Katy trail ride report

We report here on several segments of the Katy trail state park in Missouri. Our overall trip was a
mixed one (two weddings, a visit with family and a vacation for us) so we couldn't focus on the
trail as much as we would have liked. We rode four segments of the trail as "out and back" day
trips. The trail is old rail bed that runs part of the time in the Missouri river flood plain. It is
225 miles long and about 8 feet wide, making me suspect it is the skinniest park ever.

The first segment started in Defiance, MO. This is a tiny town with a large bike rental place. We
rode 20 miles total in an out and back from there. We went west because of advice that the scenery
was better to the west. The trail was very flat and traveled along the edges of soybean fields where
we were often shaded by trees. The trail is very smooth and composed of fine white gravel, possibly
the local limestone. The worst trail hazzards were the occasional clusters of black walnuts lying on
the trail.

That night we camped at Hermann, MO. We had to drive across the Missouri river on a bridge that
is not suitable for bicycling. It is just wide enough for two trucks to pass by each other. The
camp ground, which is part of the city park, was nice, showers and nice grass for the tent for
$10 per night.

The next day we started in Rhineland, MO. This is another tiny town. We rode another "out and back"
for a total ride of about 26 miles. Then we drove on to find a camp site in Hartsburg. The
campground here is the city park and we decided to move on to a more formal campground. While there
we ran into Gary Creason, the operator of a Katy trail shuttle service. He advised us to be sure to
see the stretch between Rocheport and McBaine. With this information we drove on to Franklin (next
to New Franklin) and camped at the Katy Roundhouse. This served our interests well. We took a short
ride after setting up our camp, to give us a total for the day of 32 miles, to the one place the
trail crosses the Missouri river. We were disappointed to cross on the highway bridge rather than
the old rail trestle. The camp ground is set up to accommodate bicycle tourists with bike racks
sprinkled around the tent grounds.

Our last day took us from New Franklin, MO to McBaine, MO and back for 38 miles. The ride included
the recommended scenic segment and a 50 yard long tunnel. Midway on the ride we came to Rocheport.
This is another small (but not tiny) town that boasts "The Cracked Crab" restaurant. It is a very
nice looking place and seemed out of place (how far is the Chesapeake?).

All the sections of the trail we rode were quite nice. There were occasional warnings about "rough
surface" that made us laugh after all the trail insults we've endured here in the last year. The
most amusing warning came in the form of cautions about ">5% grade." On the two such spots we
encountered (the river bridge didn't count). I was looking forward to a nice brisk climb, but the
longest such challenge was all of 5 yards long. I think this would be essential information for a
wheelchair bound trail user. We had quite a few non-biting flies on the first day and saw two nice
large black snakes on the last (stretched half way across the trail).

We now want to go back and ride the whole thing, probably in the fall. Now we must decided on using
Amtrak, Mr. Creason's shuttle service or roping a family member into providing shuttle service to
connect us with our car once done. Gary Creason told us that his was the only shuttle service to
survive the aftermath of the 9/11/02 bombing. It seems that most of his clients were from overseas.
Many Americans do just what we were doing, "out and back" rides.
Mr. Creason can be reached at 1-573-694-2027 and gives a URL of www.katytrailstatepark.com

Tom Gibb <TBGibb@aol.com

TBGibb wrote:

Thanks. Nice report. I almost made it to the Katy Trail once, but had a premature end to my tour, so
I look forward to really making it there some day.

>We now want to go back and ride the whole thing, probably in the fall. Now we must decided on
>using Amtrak,
>
I suppose you are aware of this, but it should be stated for all to hear. The Amtrak train from
Kansas City to St. Louis essentially follows the Katy Trail. It is also one of the Amtrak routes
that allows a limited number of unboxed bikes (roll ons), so the Amtrak train would be an ideal
shuttle. (The Amtrak route from St. Louis to Chicago is the same.)

--
*****************************
Chuck Anderson • Boulder, CO http://www.CycleTourist.com Integrity is obvious. The lack of it
is common.
*****************************

Thanks for the report and shuttle information. My granddaughters and I did a small section of the
trail last summer and are looking forward to a return trip.

