Katy Trail Forum

My husband is thinking about heading out to Sedalia this weekend and do some riding on the trail out there and on the Rock Island Spur. I was wondering it there has been snow or if there will be by then on the trail? I'm thinking it may not last long even if there is?

Windsor and the area had a little snow overnight. Looks like will be melting and Katy and Rock Island both good for the weekend

YES! SNOW ON TRAIL IN BOONVILLE (all be it very little) GET OUT YOUR FATTYs (Very Fat Tire Snow Bikes) We are going to get ours out in a minute here, just for the fun of it.

Thanks for the responses. He thought it would be fine but I wanted to check!

Snow this morning here in Sedalia, but sun is out and I think most is gone.

We have several couples that are planning on riding the Katy Trail next April, 2020. We plan on riding about 150 miles. Are there any suggestions on the best part of the trail to ride?
Thanks.

Best part of the trail. Based on what Brenda? It’s very doubtful that anyone here knows you, your likes, dislikes, and so on. How on earth could anyone possibly tell someone that they know absolutely nothing about, what is best for them or what they would prefer? Perhaps you should have a look on theTrip Planner and read about the towns along the way. Or read on this forum some to pick the park of the trail that best fits your group.

Dear Anonymous and Brenda

Might be more helpful to ask the question:

'tell us more about your cycling ability and experience, distance you want to travel each day, type of accommodation'.

Referring Brenda to the TripPlanner is, of course, a good idea.

Brenda, you might also try speaking to Todd at Katy Bike Rental or Steve at the bike shop in Boonville, or look at what Wilderness Voyageurs offer in the way of tours. You don't have to use them for a tour (although they are very good in my experience), but they give you ideas and information.

Brenda: sorry for “anonymous” previous post. You were simply looking for information. Answer to your question, we most enjoyed the section from Rocheport to St. Charles. Bluffs on one side, river and farm fields on the other side. Katy Trail experienced severe damage from Spring and Summer 2019 flooding. Follow this forum for trail updates while planning your trip. It is a great ride!!

I agree with Mark about staying near the river. I'd say Boonville to St. Charles would be about 150 miles. If the Missouri River floods badly in 2020, there's Boonville to Clinton plus The Rock Island Trail from Windsor to Pleasant Hill and back. Not as scenic but flooding shouldn't be an issue.

Clinton to New Franklin is more remote, for miles, very remote....and we LOVE that! Augusta to St. Charles is busier and you cross and ride next to FAR MORE ROADWAYS.

So, you will have to decide what type of ride you are looking for.

One thing to keep in mind, you might have rain, and or, Thunder Storms in April. Riding the St. Charles end would give you more areas to 'ditch' from.

To all of those seeking advice about the “best” part to ride, it reminds me of our trip to float the Rio Grande. We pulled out to survey the rapids below and after much discussion by the old men of the best way to navigate the rapids below, the nephew spoke up and said, “let’s just do it”. We all looked at each and said, “ok yeah let’s just do it”.

The moral of the story, don’t fret over the planning, just do it, you’ll enjoy whatever you decide to do and have stories to tell.

Yep, Gary's right, just do it.

But unless you are regular cyclists and used to a day in the saddle, it's definitely worth a few practice runs beforehand to see how you feel about the distances, in particular if you are carrying panniers with your stuff and extra weight.

Factor in potential delays:

- flat tyres - we had three in a day, but none on the other five days;
- rain, wind, tempest (well, rain and wind at least);
- stopping to talk to people and smell the roses.

Michael

Yeah, riding a wider-tired bike on gravel with 20 pounds of cargo is different from a short ride on a paved trail. It feels uphill the whole way. Just plan to take it easy and enjoy it.

Last week I rode the trail from St. Charles to McKitttrick. The stretch from Treloar to McKittrick was especially lovely. The trail is only 25 yds from from Missouri River on one side and beneath 70-100 ft limestone bluffs on the other side. It was a Thursday and I encountered very few other bikers. It was mid to late afternoon on a fine October day. If youo like quiet, serenity and the beauty of nature all around, that stretch is a wonderful experience. I think there are similar parts of the trail east of Rocheport. Happy Biking.

