Luckily, I told Maxine of my situation because I was going to have to cancel the reservation. She called back and said her husband would bring us back! That worked out perfect because then we could go when we wanted and did not have to wait in the morning. Still out the $50 deposit, but it was worth not having to deal with Tony. I was worried that he wouldn't even come. As far as the detours, we were able to go through them all without a problem. On one detour, we saw a couple at the other end from the rockslide. Once they reached us, they said it was no problem, just have to pick your bike up and over the rock, beyond that, again, we just had to lift our bikes over the gate. The section where they were grading the trail, it said it was closed. We went anyways, at first the sand was soft but it got harder. We went by the vehicle and the guy was sleeping, so he couldn't say anything to us. The section in Rocheporte we followed what others have done and it was very easy to follow, stream practically dry. Great trip and fun for us all except one of the group got sick and that is a whole other story!!Hope this isn't too long,

We stayed at the Bluffton Barn on 10/16. Doug was a very nice host. We had own kitchenette/bathroom/etc. For an extra price, Doug cooked supper/breakfast for us (which was well worth it). Doug is very nice and enjoys hosting.

My husband and I recently biked the Katy Trail for the first time 10/14-10/18 and we had a great time. We stayed at our first ever Bed & Breakfast: Katy Junction. Jerry is one of the nicest people. He was so welcoming and personable. We visited with him for hours because we wanted to, not because we had to. He gives you your space, but also enjoy knowing his guests. He made us a great breakfast in the morning before he headed down the trail. B&B was clean and he has a bike rack he made in his garage to keep the bikes safe. We had no issues. Would definitely stay here again.

What recommendations on tire widths?

We have Trek 7.3FX's with 32mm

or older Mountain bikes with 1.5 to 1.9" tires


Have a ride coming up in the Defiance area. Any suggestions/warnings/advise is appreciated. Thank you

I usually ride 28s with no issues. Every once in a while when I hit some deeper gravel I think a wider tire might be better, but I don’t suspect you’d have any issues with 32s as long as you keep your eyes open.

Narrow tire. Slick or inverted tread. Less rolling resistance. More fun.

To each his own, but wide tires and mountain bikes are overkill on the Katy.

The tires you have sound fine.

There are often sections with deep, loose gravel that are hard to negotiate (for me and people I ride with).

If it has rained, the trail can be very soft and a narrow tire will sink in.

And sometimes there are cracks, holes, branches, dead animals, and other debris that'll be easier to handle if you have wider tires.

Last weekend I went with a friend who is an experienced cyclist and rode the east end of the Katy from near St. Charles to Machens.

I used my MTB with 2" semi-slick tires pumped to about 55psi.
He rode his new gravel bike that had 37mm, semi-knobby tires pumped to about 80psi.

I had no problems with deep, loose gravel, branches, debris, etc.
He was OK, but was glad he wasn't riding his other bike with 25mm road tires. He thought it would've been better if he had reduced the tire pressure a bit.

You own hybrid and mountain bikes. It doesn't sound like you are pushing for top performance. Ride the 32mm or 1.5-1.9" tires and have a good time.

Dead animals are easier to handle with wider tires?

You’re kidding.....right??

Almost anything from 28mm to 2” will work. I have used 32-42mm. I think tubeless gravel tires about 38-40mm wide are the way to go: They stay out of the ruts, stay on top, provide float/suspension, roll over the rough stuff, etc. Anyone who says 40mm gravel tires are slow......hasn’t ridden a modern gravel bike. Nobby MTB tires are preferred over skinny 23-25mm road bike tires. If all I had was a mountain bike, I’d go find some semi-slick tires about 1.75” wide.

Oh absolutely! Especially turtles and armadillos, they can really knock you off your line.

Almost anything from 28mm to 2” will work. I have used 32-42mm. I think tubeless gravel tires about 38-40mm wide are the way to go: They stay out of the ruts, stay on top, provide float/suspension, roll over the rough stuff, etc. Anyone who says 40mm gravel tires are slow......hasn’t ridden a modern gravel bike. Nobby MTB tires are preferred over skinny 23-25mm road bike tires. If all I had was a mountain bike, I’d go find some semi-slick tires about 1.75” wide.

