Itinerary & Hotels - our favorites

Completed our 4th trek on the KATY yesterday. Sedalia to St. Charles. Thought I'd list our itinerary and hotels for those planning for their first ride.

Day 1: Amtrak (Kirkwood) to Sedalia. Bike to Booneville. Hotel Frederick.

Day 2: Booneville to Columbia. Holiday Inn & Suites Columbia University Area (Stadium/63)

Day 3: CoMo to Jefferson City. Courtyard JC

Day 4: JC to Hermann. Hermann Crown Suites

Day 5: Hermann to Washington. Old Dutch Hotel

Day 6: Washington to St. Charles.

We like all of the hotels. Highlights of each:

Hotel Frederick - great restaurant stays open until 9. Main St Diner across street for bfast with lightning service. Bike friendly.

Holiday Inn Como. Don't skip Como, it has an extensive bike trail system going east /west. The HIEX is at the east end of that trail system. UBER to dinner. Bistro Les Bourgeois is excellent, especially if you can sit outside. Best view of the river.

Courtyard JC. NEW! Very nice and not far from the bridge. Bfast is good but not free. Madison's for dinner. Not a lot of non-chain restaurant options in JC. UBER exists but may have to wait for a ride.

Hermann Crown Suites. Not a fan of the decor but well run, good bar in the basement, live entertainment in their courtyard and have multiple bedroom options. Wurst House or Tin Mill for lunch/dinner

Old Dutch Hotel. Love this place. Good service, great restaurant and bar. Short walk to waterfront.

Lunch on the trail favorites:

MCafe - Rocheport - Fresh!

Red Caboose - Marthasville - fresh food, friendly owner

I hope this helps. Happy to answer any questions.

Sorry you didn't know about the local restaurants in Jefferson City. Next time you are there check out:
JQ's on High
O'Donoghue's
Ecco Lounge
Prison Brews
The Grand on High
Sapphire's (top of the Coubletree Hotel)
Arris Pizza
Oscar's Classic Diner
Nick's Family Restaurant
Daisy Delight
Bone's Restaurant
Veit's
Das Stein Haus
Paddy Malone's
Cork and Board
Yanis Coffee
Towne Grill

I lived there 27 years and can personally say all of the above are excellent. I moved away 2017, there's probably more that have opened since I left. And they are all locally owned, not franchises. That's a big thing in Jefferson City and the locals support them, and keep them going.

Cathy
Did you forget about Central Dairy ice cream already?

Please next time try the small lpcal places, NOT the luxury places you listed. You might as well drive a car. The Katy is for the experience, not the fancy places. sorry you missed it.

Thank you for sharing you itinerary...so much of it is familiar as we've had very similar experiences throughout our years on the Katy.

Traveling by bike is a grand way to capture local mid-west rural life from the old renovated hotels to the local one off restaurants and cafes.

The view from Les Bourgeois as well as the food and wine at the A-frame makes for a very pleasant rest stop.

Thank you for visiting our state to experience the Katy for the 4th time. Out of curiosity, what other trails do you frequent?

Gary I am humiliated that I left out Central Dairy. I suggest you not eat for 3 days before you go there. The servings are huge.

Really, as others have said, there are many local options in Jeff City, as well as all along the Katy. I don't know if Mokane and Portland still have their bar and grills, but when I biked those parts both places had awesome bugers.

Mike Rodemeyer, please give my regards to all the good people in Hartsburg.

Michael A. Rodemeyer from Hartsburg Mo what on earth is it that you continually think that everyone doesn’t understand about riding the Katy?

Most of the places the OP listed are local one off places….not luxury chain establishments. Yet you comment that the Katy is for the experience and you are sorry that they missed it.

What was missed?

To fully experience the Katy as one should, where do you stay in each town when you ride the trail?

Where do you eat in each town along the Katy to get “the experience?”

How does one “miss it” whatever “it” is when the majority of places money is spent is at local establishments?

Perhaps you would be better served with gratitude that someone has traveled from miles away multiple times to our state to experience the Katy and stimulate the local economy in several small towns along the trail.

Instead, “The Katy is for the experience, not the fancy places. sorry you missed it.”

Do better Michael A. Rodemeyer.

I'll add to the rebuttal re: Michael R.'s odd commentary...

First, I personally don't consider any of the lodging options listed as "luxury", although your mileage may vary.