If I was going to do 150 miles I would probably do from the Pilot Grove/Boonville area to somewhere in the Augusta/Defiance area. A lot of variety in the scenery and plenty of lodging and dining options.

An interesting trip would be from Sedalia to McKittrick/Herman. You could bike from either point to the other, and take the Amtrak on the return leg to the starting point. Depot is right in Sedalia; the trail goes through McKittrick, but the Amtrak depot in Herman is only a couple of miles across the Missouri River. Very good lodging at either location. This might be a bit shorter than your goal of 150 miles, but does have the train connections. I think what you're going to find as you plan further is that you'll want to do more of the trail. In that case would recommend Windsor to McKittrick/Herman, going west to east. You have some great opportunities in FL for shakedown trips, like the Withlacoochee Trail. It's more urban than the Katy Trail, but would give you a good idea of a 45-50 mile day. Probably preaching to the choir, since I'm guessing you're familiar with FL bike trails.

Brenda, Send me an email and I will forward you our itinerary. We (6) just did 7 days from Clinton to St Charles, and you can see the mileage, and where some good restaurants are! Carol at daltonpc@comcast.net

One of my favorite things about biking- is stopping at restaurants who have good food! Beer is nice as well. Our group just finished the Clinton to Columbia to St Charles ride on October 24.

Our favorite places we ate: Hotel Bothwell for dinner in Sedalia.

Katarina's Homestyle Cafe in Pilot Grove, great burgers! Great staff!

The Frederick Hotel's restaurant had good food and friendly service! Loved the trout! Cocktails in the bar were good too !

Lunch at Abigails in Rocheport was our favorite meal on the trail ! http://www.rocheport-mo.com/abigails.html

Columbia,MO had amazing choices, we stayed at the Tiger Hotel (loved it) and walked to the Broadway Brew Pub, enjoyed the beer and casual food.

In Hartsburg, the Claysville Store is ranked highly, serves home made fried chicken dinners but it is only open on Sat and Sundays! We were so disappointed! and could not find an open restaurant that day... until we reached Jefferson City.

Prison Brews in Jeff City has great service, beer and comfort food ! Delicious pulled pork sandwiches. Steak salad was lacking in steak.

Hermann: Stone Hill Winery has excellent dinners, wine and service but last seating is at 630pm.

Dutzow certainly is the best deli ! The Reuben was amazing ! Closes at 2pm. Good thing we ate big because.....

there is no dinner food in Augusta ! We bought cheese salami and crackers, and wine! at the Augusta Winery to get us thru. Stayed at Acorn BnB. Kate's Coffee House serves breakfast and lunch, and we took advantage and ate a BIG breakfast. Service there was slow for the 6 of us and our (delicious) burrito and croissant sandwich orders. Augusta ! you need a food truck ! Bikers need dinner, and this is a lovely town with many BnB's. where do people eat?

Bike Stop Cafe in St Charles has a healthy full lunch menu with great soups, salads and sandwichs. Wine and beer as well !

This is a great stop for riders who are not supported. Full kitchen set up, parlor with games and books. Can do laundry too!

We also stayed there and loved it. Very convenient to the trail. A couple of restaurants close by. Owner stocks a number of food items for guests.

My wife, brother, sister in law, and I stayed at the Bluffton Barn on Oct 24th. Doug treated us to a great meat and taters supper, per our request, and a hearty breakfast that included persimmon bread and wild pears.

We enjoyed our stay here.

Doesanyone know a good route from Bolivar to Clinton?

This was our third stay at the Dormitory at the School House. We continue to be highly pleased with every aspect of the Dormitory. They think of everything. The room was very clean and everything was in its place. The beds were as comfortable as bunk beds can be and the food for breakfast was fresh and more than adequate. We will be back.

My wife and I stayed there 10/17/19. Joey runs a fine B&B. Accomodations are large and commodious. Breakfast in the morning is delicious and filling. Convenient to the Trail and to Hermann (just 2 miles north). We highly recommend the Birdhouse.

Stopped by the Sedalia Trailhead Depot and, specifically, the Champion Bicycles shop.

Bought a drink and candy bar and talked with the owner. Great location. Shop/owner can definitely address any cycling repair issues as well as tips/suggestions on Sedalia or the Katy Trail.

