Reply to Trail Conditions

Hello,
My wife and I are planning to cycle the trail in October, 2019 from Boonville to Augusta. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether the trail be in good enough condition to do this by then?

Thank You!

My uneducated opinion is YES, it will be good to excellent conditions for riding 90%-95% of the trail. It seems from all I've read and heard that the most prominent trail closure is just west of Rocheport. And the detour may not be desirable to everyone. There are shuttle services offered along the trail, and I expect there will be some available in that area, as it is an ongoing issue. However, my brother is coming from Virginia to ride the length of the trail with me from Clinton to St. Charles. We do anticipate having to work around a couple difficulties that we were not subject to the last two times we rode the whole trail, but absolutely don't expect anything insurmountable. We are leaving Clinton on the 10th of October and plan to do a leisurely ride, returning to St. Charles on the 15th. I do hope you ride, RJ, and have a safe, fun time on the trail. Everyone knows the businesses along the route will greatly appreciate seeing us all. Maybe we'll see you along the way. Happy trails!

My brother and I have made 9, annual trips on the Trail across Missouri. The first seven were from Clinton to St Charles, and the last two were from Pleasant Hill to St Charles. We hopeful that we'll get our tenth ride during 2019. We have scheduled the week of October 20th for our annual ride; we'll do it during a 4-day ride (subject to change pending conditions). Previously, we made our trips during September.

I have been busy on Garmin Connect, Strava, and Ride with GPS exploring detour options, and making route maps and GPX files.

Since I am a Missouri "ex-pat" living in the Houston, TX area, I am most grateful for all of the on-line trail up-dates.

Thank you all so much. We will be there, for sure!

I am planning to ride the KT Clinton to St. Charles 9/3-9/8. My plan for day two includes this stretch west of Rocheport, (Sedalia to Cooper’s Lansing, 70 miles). What is the detour route and what makes it undesirable? Safety? Length? Forgive me if there is somewhere I can get that info myself and thank you all for this input. It has been very helpful.

I believe it's because the detour near Rocheport would put you on the highway.

Lots of info can be gained from looking at the MO Parks Website link above and Trail Conditions Report(TCR) from users. I believe the biggest challenge in going the whole length(on bike) is the 10 miles west of Hartsburg that DNR lists as "closed w/o detour". From the TCR, bikers have seemed to make it through by following the closed trail that still seems to have considerable damage. I do not believe there is any good road detour there and also not sure if you may be violating some state law by ignoring trail closed signs.

There is also a 1 mile section west of Portland that is "closed w/o detour" according to DNR because of a rockslide. From the TCR, bikers that made is past this section used area side roads and Hwy. 94 to make it around this obstacle. From the TCR, it does not sound all that safe so be careful on this one.

The remaining "closed w/o detour" section is around Case(MM 97). There is an easy work around by using the local road just north of the bridge that is out. I am guessing why DNR says it is "closed" is that there is not a legal easement to get on and off the trail to use this road. Nevertheless, that is how bikers have been getting around this section.

The other closed section is east of St. Charles to Machens, and I would not ride this section even if it was open.

DNR posts maps for the remaining detours and none of them would concern me. Others may have a different opinion.

No, Rocheport does put you on a nasty highway, I am canceling my thru trip.

According to my tentative plan, by the time I get to Rocheport I will have about 50 miles in the saddle. So I am thinking maybe just try to get a shuttle to take my sore butt from Rocheport down to Cooper’s Landing? or near it? How easy or difficult might that be to procure? Thanks for the summary Steve K.