Looking to catch the Amtrak from Alton IL to Lees summit and ride back. Are there any good places to park for 5 or 6 days near Machens or The Amtrak Station in Alton?

Machens is not accessible by vehicle because the state of Missouri does not have any land or roadway beyond the Machens trailhead. The closest trailhead with parking is Black Walnut which has a handful of spaces. Regarding Machens: the roadway to the trailhead from 94 Highway is blocked, preventing vehicle access, but cyclists can easily go around. This was done by the neighboring property owner who is not trail friendly. Unfortunately his name is Machens. He has probably had issues with illegal parking, trash, etc in addition to whatever biases he holds. I have personally looked at the public records of county maps available online and it appears there is a right of way allowing you access and some cyclists do this without issues. I did this the one time when I passed through on my cross Missouri ride. I’ve followed this topic for a little over three years now. Some opinions may differ than mine, some tend to be doom and gloom, some claim they got flat tires from this short access. I encourage you to use google maps including satellite view to review this route and consider that Machens road is a public road that has been blocked. Machens road ends at the railroad crossing which is only 0.1 mile from the trailhead. If you decide you don’t want to deal with this local issue you can easily continue on via local roadways to the Black Walnut trailhead which is in the same direction you’d be riding anyway. Food for thought: cyclists are generally welcome along the entire trail. This particular neighbor is a long time resident, property owner, tax payer and voter. I suspect that since the Machens trailhead is so lightly traveled that the local/county government hasn’t felt the need to take any action against one of their own residents/tax payers. Enjoy your trip!