Had breakfast at Miracle Cup Coffee in New Franklin.

From the Casey's General Store in the "downtown" area, just go west past the neighborhood and school and this place will be immediately on your right.

Good breakfast menu. I think they do lunch as well.

Solid facility. Can't miss it from the Katy Trail ... although I certainly tried cycling after night fall.

Primitive camping is slightly separate from RV camping but they share a small building for bathrooms and showers.

Had dinner here after a morning ride and watched Sunday football. Hot ham and cheese sandwich and a few beers. All good.

Located in downtown area.

2-3 blocks from Katy Trail Sedalia depot.

Stayed at the Hotel Bothwell. Great hotel. Complimentary morning breakfast. Great rooms.

They do offer a Katy Trail discount, so be sure to request that when you check in.

I was there on a Sunday night, so I was unable to try their bar/restaurant which are closed on Sundays.

They can store your bike for you or you can keep it in your room.

2-3 blocks from Katy Trail Sedalia Depot.
2-3 blocks from Amtrak station.

On the downtown square, so short walking distance to restaurants, bars, stores.

I have a question for the folks that have ridden the trail, what bike would you suggest for the trail, would a hybrid or a mountain bike be best , the rental place there recommends the jamis citizen 1 I think, any opiinion on bike tires and gear would also be appreciated.

A knobby tire mountain bike with suspension is overkill for the Katy Trail. A hybrid with at least 700x32 tires will work better. That Jamis would an OK choice.

I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to your question: One probably doesn’t want a skinny tired road bike for the Katy (because Katy is not paved, because there are rough spots, because there are soft spots, because there are gravel roads to cross, etc). I’d pick a hybrid over a mountain bike (even if I put semi slick tires on the MTB) because a hybrid is more stable and likely to be more comfortable than a MTB (that is usually made to be agile/quick turning). There is no need for front or full suspension. So I’d pick something that is comfortable for straight line riding for as far as you plan to ride it. MY CHOICE is either a touring bike or a gravel bike with about 40mm wide gravel or touring tires.

Whatever feels most comfortable after hours in the saddle, and definitely one that won't get a ton of flats.

My husband and I ride the KATY all year. We have ridden about EVERY TYPE of bike on it. We do like our 29ers/Mt. Bikes best for all sorts of weather/trail conditions. But on snow our FATTYs. When it is really dry and we are in a hurry, Road Bikes. Some days our Tandems. My BEST advise is the bike you are MOST COMFORTABLE on. "My" bike fit, and the Bike Shop "Experts" bike fit, are two TOTALLY DIFFERENT FITS! I prefer MY fit to theirs! ;-) Also, if you are packing, a bike that can not only hold all the packs, but handles well when packed.

I commute to work twice a week, with half the ride on the Katy. I am riding a Trex hybrid. It's so much lighter and easier to ride than my old Wal-mart mountain bike. I even upgraded my 12 year old grandson's bike to a Trex. He now rides twice what he did on his Wal-mart mountain bike.
The trail is usually pretty smooth so the suspension and extra weight that comes with that suspension of a mountain bike really isn't needed.
Like state in other posted. A comfortable bike and you can ride a length of time is probable the key. I enjoy the lightness of my hybrid and the ability it gives me to ride longer.

Would it be safe to leave my truck parked at this trailhead overnight? I want to ride to Windsor one day, spend the night, and then ride back to Pleasant Hill the next. I would consider doing this trim the opposite way, except apparently lodging isn’t an option in Pleasant Hill.

Is the USA Inn still open? I'm having trouble getting in touch and their website is down.

No, it is closed.

Looking for clean reasonable B&B in Clinton close to the trail. We'll finish our ride there and are also looking for a shuttle back to St. Charles.

Hi

I've made a couple of suggestions for shuttles in my post under'Transportation from St Charles to Gateway Station'
Michael

Has anyone stayed in the hobo Hill house in Jefferson City?
We three couples have rented it through Airbnb for next week -one night. There are no reviews! The family moved out because it was haunted and it is being used as a rental now. Looks like a nice place! But with a ghost ?

http://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2019/jul/26/hobo-hill-house-be-featured-paranormal-show-travel-channel/788063/

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a28916900/rent-haunted-hobo-hill-house-on-airbnb/

People claim that places are haunted so that they can charge more. Yeah, it's weird. It ain't haunted, and you'll be fine.