Second, it would seem to me that each user of the KT is free to make decisions about his/her personal "experience". When I traversed the trail just last week I stayed in nice hotels along the way, mainly because I wanted certain amenities available (and restaurants that were actually open while I was there) after a long day of dragging my fat bike and fatter body along the trail. I would argue quite easily that my experience was fantastic, and unique, and not at all diminished by my stopover choices.

The freedoms of choice offered by a KT trip are just that, for better or worse and in many cases, somewhat driven by what's available (and open). For any one person to jump on this forum and dictate how these choices should be made is a tiny bit ridiculous (please note strong use of sarcasm in the word "tiny").

Oh my, how did we get here? I don't know. But here's the deal.

To the original poster, thank you for biking the Katy Trail and posting your take on what you experienced. Your reviews will help others planning their trips.
effe
As I noted in my comment, I lived in Jefferson City for many years and am somewhat passionate about the local businesses. I mentioned many, but there are probably more since I moved on 10/2017.

Mike Rodemeyer is very knowledgeable about the offerings in Hartsburg and other small towns along the trail. He, Gary, Kim, Doug and others are cheerleaders who remind all about the magic that is offered through the heart of Missouri.

So don't be dissing my peeps.

God I miss that place.

Why are my critics always "anonymous". If more of the riders would use our facilities they could afford to stay open more often. The unknowns
failed to mention the claysville Store restaurant (of course it's only open on weekends. I'm told the Globe Hotel in Hartsbrg is an excellent choice for lodging. You could also drop into the Hitching Post Bar for a little bit of trail "color". Without your participation our locals can't make a living from the one time you might stop in. We need more trail users to use our facilities. We have had several good places try and make a go of it only to die on the vine because users prefer the establishments previously mentioned. I don't have any stake in this matter other than I support our locals attempts. I'm certain the new Rock Island Trail will suffer a similar fate which is a shame because several of these small towns are looking for the trail to revitalize them. At least I publically support them and I always sign my name.

Cathy-

I dissed your "peeps" because one of them decided it was in the readers' best interest (or his) to judge someone else's KT experience based upon a simple and relatable description of said experience that didn't jive with certain core values he holds. I can appreciate your willingness to defend local businesses along the trail, but Michael R. probably could have professed his beliefs and observations in a manner that wasn't inflammatory to begin with.

I lived next to the KT for several years, about 4 miles from the St. Charles trailhead. I would characterize my personal relationship with the mileage to Machens and all points west to Boonville as "extremely familiar". That said, I made food and lodging choices during my latest ride (last week) based upon certain elements, including whether or not a particular business was open during the day i was riding through. I was comfortable, as was my wife and her sister, but in no way was this analogous to "driving a car along the trail" as Mr. R. alluded to.

I also appreciate how certain businesses along the KT are hanging on by their fingernails business-wise, made potentially worse by a global pandemic. This is an unfortunate fact of life, however. Truth be told, even in the best of economic times any business located adjacent to a rails/trails project that relies on a certain percentage of cyclists visiting and spending a threshold amount of cash is built on a flimsy business model. And when circumstances cause a business to limit hours to save overhead, this just worsens the chances of a mass influx of random cyclists showing up. Perhaps, as an alternative to being critical of those who make choices that don't directly support these businesses - while aligning with your ideals - a better approach may be to spend time/energy promoting the trail itself while encouraging NEW groups of cyclists to use the trail. Just a thought.

So don't be dissing my peeps....Michael A. Rodemeyer from Hartsburg Mo reminded no one about the magic that is offered through the heart of Missouri. But he did sign his name so I guess that rabbit is out of the hat.

This is all good discussion.

I hope Mike will be ok with me sharing that he, his wife, myself and others were part of a movement to promote all things local in a 5 county region along the Missouri River in central Missouri. Our organization, Missouri River Bluffs Association (MRBA) worked very hard to market the small businesses, culture, artisans, wine, restaurants, etc. in Cole, Boone, Callaway, Moniteau and Osage County. This was about 7 or 8 years ago. One of our biggest challenges was that the business owners who "had skin in the game" didn't have the time or resources to help our efforts. I believe the group eventually disbanded. I learned a lot from that experience, and still remember the wonderful people and business owners who wanted to see the organization succeed.

We all want the experience along the Katy and now Rock Island Trail to be the best possible. that takes businesses for bikers to use. It's a 2 way street. The businesses need the bikers, the bikers need the businesses.

Figuring out a way to improve the success rate of businesses along all of these trails is the challenge. It will take teamwork, problem solving, and a willingness to listen.