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Best month
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James Hollon from New Braunfels, TX on 2/22/2021 6:11:08 PM:
Which month is best to ride the Katy Trail? How early can I start? Average temperatures?
In the planning stages.
Thank you
 
Jerry Whittle from Belleville on 2/23/2021 10:15:25 AM:
During the spring into June flooding can be an issue. I've done the Katy end-to-end 8 times in June but had planned to do it 9 times. Flooding prevented it that 9th time. It's very warm to even being hot in June. Bugs will be out.

Last year the wife and I did it in September. The weather was almost perfect with no rain but it did get into down to 48°F one morning. We might just have been very lucky that week.
 
BikerBoy from Maryville, IL on 2/23/2021 11:17:41 AM:
James, winter recedes about 100 miles north each week in the springtime. Since the Katy is about 600 miles north of New Braunfels, you can sort of figure out what the temperatures will be like (i.e. what your weather is like now is about what the Katy will have in the first week of April). We do get a lot more rain in the spring as Jerry noted, but that varies by year.

I suggest adding an extra day to your trip plan as a "weather day", so that you won't feel rushed if there is a day with lots of wind or rain.

BTW, New Braunfels and Gruene are a couple of my favorite towns.
 
Gary from Near Tebbetts on 2/23/2021 12:25:16 PM:
Go to the Home page, scroll down to current weather, you will find historic averages there. Of course, there is no guarantee that history will repeat itself when you choose to ride the Katy. :-)
 
Bill in Houston from Houston on 2/24/2021 11:57:28 AM:
James, we were hoping to get some cooler weather when we rode the trail, so we rode in third week of April. We got lucky, in a way, because the trail had just barely stopped flooding and somewhat been repaired in some segments. A little earlier, and we might have had some trouble.

There was nobody else out there at that time. We asked the businesses when the busy season was, and they said it starts in July, which I found kind of surprising, since I think it would be pretty hot.

I'd like to ride the trail in the busy time to get more trail camaraderie, but July doesn't seem great. :)

So then my next choice would be to try to hit it in the right month for fall colors. Early Nov?

As mentioned, it would be nice to allow a bad weather day. But if you're staying in places where you would need a reservation, I don't know how that works.

This site doesn't like for people to paste links, so just google "average weather for columbia missouri" to see a nice overview of temp and precip.
 
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