Nice, be sure to post all your experiences here after your stay. You might also want to have a plan B in mind just in case it gets too weird.

We are here tonight- all is quiet. But the prison is again open for yours and we got into the 7pm Ghost Tour ! Worth it !

Rode through Medford this past weekend and was pleased to see that there is now a water fountain!

Looking for a clean reasonably priced B&B close to the trail in Clinton. Also needing a shuttle from Clinton back to St. Charles. Any suggestions?

Anyone on the trail in the Tebbetts area this Saturday should check out the Harvest Festival. The Tebbetts community have been big supporters of the trail and the Turner Shelter so if you get a chance give them a little love. Here’s a link to the community Facebook page.

https://m.facebook.com/TebbettsMissouri/

I rode the Rock Island Spur from Pleasant Hill out 15 miles today and was surprised to learn that the trail doesn’t follow the railbed between the fairgrounds and HWY 7. There are signs directing users on two roads that have moderate traffic and not much of a shoulder. It appears this is because of an incomplete section with a tunnel under an active rail line. Does anyone know why that part is not complete? Maybe property ownership or that the tunnel is unsafe? I haven’t been able to find any info, but it would be ideal to have this segment included at the start of the trail.

The Facebook group 'Rock Island/MoPac Trails at Pleasant Hill' discussed this. Some conclusions included: "Each rail crossing adds to the liability burden of railroad. [Railroads] resist new ones with every inch of their attorneys." and "The direct trail route out of the fairgrounds...crosses ‘live’ tracks.... There could, potentially, be rail cars on this ‘siding’ at any time preventing safe crossings."

The Pleasant Hill Trailhead is excellent. As a walker, the route to the trail is on a state road marked "bike route", but there's no bike lane, and in some places the pavement is crumbling into the ditch - no shoulder whatsoever. If two cars try to pass each other with a pedestrian or cyclist at one of the spots, someone could die. Without any indication of how far I'd have to walk in such conditions, I turned back and drove to the next access, on Purvis Road. That's too bad, because Pleasant Hill could offer great services to bicyclists and walkers, if only they could access the trail there.

Riding the Katy Trail in less than a week from Clinton to St. Charles.

Need suggestions (if any) on return transportation to Gateway Station in STL from St. Charles.

Considering taking the front wheel off the bike and getting an Uber (which means I may be jamming my bike in their trunk). And assuming an Uber might be pricey.

Thanks for any ideas provided.

John

Hi

We used Todd at Katy Bike Rental on 314 578 7300 for the shuttle from Defiance (where the bike shop is, about 10 or so miles west of St Charles) to Sedalia. We also used Marvin at CBAM Shuttles - 660-621-3488 - for the ride around Coopers Landing bit.

Todd has at least one van with purpose-built bike carriers and Marvin has a wonderful home-made but safe and effective trailer for carrying bikes.

They have both been busy recently but maybe there are fewer people needing rescuing, which is what Marvin is good at it, as well as regular pre-booked shuttling.

Uber doesn't sound a great idea as the trunk of a Toyota Prius isn't that big!

By the way, I have no financial interest in Todd's or Marvin's business, just found them helpful and reliable; not that cheap. Marvin did two of us the 50 mile road trip around Coopers Landing for $80.00.

Have a great ride. I envy you some cooler weather as it was blooming hot in late September.
Michael

I rode to Machens and across the river to Alton, then South to St Louis. I took the train back to Sedalia and rode back to Clinton (left my truck at the Community Center). If I do it again, I would ride to Kirkwood Station from St Charles and catch the train there.

Any word on when construction will start on the Lee's Summit to Pleasant Hill stretch?

I don’t know but this article ran on KSHB (local news tv station) this morning:

https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/federal-ruling-stops-work-on-rock-island-corridor

It appears as though construction has started back up. Not sure if the schedule has been impacted: https://mobikefed.org/2019/08/rock-island-trail-update-jackson-county-rock-island-hits-small-bump-road-quickly-back-track

Talked to a county employee with a badge that was patrolling. He said that phase 1 is complete, phase 2 is starting from the stadium and working back towards lees summit, and phase 3 will connect lees summit to pleasant hill after phase 2 is completed.

