Rock Island Trail, Lees Summit to Pleasant Hill route

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Kevin from Wisconsin on 8/13/2022 8:16:06 AM:

We'll be taking the Amtrak from Kirkwood, MO to Lee's Summit this fall and riding the Rock Island Spur and Katy back to Kirkwood.

There are a couple options (on road or on primarily bike trails) to get from the Amtrak Station in Lee's Summit to the Comfort Inn in LS and we're not concerned about this segment.

My question is about riding from the Comfort Inn in Lee's Summit to Pleasant Hill. I've seen a couple suggested routes that start a ways west of the Comfort Inn. We've mapped out a more direct route. Does anyone know of any issues riding the highlighted route below? Some of it may be gravel..not concerned with that as long as it's reasonably ridable.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ujxX8S1CwYFsVOQ9R4as6a82W0JIUlis/view?usp=sharing

Mark from Lee's Summit on 8/16/2022 1:40:54 PM:

I love biking the rail trails in Wisconsin and you will love riding both the Rock Island and Katy trails in Missouri. Your mapped out route is fine, but you do have to be prepared for the big, winding hill along Browning Road just before you reach Smart Road. Browning Road has a long "S-curve" that drops down to a creek bridge and then you have to climb back up out of that low point by going back uphill after using your brakes to control your winding descent. If you are carrying backpacking gear then that hill is a monster. The rest of the hills along your route are rolling and there is almost no gravel to worry about except right before Smart Road intersects the MOPAC trail near Pleasant Hill lake. I have custom mapped routes from the Katy Trail to both the Kirkwood Amtrak station and the Downtown St. Louis Amtrak station so let me know if you are interested in either of those.

Kevin from Wisconsin on 8/16/2022 9:14:56 PM:

Thanks Mark! I was hoping you'd respond as I think I ran across one of your posts offering directions to the Comfort Inn (first link). We may take the one on our RWGPS route..not sure yet..as we wanted to stop at the Quik Trip just north of Hwy 50. There's about 600 feet of possibly non-bike territory under Hwy 50 that we may have to walk.

The second link is our entire route. You'll note the last 18ish miles from St. Charles to Kirkwood. I honestly don't remember where I pulled the route from, and I made a few changes based on satellite views. If you wouldn't mind taking a look I'd appreciate it.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40459301

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38132319

(I'm glad you've made it up to Wisconsin. We do have a number of very nice trails and we've ridden many of them. In general, WI is a pretty bike-friendly state.)

Mark from Lee's Summit on 8/17/2022 7:59:55 PM:

I would avoid the QT along Hwy. 291 just north of 50 Hwy. The 291 bridge over 50 Hwy. has no sidewalks and no shoulder so your only option is to take over a full driving lane as you ride over 50 Hwy (it is impossible to just walk across 50 Hwy) and head south towards the Comfort Inn on the south outer road. Although it isn't quite as nice as a QT, there is a Shell gas station and convenience store just 5 blocks west of the Lee's Summit Amtrak station at 3rd Street and Grand Avenue. Old Downtown Lee's Summit runs right along 3rd Street so that is pretty scenic to ride down anyway.

Mark from Lee's Summit on 8/17/2022 8:17:05 PM:

Here is my preferred route from the Katy Trail to the Kirkwood Amtrak station by riding through Chesterfield, Clayton, and Kirkwood:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=16HHgzK1r47L2sJpmm6wAZDFVVLwSed8&usp=sharing

Here are some of the highlights: the river crossing and levee trail are nice and paved, crossing the interstate and cutting through the shopping mall parking lot is not difficult, the zig zag route through the Chesterfield Valley is not bad and often there is a nice sidewalk available if you want to take a break and get out of traffic, especially going uphill, the one way 40 Hwy outer road has a nice wide shoulder, it is fun crossing Hwy. 141 and taking the "secret" Salt Mill Road connection to Old Woods Mill and connecting to Clayton Road, take the sidewalk on the north side of Clayton Road east for just over 1 mile and then that sidewalk turns into a nice paved trail for the next 3 miles, Ballas Road south of Clayton Road has a nice bike lane all the way south down to Manchester Road (Route 100), and finally you just cross Manchester Road at a signal and zig zag through the nice residential streets of Kirkwood to the train station.

Kevin from Wisconsin on 8/18/2022 9:05:14 AM:

Thanks Mark, I'll take a look.

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