Reply to trip planning

my friend and i want to ride the KT for 4 days in may and are wondering if there is a service/person who could help us plan it? ie: where to stay every 50-60 miles (preferably a B&B). We will be starting out of the ST Charles area and could possibly take that shuttle on the return?? Any help will be appreciated !

Click on the Katy Trail Home tab above. On the upper left corner of the home page is the ad for Independent Tourist, Katy Trail Tours. They may have everything you are needing to plan your trip.

I have always used the Mileage Chart, Towns and Services, and Trip Planner tabs above to plan my own trips. The Katy is probably one the the easiest trips to plan on your own with the use of this website.

I agree that the resources to plan the trip are all available on this website. A few phone calls to make reservations and confirm things and you are go to go. If you drafted a bit of a plan and posted to this board, I am sure you would get lots and lots of feedback.

If I was planning something within the parameters your propose I would consider..

St. Charles to Hermann (60-62 miles) and stay at the Vinchester...it's basic but clean. There are tons of other options. Or you could ride a few miles further and stay with Amanda at the Dollhouse in Rhineland.

Day 2 - Herman to Hartsburg (56-58 miles). You've got 2-3 options for overnight and good food at Doty's.

Day 3 - Hartsburg to Pilot Grove (50 miles). There are a couple B&B options there.

Day 4 - Pilot Grove to Clinton (61 miles).

I've never needed a shuttle so can't help you there. Personally...having ridden it both directions....I would ride west to east!!

That's my 2 cents. Have fun.

I agree with El Toro, the itinerary he lists is very doable. I would also reverse it as he suggests, west to east. It is always better to use a shuttle at the start of your trip versus at the end. If you end up delayed for any reason, it is better to be riding back to your car, that way you wouldn't have to try and make new arrangements for a shuttle from out on the trail somewhere. One option that many use is to stay at the Lococo House (636-946-0619) in St. Charles at the start of your ride and make arrangements with them for parking and a shuttle to Clinton.

Also agree, I like riding West to East the best. Another option (although it would cut out the section between Clinton and Sedalia), would be to take Amtrak between St. Louis and Sedalia either before or after. Would need a ride to the Amtrak station in Kirkwood but wonder if one of the B&B's in St. Charles could supply that for a nominal charge? Amtrak station in Sedalia is an easy ride to/from the trail and also very close to the Hotel Bothwell which is a historic hotel in Sedalia and nice to stay at.

Call the Rendleman Home in Bluffton. I'll be glad to answer questions and help you get your ride set.

West to East makes sense for many reasons, including gravity and common wind patterns, so think about that.

I agree with others that this website has all you need to help you plan. I was also going to suggest contacting a B&B owner where you want to stay, and they could probably help you with other recommendations as well. I was going to recommend Doug in Bluffton, and I see that he has already replied!

Finally, if you scroll through the MANY pages of postings here, you can read MANY trip reports of people who have biked the whole trail, with detailed comments on where they stayed, ate, and so on.

Good luck!

I've ridden both ways the full distance many times an in my opinion, without insulting anyone, the more rural areas are in the west and when riding east you slowly start to see more people and services, B&Bs and more of the mighty MO river.

This is great info! I am going to be riding the Katy Trail with a friend in May, too. Maybe we'll see you along the way, Patty.

West-to-East, East-to-West -- in my experience, you cannot count on the wind to be persistent over a 4-day trip. You have to plan that it is always going to be in your face, then when it isn't, you are pleasantly surprised. In my rides, the winds have shifted 270 degrees (3/4 all the way around) in an 8-hour period. And even if the wind is at your back, when it hits the bluffs, it will turn against you. So my advice is to plan your trip around other logistics (e.g. B&B availability). In May, it is usually not too hot, but there is a much stronger chance of severe storms (even tornadoes) than in October. So you should always have an idea of where the closest shelter is.

Also between Sedalia and Boonville, if you are not accustom to any rolling hills or any inclines, it may have an effect on casual or day riders.

thank you all for you comments and info ! i will be furiously planning what sounds like a great trip

here is a plan for our trip, so far.
we will leave the car at the 'bike cafe' in st charles and take the amtrak to sedalia, spending the night there. the next day bike to rocheport (51 miles). the next day bike from rocheport to bluffton (68 miles). and the next day bike from bluffton back to st charles (71 miles). is this doable? and i mean doable by not killing ourselves and having a good time ! 2 different sources on the KT said that 70 miles will feel more like a century ride due to the crushed limestone surface !! thanks for any and all your comments.