A section from Lee's Summit to Brickyard Yard near 350 Highway and Noland Road is now complete. There is no parking at the Brickyard Road trailhead but parking is available about a mile down the trail at 98th Street. This parking can be accessed from Bannister Road by turning south on Norfleet and driving about a mile to a parking lot large enough for about 40 vehicles.

I am pumped for this trail! I went on the stretch from Noland Road (near 350) out a few miles. I parked at the Pioneer Gun Club entrance which is no way legal, but it got the job done.

I saw some cranes removing trees by my house in Raytown and clearing a path a few months ago and had no idea this would be part of this huge trail!

Planning to ride fromSedalia to Boonville and back later this next week. Any detours or closures?

Or any recommendation coming from the East to Boonville. Want to ride approx 35-50 miles

BEAUTIFUL RIDE! Yes. Just out of Sedlia there is a Detour...but we found it well marked. Just watch for the sighs as you ride. My husband and I ride THIS area all the time....daily.

Figured I would share my experience on the trail from a few weeks ago for anyone still interested in riding a portion of the trail yet this year.

We started in Clinton and road to Klondike park (between Augusta and Matson) and back 9/28-10/3. I would imagine the trail is close to the same shape now, but cant be positive as the river was coming up fast on our way back (10/1 & 10/2). If I recall correctly we only had 3 detours from the trail (4 if you count Klondike but we were camping there regardless).

The first being right after Boonville. We took the bridge on Hwy 40 over the Missouri. There is a pedestrian side to the bridge which we rode on but there is also a large shoulder on both sides of the bridge. Once over the bridge you ride roughly 1 mile on Hwy 40 until you reach 345 (a gravel on your left). This detour was super simple and relatively safe in my opinion. The majority of Hwy 40 had a large shoulder (there was a very short section that didn't).

The second detour was between New Franklin and Rocheport where you will get back on Hwy 40. This is the one that everyone on the forums is concerned with. We hit this detour around 10am on a Sunday. There is no shoulder, but I really didn't think it was to bad. There was traffic but in the 4-5 mile stretch it was less than a dozen cars and almost everyone was pretty courteous giving us ample room as they passed. To be honest the worst part is when you first get on the highway you have a pretty good climb that goes for a 3/4-1 mile or so. Once you get to the top of the hill its smooth sailing and you can coast at 30+mph down and cars that do approach from behind can see if they have oncoming traffic to contend with. I will say you need to check what the current status of this detour is because on our way back Salt Creek was backed up and Hwy 40 was down to 1 lane (and the river was still rising). Also the section between Coopers landing (prior to Easley) through Wilton was rough. There were sections of loose large pointy rocks and several sections of very loose deep sand. We rode the trail all the way through this even though there was a portion that said closed. Overall this might be a five mile stretch and of that 5 miles all the worst parts combined amount to about 1 mile that takes a lot of energy to ride. It had rained the night before on our way east and at the time I thought it sucked because there was standing water on the trail in a lot of sections and all of our panniers were covered in mud, but to be honest it was better than our way back west when it was dry and we kept sinking in the sand. For reference I had 700x35 tires and my brother had 700x41 tires with about 50 lbs of gear/food each. We fared about the same.

The third detour was the rock slide between Steedman and Portland. We and the GPS struggled to find the detour and ended up riding Hwy 94 for a couple extra miles because of it. Where the trail is posted closed you can actually ride down a little further (maybe 1/2 mile) and then take a driveway off the trail on to Schmid Way (gravel road) and then jump on Hwy 94. Again pretty simple and safe detour either way.

Also the hill to get into Klondike Park was a killer, but the beers and food at the Augusta Brewery probably didn't help matters. Regardless its a healthy 10% grade for the 1/10 mile from the trail to the park.

