Reply to Trail detours

I have been reading that there are several detours along the trail. Are they clearly marked along off trail routes.

I have not looked for myself, but I would definitely say "no".

What about the Salt creek detour? is that clearly marked?

The two major closures at Salt Creek (flooded/broken bridge) and 1.75 miles west of Portland (rock slide next to Logan Creek) do not have signed detours. Go to Google Maps, change the view to satellite view and enter Davisdale, MO for Salt Creek and Portland, MO for the rock slide. The rock slide west of Portland has a very easy detour that you can clearly see from the satellite map and you can actually zoom into the rock slide...Hwy. 94 is lightly traveled in this area and the road is almost flat for the one mile that you will be on it between Schmid Way and the gravel road that loops back to the Katy Trail. The satellite image at Salt Creek (near Davisdale) clearly shows the low water creek crossing route but it is an old satellite image with the levee blown out...there isn't a water pit anymore south of the broken bridge. You can see also the highway and county roads that you will have to use if the creek crossing is too muddy. Unfortunately this route is not signed and it takes up the bluffs before you can loop back along the county roads to Rocheport. The Fans of the Katy Trail Group on Facebook includes multiple videos of this low water crossing in their media section. The Katy Trail is definitely worth it, but you need to be prepared for these detours.

It's best to have the frame of mind that the state park department just maintains as much trail as they feel like maintaining, and that they care nothing about your trip, its timing, your ability to complete it, etc. Navigation, detours, etc are all up to you. Don't count on there being any signage anywhere ever. That's a bit of an exaggeration, because you might see one or two signs that help direct you. But if you go in being independent and not expecting anything, you will be able to cope with whatever happens. The state park department really just thinks about local users, who can just turn around, or who can just drive to a different trailhead. Which makes a certain amount of sense to me.

I’m sure several years of record floods, the virus shutting down much of the country and shutting down the annual trail rides had nothing to do with the ability of the DNR to repair these major damages. The DNR Katy Trail people are good people and do not deserve to be characterized as uncaring or lazy.

Gary I fully agree with you, however I have met Bill and I doubt seriously if his intention was to denigrate MoDNR. I took it more as an affirmation of our independence and "we can take care of ourselves, thank you very much" attitude, which I believe he counts as a strength.

Which direction are you riding? I think West to East is better marked than other direction.

I am planning on doing a round trip.

Yeah, sorry, I knew it would come out wrong. They do a great job, and from the condition of the trail, you can tell that they care. Riders just need to be prepared and independent.

We just finished our full Katy Trail round trip and encountered the 2 trail blockages...twice. Going west we made our way through the rock slide at miles 117.x. It was not easy and took about an hour. Minimally loaded bikes would be easier. Our experience: Unload bikes, lift everything over rocks. Load up bikes. Walk a 1/4 mi. path to the opposite side of the slide. Unload bikes again. Lift everything over another set of rocks. Reload bikes. A short distance down the trail a large tree is down. Lift loaded bikes over the tree. At the far end it is necessary to scout around a blocked bridge through a small creek. On the return trip we took the road: Ride to the where the trail is blocked. Take the gravel road on the right. At the paved highway, turn left. Ride the hilly lightly trafficked highway to Portland Turn right to the trail. Again going west, at Rockland, a bridge is out 3 miles ahead. We heard from many that the nearby highway was very hilly, rumble strips required riding in the traffic lane and there is plenty of traffic. So we took the trail each way. Crossing the creek was relatively easy since the bottom is cement, farmers driving their tractors across. One way 3” of water, on return 5” of water. Your experience may vary.