70 miles is doable depending on your fitness level. How far do you normally ride and still enjoy it? I can do 70-100 miles in a day, but is much more enjoyable to plan my rides for 40-50 miles per day.

Doing 60-70 miles in a day means that you will be riding the trail, not visiting or taking much else in. If that is your intent, that's OK, just thought you should know.

MidSouth hit the nail on the head. Only you know if that mileage works for you and gives you time to enjoy the trail at the level that you want to. You originaly said that you wanted to ride 50-60 a day. If you can do those extra miles each day, then go for it.

so don, trek and midsouth- do you think that the surface makes it a lot more difficult to ride?or do you really not notice much difference?

I disagree that the surface makes it that more hard to ride. The Katy is easy because it's flat. If you are a road rider used to long rides then yes the Katy will slow you a bit, but I don't find 70 on the Katy to be "hard" whereas a road route with any hills at all gets "hard" for me even at 50 or so. Others may disagree.

Regarding your plan, I do agree that 70 miles on the Katy means riding is primary, and visiting, eating and drinking etc is secondary. So if you are looking for a fun getaway then I'd suggesting scaling the miles back a bit some.

What I would suggest is trying to ride from Sedalia to Rocheport in day one rather than staying in Sedalia. Not sure what time of year you are riding but the 50 from Sedalia to R-port can be done in less than 5 hours easy if you are in decent shape. Then you can go to Rocheport to Jeff City night two, Jeff City to Hermann night three, and Hermann to St. Charles night four.

If that 50 from Sedalia to R-port in one long afternoon scares you then consider just going to Boonville, then Boonville to Jeff City with a stop in Rocheport for day 2.

My plan below might not be clear:
1. Take the morning Amtrak train to Sedalia, which gets you there 1:30 or so as I recall.
2. Bike from there to either Boonville or Rocheport.
3. Boonville / R-port to Jeff City.
4. Jeff City to Hermann.
5. Hermann to St. Charles.

Hermann in particular is a showpiece town on the Katy. Have a long lunch, visit the winery, poke around in shops, etc.

Augusta between Hermann and St. Charles has similar character.

I prefer Boonville for an evening stop over R-port. Cheaper for one. Rocheport is great but for me it's more a lunch stop with a quick visit to a shop or two. Boonville has a larger district and a casino if that's your thing.

Jeff City has a quite nice State Capitol business district. Good food and drink, shopping etc. Very pretty just to go over the bridge. Number 1 thing for me to do in Jeff CIty is visit the Thomas Hart Benton murals in the State Capitol building. It is free, and just exquisite. You will probably find nothing else like it.

thanks hank !

When we ride the road tandem on the Katy and stay in the track where there is no loose stuff we can sail right along. Out of the track and in the loose chat, we're quite a bit slower on it and on the single bikes.

that's good to know, trek.

Patty, I would compare riding on the Katy's limestone to increasing the gear shift on your bike by one notch (i.e. if you usually ride in gear 4, it would feel like you are in 5th gear). Like anything else, you get used to it. You must realize, though, that you will be pedaling the whole time -- maybe 2% of the time you can actually coast. That's why I recommend that first-timers not get too ambitious about the number of miles each day.

ok thank you don!

Patty, these guys who are commenting are the long time KT riders and they have very accurate information. I would definitely take their advice if you are a first time rider to the KT. If you are the ride and conquer type, your schedule is doable but if you are the ride and explore, you should take an extra day. Seriously.

My opinion on the trail speed is that it depends on recent rainfall, especially if you are riding with narrower tires. I had a couple nice long rides last May, and got lucky that the trail was dry enough to limit sinking into the chat. At the same time, a little recent rain is nice to keep dust down. In May, it will likely depend on when the most recent big storm came through, but it is still spring so there is a good chance that soggy conditions will prevail. On top of that, there is a good chance that you will have a very wet day with hard rain, so that would be another factor to consider (60 miles through a spring storm...).

I have often seen riders take to Hwy 94 or other paved roads next the KT when they find the trail too sluggish. I tried riding the stretch between St. Charles and Machens during one of the few warm days in January, and was slowed down about 3-4 mph by the trail compared to the road (which I took on the way back as daylight faded).