The only other thing worthwhile of noting is the stretch between Mokane (stopped at grocery store) to Rhineland (baseball field hydrant) and Rhineland to Marthasville had little to no water stops. There is a little self service spot at a farm house (I think its Steamboat springs or something like that, right past Bluffton and on the trail) and there is a bar in Treloar, but they are closed on Mondays which was the day we were coming through. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but when I looked at the official Katy trail map for services if it said water I assumed that meant at the depot which isn't necessarily the case (you may have to ride through/into town to find a business that is open)

If anyone would like I can send you my GPX files from our ride.

Dear Toby

I can endorse what you write about the trail; we rode Sedalia to Defiance 26 September to 1 October.

Just want to add (all heading eastwards):

- out of Boonville - '345' isn't that easy to recognise; we weren't sure about it so we rode on and turned left on 5 towards New Franklin trailhead.

- we found 40 between New Franklin and Rocheport fine to ride on; but the hill at the start of the detour onto 40 is steep; just remember to turn off 40 onto 240 down to Rocheport.

- we avoided the rough bit around Cooper's Landing by getting a shuttle from Marvin at CBAM shuttle on 660 621 3488; he was great. We decided on the shuttle as we had fairly narrow tyres and all our stuff with us on panniers.

- Steedman to Portland: about 100 yards before the trail closure sign is a gravel track to the right as you approach the closure; about 400 yards down that you come to route 94 (you can't see 94 from the trail there), turn left, ride a mile over a bridge, and just after the bridge cross over to a track and drop down under the bridge and back on the trail.

- Klondike Park: the tarmac hill up from the trail is steep, very; we walked it. Then the signs are good - you ride about a mile or more through the park. There are one or two steep bits with sharp turns but we did them fine with all our stuff on the bikes and caliper brakes (not discs).

- Water from Rhineland to Marthasville: we also hit Treloar on a Monday when the one bar is shut. There is no water at the trailheads on this stretch.

Hope you all get some cooler weather!!

We rode from Sedalia to Rocheport today, and here's an update on the two closures past Booneville.

Just past Booneville over the bridge (highway 40), the trail is closed and the sign says there is no detour. We didn't want to ride on 40 because it's pretty busy, so we took 87 west just a short bit to pick up the trail again. Just down the trail it was blocked saying it was closed because a culvert was out. But just as we were turning around a friendly worker drove up and told us he'd open the gate for us and it is passable. He said it's not officially open yet but you can get through. We found that there was just some soft dirt but totally passable now.

The other detour is a few miles past Pearsons, just a few miles outside of Rocheport. That one is still closed for a few miles. A sign says to take the road on the right of the trail over to highway 40, but the road was flooded. We had to go back about 3 miles to Pearsons. We still wanted to avoid 40 so we turned North (away from 40) on gravel road 467 for maybe half a mile, then right on 442 (also gravel) which took us all the way into Rocheport. The gravel roads had some hills, but there's basically no traffic which was what we were looking for. So whether you want to take 40 or the gravel roads like we did, you need to detour at Pearsons because the detour where the trail is closed is flooded.

We rode this second detour a few miles east out of Boonville a week ago, and didn't find route 40 too bad - but we are confident on the road (although we'd much rather be on the trail). We got onto 40 with no problem - it ran right alongside the trail. Perhaps the flooding is recent?

If you do get onto 40, the important thing is to take the right turn onto route 240 off 40, and then ride the mile or so into Rocheport where you can rejoin the trail eastwards. 240 was almost deserted.

I think the first detour described by jlouder is the one just coming out of Boonville. We were advised to come over the Boonville Bridge on 40 and ride about 2.5 miles before the turn off left on 5 and the ride about a mile to the New Franklin trailhead where you can rejoin the trail. That worked for us.

It sounds though as if the Boonville trailhead was where jlouder was helped by a 'friendly worker' and got on to the trail. We went to this trailhead by mistake and didn't want to take a chance - we could see heavy construction plant ahead - so we went to New Franklin.

Sedalia: we got lost coming from the Sedalia trailhead. Although there seem to be markings painted on the country road you do need to be careful not to turn right into the residential area just after you set off. That added a few miles to a hot 40-mile day!

Final tip: we loved how helpful locals are along the trail, but some of them don't know about closures (why should they?) and may direct you, in all good faith, to a closed route or trailhead.