It’s those dang squirrels that run across the trail and into your spokes that you need to keep a lookout for, tires size doesn’t matter then. :-)

I've ridden the Katy end-to-end 8 times on 700x32 tires. They were fine even given my 215 lbs weight (not counting the bike).

Last month I rode it again with my wife on a tandem using 26x2.125" tires. There were a few places where things were 'mushy' and the trail was perfectly dry. These places were where the trail had been repaired due to the floods a few years ago. The worse was the fresh repair just about a half mile from Machens.

I also have a gravel bike with 650B x 47 tires. It's overkill for the Katy and I'll probably go down to something in the 40 range when I replace them.

Finally I have ridden my road bike on the Katy with 700x25 tires. I wouldn't recommend it. The ride is much rougher plus less stable and that's around the St. Charles area which is much more packed down compared to places out in the boonies. I know one rider who has done things like Paris-Brest-Paris (1200 km in less than 80 hours) who did the entire Katy on 700x25 and said that it was a big mistake as it beat him up.

Great place to stay while biking on the Katy Trail! The room was clean and comfortable and Frank and his staff were a pleasure to chat with during our stay. A very nice hot breakfast was provided in the morning that included all of the essentials. We locked our bikes outside of the building and had no concerns or problems. This has to be the best lodging bargain in Hermann and is right downtown and close to many walkable dinner and drink options.
We'll return!

We just stayed here on Sunday night 10/18 (last night on our 3-day ride) and it was perfect. Clean, plenty of soft fuzzy towels and hot water. Breakfast couldn't have been better. Friendly staff. Good location. We'd stay there again!

Dana Leeds, Billings MT, 9/30/2020
Stayed here from Katy Trail- This hotel is NOT 2.2 miles from trailhead. Its actually 3.5 miles. You have to take a trailspur off the trail to downtown Jeff City, by the capitol building- you also have to go over this HUGE bridge, there is a bike path to do this- its quite impressive. The city built this ramp from park up to bridge for bikers. My friend was very afraid of heights, this situation was very intimadating for her and all bikers, frankly. If I had known this was in downtown jeff city, I probably would not have stayed here. It was a huge ordeal to find it. and very stressfull.
The hotel was very nice. clean, comfortable; hot water, Liz was very nice and helpful when we called because we couldn't find our way from park at end of trailspur. She had cookies waiting for us. Which we needed because of huge hills we had to go up with our gear. My blood sugar was low.
This hotel is round, so rooms are not symmetrical. our room was kind of small.
we made it work with our bikes. The restaurant on top floor was great- amazing views of city. The food was OK. we both ordered fish, it was undercooked, 2nd one was way too salty...was I am sure was good, cooked properly. I am not really a picky eater, not a "foodie", by any means. Everything was pretty good. Our breakfast was perfect. Everyone was required to wear masks.
I would recommend staying here for hotel sake- but not the fact we had a hard time finding it and the mileage is way off. This irritates me. I feel like I was lied to.

We stayed in another hotel in Jefferson City on our recent 3-day ride -- and our experience is similar. We would NOT plan to stay in Jefferson City again. The ride to just GET to the bridge and bike ramp is confusing. Then you ride up the ramp, cross the bridge, and more confusion on the JC bike trail as you described. The next morning, felt again like we wasted a bunch of time to get back to the main trail at North Jefferson. On a future trip, we would recalculate our ride so that it doesn't include a stop in JC. (Sorry!)

Katarina is an impressive young owner running a high quality cafe. Definitely worth the stop- the door is opposite the trail-side so don’t go past. Try the sweet potato fries with honey mustard.

Adding our kudos to Katarina's cafe. We pulled in at 1:45 -- just before the 2pm closing. She fixed us delish grilled cheese and grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, sweet potato fries and some scrumptious chili. We sat outside and ate every morsel, and ready to go back on the trail. Don't miss Katarina's!