Reply to Riding from Machens to Clinton

Hello all,

I live in southern Illinois and I am very much into cycling. I am planning a trip in Spring of 2013 to ride the entire trail from start to finish and back (Machens to Clinton and back to Machens). I have some questions though before I do it and need your assistance :)

1. Is there anywhere I can park (free or paid) for about 9 days while I am on this trip. Obviously somewhere legal and safe parking.

2. I plan to just camp by tent. I plan to ride about 65 miles a day, will there be plenty of camping options for me?

3. Am I allowed to ride at dark at all?

4. Anything else you think might help me :)

very kind regards,
Shawn Gossman

A friend and I rode the same distances from Clinton to Machens and we camped in Pilot Grove, stayed in the Turner shelter in Tebbetts, and camped at Klondike park near Augusta. All were really good places to stay. Can't help you with the parking situation though. The Katy is closed from dusk to dawn so no riding at night legally anyway. Enjoy your trip the Katy is a pretty cool adventure.

There is no parking at Machens, but plenty of parking in St. Charles at the trailhead. I would start out in St. Charles and do the Machens out and back on the first day. There are many camping options, use the Trip Planner above to see where they are located, then use the Mileage Chart to plan your daily distance between camping spots. Riding on the trail after dark is not legal. Be prepared to fix flats if necessary and a means to carry plenty of water. Bring some energy food especially in the western section, many shops and diners are closed Mon-Wed.

You might also check the town of Portage De Sioux. It is very close to Machens and has several marinas. If you asked I would think one would let you park there and then an easy bike ride to Machens.

We did the whole trail and started in Clinton where we could keep our car at the Hampton all week. In St. Charles we stayed at the Quality Inn, a bit off the trail and they do the same thing. It's about 12 miles from Machens.
It gets pretty darned dark out there, and like the other post said, legally you can't ride past dark.

I asked about overnight parking at one of the trailheads and this is the response:

"For all of you wondering if you can leave a vehicle overnight at a Katy trailhead, the answer is yes. The Katy is a day-use only park, which is why we don't allow camping along the trail. However, we do allow overnight parking but ask that you call the Katy Trail office at 573-449-7402 to let us know the following: your contact information; at which trailhead you'll be parking; how long your vehicle will be there; and make, model and license of your vehicle. This information is then passed along to our maintenance and ranger staff so that they don't assume you've abandoned your vehicle and also so they can keep an eye on the vehicle."

We've done the entire route 3 times and I trust that you will really enjoy your trip. We always use b&b's and motels so can't help on the camping question.

Just this September, I did the entire trail Clinton-Machens-Clinton doing 50/50 camping/B&B. Here are some camping choices between Machens and Clinton: Klondike Park (just before Augusta); Bluffton; Portland; Hartsburg; Cooper's Landing just past Easley; Katy Roundhouse at New Franklin; Pilot Grove, Sedalia, Clinton. I recommend you spend your first night at St. Charles at the Lococo House. It is well worth the money (about $75 w/ a MONSTER breakfast), and they will probably agree to let you park there for your trip. I did not find any good tent camping options at St. Charles - just an RV park. St. Charles to Machens is only worth doing to say you did the entire trail. The Rendlemann Home at Bluffton offers tent camping and Doug R. is a really interesting character, not to miss. Cooper's Landing has live music on weekends, a store, and good food. Take the turnoff to Hermann to find a really good grocery store just as you enter the highway. Groceries seemed to me harder to find than camping places. Use heavy duty tires. I met plenty of people with flats and even one guy had a ruptured tire casing he'd booted with a dollar bill and duct tape. I used Panaracer RiBMo tires 700c x 35, heavy duty tubes and Flat Attack sealer on my camping bike, and had no problems at all. A camping bike is heavy anyway, so the extra tire weight was not noticeable. And Katy is almost flat; unless you leave the Katy you will use only one or two gears, but if you leave it, better have a granny gear (for example getting up to Klondike Park!).

The ride from Portage de Souix to the Machens TH is 2 miles. We had our ride pick us up there. Not sure about parking if you want I would contact the police dept or sheriff dept and let them know you are leaving your car. St Charles request that you call the police dept so they know about your car.

I rode the trail 2011 from Clinton to St. Charles the end of March and I ran into a wide range of weather. Started out cold, 40s, misty rain and 20+ winds from Clinton to Boonville with mushy trail and then the skies cleared and the sun came out and the wind calmed, seriously and it was in the mid-high 60s the rest of the way into St. Charles. But these warm days were unusual for early April plus the trailheads hadn't opened yet. I would pack cold and rain gear and rags to wipe your wheels and chain if you plan on riding this time of year.