MRT Missouri



K

Kerry Nikolaise

Guest
Has anyone ridden the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) in Missouri, north of St. Louis?

On a business trip yesterday, I noticed the signage from just north of Interstate 70 to Louisiana,
MO. The trail is actually not a separate "trail" but follows MO State Highway 79.

The traffic looked really heavy just north of the interstate for several miles, and most of the road
has no shoulders or shoulders unridable (heavy gravel) shoulders. About a 10 mile bike lane from
Clarksville to Louisiana,
MO.

Any body have any experience with this route?

Kerry
 
Can't tell you about the MRT, but this is what cyclists advised me. Last spring after finishing the
Katy trail, I planned to turn north and ride up the Mississippi to Wisconsin. To decide which side
of the river to ride, I asked many cyclists and a few bike shops along the MKT about the routes and
was overwhelmingly told to ride the Great River Road on the Illinois side which I then rode. The
Illinois side was a very pleasant ride and has some sections with bike trails.

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Has anyone ridden the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) in Missouri, north of St. Louis?
>
> On a business trip yesterday, I noticed the signage from just north of Interstate 70 to Louisiana,
> MO. The trail is actually not a separate "trail" but follows MO State Highway 79.
>
> The traffic looked really heavy just north of the interstate for several miles, and most of the
> road has no shoulders or shoulders unridable (heavy gravel) shoulders. About a 10 mile bike lane
> from Clarksville to
Louisiana,
> MO.
>
> Any body have any experience with this route?
>
> Kerry
 
This is the official site http://www.mississippirivertrail.org/

Kerry Nikolaisen wrote:
>
> Has anyone ridden the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) in Missouri, north of St. Louis?
>
> On a business trip yesterday, I noticed the signage from just north of Interstate 70 to Louisiana,
> MO. The trail is actually not a separate "trail" but follows MO State Highway 79.
>
> The traffic looked really heavy just north of the interstate for several miles, and most of the
> road has no shoulders or shoulders unridable (heavy gravel) shoulders. About a 10 mile bike lane
> from Clarksville to Louisiana,
> MO.
>
> Any body have any experience with this route?
>
> Kerry
 
"Jim" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Can't tell you about the MRT, but this is what cyclists advised me. Last spring after finishing
> the Katy trail, I planned to turn north and
ride
> up the Mississippi to Wisconsin. To decide which side of the river to
ride,
> I asked many cyclists and a few bike shops along the MKT about the routes and was overwhelmingly
> told to ride the Great River Road on the Illinois side which I then rode. The Illinois side was a
> very pleasant ride and has some sections with bike trails.
>
Jim:

The Illinois side, from a traffic standpoint, is much better than the Missouri side. Once one gets
to the St. Louis area on the Missouri side, traffic gets tighter, and I just wanted to see if/how
others dealt with this.

I believe Illinois LAB is getting volunteers to ride the entire MRT on the Illinois side to
commemorate the Lewis and Clark expedition.

South of St. Louis the Missouri side of the trail encounters is a nice stretch, but hilly, to at
least Cape Girardeau. I think the Illinois side encounters much less traffic along the entire route
compared to MO, and significantly less hills (Mississippi River flood plain), especially south of
St. Louis.

Kerry
 
Here is the Illinois guide.
http://www.bikelib.org/mrt/index.htm

Here is the Illinois Ride on May 1, 2004 http://www.bikelib.org/mrt/trailbreaking.htm

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Has anyone ridden the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) in Missouri, north of St. Louis?
>
> On a business trip yesterday, I noticed the signage from just north of Interstate 70 to Louisiana,
> MO. The trail is actually not a separate "trail" but follows MO State Highway 79.
>
> The traffic looked really heavy just north of the interstate for several miles, and most of the
> road has no shoulders or shoulders unridable (heavy gravel) shoulders. About a 10 mile bike lane
> from Clarksville to
Louisiana,
> MO.
>
> Any body have any experience with this route?
>
> Kerry
 
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