Reply to Lees Summit to St. Charles

Three of us (and our bikes) are taking train to Lee's Summit in October. Staying at the Comfort Inn in Lees Summitt which is a couple miles away. We don't arrive until about 10 pm.

We are currently planning on having to ride our bike from station to hotel, but we do have to cross a bridge via SE Hamblen Rd. Has anyone done this? At Night? Safe? Is there any known bike shuttles at Amtrak that can take us to hotel?

Any other feedback on the Rock Island to Katy Trail connection?

My dad and I are doing the exact same thing (leaving this thursday) I will let you know how it goes. Taking the train and arriving late and riding our bikes over to the comfort in. Ill give you and update next week

From the Lee's Summit Amtrak, taking 5th Street to Hwy. 291/Hamblen, to Oldham Parkway and your hotel is the straightest route if you don't mind riding in pretty heavy traffic at night, but there is another sidewalk trail option that would keep you out of traffic. Here is the sidewalk trail route: go left (south) from the Amtrak station, cross 3rd Street and go straight to the next intersection 4th Street. You will see a nice new sidewalk trail straight ahead next to the black metal fence that separates the train tracks. Go straight about 500', cross the wooden bridge where the sidewalk trail ends at a park parking lot. Turn left and enter the park parking lot and after about 100' you will see a curb ramp to your right that leads onto the Hartman Park trails. Take the park trail past the playground swingset and rock climbing wall. The park trail will wrap around the swimming pool and you will see a well lit separated bike/ped path across and over 50 Hwy. Keep going straight south until that path dumps you out onto Oldham Parkway (a different one from your hotel). Turn left on Jefferson Street and go south until you reach Persels/Bailey Road (you have to ride in the street on Jefferson here, but there is no traffic). On the south side of Persels/Bailey, there is another bike/ped sidewalk that takes you across 291 Hwy., over the railroad tracks, and towards your hotel. Although the bike/ped sidewalk ends over the railroad tracks at Hamblen, Bailey road is really wide, pretty well lit, and has a striped bike lane/shoulder that will take you to Bridgehampton where you would turn left and ride through a residential neighborhood in order to reach your hotel. I also have a preferred route to Pleasant Hill that you can use the next morning if you need it. Good luck!

Mark, can you share your preferred route from the LS amtrak to PH trail head?

Interested in the preferred route from the Comfort Inn in Lee's Summit to the Pleasant Hill Trail head. My wife and I would like to stay away from high traffic roads as much as possible.

TC: I picked up Hamblen road from SE Thompson, which is a light industrial area (truck traffic) on a holiday. There was very little traffic since it was Labor Day and it was like that all the way to P Hill. I was satisfied with this route including the one block of 150 highway. I rode from Kansas to Illinois then back into Missouri finishing at St Louis. 394 miles over 5.5 days. In Windsor you can get a good lunch at Judys Kitchen…it’s a local country cooking sort of place. In Booneville don’t miss Derailed Coffee Cafe, it was excellent. Although I enjoyed my experience I didn’t think a whole lot of the Rock Island trail….it was a little harder to ride and the gravel was rougher than the more established and traveled Katy. I did see a post in the last few days about fresh gravel on part of the Rock Island. If you’re on Facebook I highly recommend joining Fans of the Katy Trail group. I just got back from Scottsdale area about a week ago….two desert mountain back rides, Browns Ranch, McDowell Preserve and then climbed Camelback…..took about four days for my legs to stop hurting. I can see why people like it in Arizona….at least in December.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7439098055

Thanks Mapmedic. We haven't figured out yet if we will stay in Pleasant Hill or Lee's Summit prior to beginning our trip to St Charles. If we stay in Pleasant Hill, we have no choice but to pay for two nights at an AirBnB although we will only be in town for one night. The mileage from Lee's Summit to Sedalia will push our limits on that first day, especially if the trails are wet. Glad that you enjoyed Arizona. We love to ride the trails around Tucson, especially during the 7 really nice months!