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Reply to try it...the MKT spur to Columbia


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Reply to try it...the MKT spur to Columbia
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Drew & Karen from Blue Springs, MO on 5/30/2006 11:56:54 AM:
It comes out on Providence...just a short trek from Broadway and all of the businesses. We ate at a restaurant that featured Kosavo cuisine...very good...Try the Opa...it's fun to watch it as she lights it up.

The spur is 8.8 miles, curves a bit, can be hot but it has shade in some places. The grade may be a bit more than what you experience on the Katy because I don't think it is a former railway. Help me out here, ya all, what do you think of the MKT spur?

 
ET from Columbia on 5/30/2006 8:43:28 PM:
Actually, it is an old railroad bed, except for the very end, out by the Katy, where a landowner didn't want to sell. That's the reason for the big curve. Since then, he sold to the city to create the wetlands that are there now, and you can use the access roads instead of the trail--more direct, but rougher, and can be a bit smelly (the wetlands treat the effluent from the Columbia sewer system so that they are much cleaner before they hit Eagle Bluffs and the Missouri River). It's the only way in high water, as the official trail route tends to flood. The railroad was the MKT spur into Columbia, and ended at the old station, which is now a sports bar and restaurant--you can see it from the trailhead at Flat Branch Park.

 
frank from festus on 5/30/2006 8:52:02 PM:
rode the mkt fitness trail once. truly enjoyed it. grade is not that bad and enjoyed most of the scenery. didn't care for the end next to the katy where we went around the setiment ponds, but oh well, stuff happens, no pun intended. it was a nice ride overall.

 
gc from Columbia, Mo on 5/31/2006 2:16:58 PM:
Love the MKT spur. I try to walk it a few times a week. Since I am planning to hike the whole Katy Trail this fall, I should be walking it every day. I guess it won't get any cooler! lol

On a side note, if you get bored with the full MKT spur, the MU fitness trail cuts off to the east at about Mile Marker 2 on the MKT. It takes you south of the main MU campus, and hooks up to the Hinkson Creek trail in Columbia and eventually ends at the Grindstone trailhead on old Highway 63 on the city's southeast side. There are plans to further extend that trail to the north, but it will take some time to do it. All in all, its a nice walk/ride.