Beverly

"TBGibb" <tbgibb@aol.com> wrote in message news:20031012173818.00545.00001532@mb-m02.aol.com...
> We report here on several segments of the Katy trail state park in
Missouri.
> Our overall trip was a mixed one (two weddings, a visit with family and a vacation for us) so we
> couldn't focus on the trail as much as we would
have
> liked. We rode four segments of the trail as "out and back" day trips.
The
> trail is old rail bed that runs part of the time in the Missouri river
flood
> plain. It is 225 miles long and about 8 feet wide, making me suspect it
is the
> skinniest park ever.
>
> The first segment started in Defiance, MO. This is a tiny town with a
large
> bike rental place. We rode 20 miles total in an out and back from there.
We
> went west because of advice that the scenery was better to the west.
The
> trail was very flat and traveled along the edges of soybean fields where
we
> were often shaded by trees. The trail is very smooth and composed of
fine
> white gravel, possibly the local limestone. The worst trail hazzards
were the
> occasional clusters of black walnuts lying on the trail.
>
> That night we camped at Hermann, MO. We had to drive across the Missouri
river
> on a bridge that is not suitable for bicycling. It is just wide enough
for
> two trucks to pass by each other. The camp ground, which is part of the
city
> park, was nice, showers and nice grass for the tent for $10 per night.
>
> The next day we started in Rhineland, MO. This is another tiny town. We
rode
> another "out and back" for a total ride of about 26 miles. Then we drove
on to
> find a camp site in Hartsburg. The campground here is the city park and
we
> decided to move on to a more formal campground. While there we ran into
Gary
> Creason, the operator of a Katy trail shuttle service. He advised us to
be
> sure to see the stretch between Rocheport and McBaine. With this
information
> we drove on to Franklin (next to New Franklin) and camped at the Katy Roundhouse. This served our
> interests well. We took a short ride after setting up our camp, to give us a total for the day of
> 32 miles, to the
one
> place the trail crosses the Missouri river. We were disappointed to
cross on
> the highway bridge rather than the old rail trestle. The camp ground is
set up
> to accommodate bicycle tourists with bike racks sprinkled around the tent grounds.
>
> Our last day took us from New Franklin, MO to McBaine, MO and back for 38 miles. The ride included
> the recommended scenic segment and a 50 yard
long
> tunnel. Midway on the ride we came to Rocheport. This is another small
(but
> not tiny) town that boasts "The Cracked Crab" restaurant. It is a very
nice
> looking place and seemed out of place (how far is the Chesapeake?).
>
> All the sections of the trail we rode were quite nice. There were
occasional
> warnings about "rough surface" that made us laugh after all the trail
insults
> we've endured here in the last year. The most amusing warning came in
the form
> of cautions about ">5% grade." On the two such spots we encountered (the
river
> bridge didn't count). I was looking forward to a nice brisk climb, but
the
> longest such challenge was all of 5 yards long. I think this would be essential information for a
> wheelchair bound trail user. We had quite a
few
> non-biting flies on the first day and saw two nice large black snakes on
the
> last (stretched half way across the trail).
>
> We now want to go back and ride the whole thing, probably in the fall.
Now we
> must decided on using Amtrak, Mr. Creason's shuttle service or roping a
family
> member into providing shuttle service to connect us with our car once
done.
> Gary Creason told us that his was the only shuttle service to survive the aftermath of the 9/11/02
> bombing. It seems that most of his clients were
from
> overseas. Many Americans do just what we were doing, "out and back"
rides.
> Mr. Creason can be reached at 1-573-694-2027 and gives a URL of www.katytrailstatepark.com
>
> Tom Gibb <TBGibb@aol.com

j walen wrote:
>
> "TBGibb" <tbgibb@aol.com> wrote in message news:20031012173818.00545.00001532@mb-m02.aol.com... We
> had quite a few
> > non-biting flies on the first day and saw two nice large black snakes on
> the
> > last (stretched half way across the trail).
> > >
>
> Re: Katy Trail snakes:
>
> My then-14 y.o. daughter & I rode the length of the trail a few years ago. She got much pleasure
> from "assisting" the multiple snakes we saw safely cross the trail (when she could catch them!)
> . . . . snip
> J.W.Grand Rapids, MI

Spouse and I just weekend before last rode the Katy Trail from Trelour to nearly Hermann (I couldn't
make the last 1.5 miles to the Hermann trail head, plus I didn't want to ride/walk across the River
bridge in Hermann). While riding that section of the trail, spouse at one point barely missed riding
over the last half section of a black/dark grey snake with shadowed yellow diamond markings - I
didn't recognize the species (water mocassin?) - it was about 5' long (?). It's front half was alway
hidden. Plus, I didn't want to closely "inspect" a snake of that proportion, particularly when I
didn't know its species!

A bit farther on the trail, we encountered a rather aggressive (and cute!) garter snake about 2'
long I really like (and respect snakes) and leave them well be alone (as long as they aren't in
my house (or yard?), not that it happens!). They're (usually) good critters that take care of
vermin, sort of like a cat (at least cats are social!).

Anyhow, someday I'll become more familiar with many more parts of the Katy Trail -- it's a very
lovely trail, particularly along the Missouri River. I don't believe I'd care for the sections that
aren't along the River??????

Skyhooks hmardis "aht" uiuc "daught" edu

"reply to" address munged -- read line above for correct addy.

"TBGibb" <tbgibb@aol.com> wrote in message news:20031012173818.00545.00001532@mb-m02.aol.com... We
had quite a few
> non-biting flies on the first day and saw two nice large black snakes on
the
> last (stretched half way across the trail).
> >

Re: Katy Trail snakes:

My then-14 y.o. daughter & I rode the length of the trail a few years ago. She got much pleasure
from "assisting" the multiple snakes we saw safely cross the trail (when she could catch them!)

At one small town general store - in Easley, I think - we discussed the critters with the snack bar
guy. Yes, the dark ones with the yellow stripe were the same as our Michigan garter snakes. The big
black ones were "black snakes" (duh...) - "Some folks eat 'em, but I don't like 'em."

We asked about one little fellow, about 6" long, brown/olive herringbone pattern on his back, who
was so remarkably aggressive for his puny size that Monica ended up just brushing him off the trail
with her glove: "Yeah, those are water mocassins - pretty poisonous, you know..." Needless to say,
Daddy insisted the remainder of our snake encounters were visual only -

J.W.Grand Rapids, MI