Good luck.

thank you all for the feedback. so informative! we have adjusted our plan to be similar to what hank suggested....amtrak to sedalia, bike sedalia to rocheport, r'port to jeff city , jeff city to hermann, hermann to st chas. this should be a lot of fun!
now, are there any recommendations for B&B's in jeff city and hermann? and nice places to eat dinner? we have reservations for dinner in rocheport at le bourgeous bistro. hope it's good !

If you want to stay in Hermann proper I would suggest Frank Van Kamp's Harbor House. Great location and value plus he is a good guy to talk to. If you would like something a little different and classy Charlotte Hall has the Spirit In the Sky B&B in the old Catholic church miles south of town. Can be ridden to but she will pick you up in town with enough advance notice. Not listed here but no. is 573 486 3569, She is one of the BEST cooks in the area and also fun to talk to. The Church is an old stone building in the country. Awesome. Hot tub and very private.

I missed the 8 for 8 miles south of town.

We have stayed at the Campbell Haus B&B in Hermann a couple times, good value (573-486-1093). Easy to ride to after crossing the bridge. Once in Hermann we use the trolley to get around town.

Sounds like a great plan Patty. Never stayed in Hermann or Jeff City. I do know the Vinchester is good on a budget in Hermann. Nothing fancy though. Harbor Haus I hear is good. Right in the middle of town. Many many choices.

One other thing I might suggest for trip planning: If you are seasoned riders (and it sounds like you are), then you might consider a run up to Columbia via the MKT trail. This is between Rocheport and Jeff City. It's about 16-17 miles round-trip from the Katy, and would make for an approximate 55 mile day, R-port to Columbia to Jeff City. R-port to Jeff is only 39 miles or so.

Columbia is a big college town (University of Missouri) and the MKT trail will take you right to the heart of the downtown college district. Excellent food and drink all over the place. Have lunch there and then take the afternoon to get to Jeff City.

This will give you a little more riding and another town to experience. Of course if you want to linger in Rocheport and take your time on Day 2 then the easy run from R-port to Jeff would be fine too. Can't go wrong.

hank, you're full of great ideas ! thanks again!

On our first trip of the entire trail we didn't want to be too ambitious and built in a rest day. We spent our rest day touring Hermann and the wineries. So, spent two nights there, even took pictures of all the antique washing machines in the laundry mat...LOL

In Jefferson City we've stayed at the Cliff Manor B&B which is just a few blocks from the southern end of the river bridge. The rooms on the north have a decent view of the capitol and the river. The Capitol Plaza is probably the closest hotel to the river bridge. It's between the bridge and the capitol building. We've stayed there a couple of times and found them to be very bike friendly. They let us store the tandem in a locked room behind the front desk so we wouldn't have to fit it on the elevator. Madisons and Arris Pizza are decent stops close to the capitol complex, as well as Central Dairy for ice cream. Cathy who lives in Jefferson City and often posts here has listed other options in her city. You may search this forum for some of her insight.

Hermann is all across the board from the small inexpensive hotel to a couple of very nice B&B's. We've stayed several times at Hermann Hill and Hermanoff winery. Both are a bit pricey, but are very nice. Probably the most accommodating for us while biking was Birk's Gasthaus/Herzog Mansion. There are several dining choices also. The Stone Hill Winery restaurant is a good stop. It is in what was once a horse stable and is right next to the winery. The winery tour is worth the short time to see the prohibition era cellar. The huge holding tanks and storage in some of the California wineries is impressive, but the cellar at Stone Hill trumps them all.

hank, is the MKT marked on the KT as to a turn off for columbia?

Yeah, it's called Hindman Junction and there's a sign and a large kiosk / bench there. You'd have to be in la-la land to ride past and miss it. It's at mile 170 if I recall correctly.

thanks again ! :))))

Ray, just a thought: Would it be possible to add Hindman Junction on your map? I know it is crowded there with Huntsdale McBaine etc, but Hindman is a key point on the trail and is not referenced on your map (at least not to my knowledge). Just a thought.

I am located near the trail, downtown and Amtrak. Maxine's Rooms for Rent. Thanks

The bench/kiosk for the turn from the KT to the MKT up to Columbia is on Google Maps, satellite just west of McBaine. It's easy to see and find.

well.... our trip is just next week and we are excited! can someone tell me the conditions on the trail now , after all the rain? we'll be starting from sedalia and heading east.