Matt from St. Charles on 8/16/2008 1:40:57 AM:
The Lewis and Clark Trails are actually in the Weldon Springs Conservation area. If you parked at the Weldon Springs trail head, you would ride towards St.Charles. The actually spur that leads from the Lewis and Clark trails is not marked. It hard to find any time other than winter because of the overgrowth. The first sign that you are getting close is the quarry. About 1 mile and half from the trail head, you will see the quarry on the left behind a fence marked no trespassing. I recommend ignoring the sign and walking along outside of the fence until you get to the second opening. Follow the path up to the overlook where you can admire the beauty of the man made "cliffs." If you stay on the trail along the outside of the fence, you can hike up to hwy 94. Once you're back on the Katy, the Lewis and Clark Trails will be running on top of the bluffs you see on the left. A map of Weldon Springs Conservation Area will help this explanation make more sense. If you keep an eye on the bluffs, you will see where they start to decline back down to the level of the trail. Here, there is a creek bed, small stream and a small wooden bridge in the woods to the left. This is where you can walk back into the woods and meet up with the Lewis and Clark trails. The Lewis and Clark trail itself is not visible from the Katy because it is just a small dirt trail, but if you follow that creek bed up into the woods for a couple hundred yards, you can't miss the Lewis and Clark. Get a map of Weldon Springs and wait for a mild winter day and you will have no problems. Another easy way is to park at the parking lot on 94 at the start of the Lewis and Clark trails and then follow that trail until you reach the spur. Its much easier to find the Katy trail from the Lewis and Clark than it is to find the Lewis and Clark from the Katy.