Rock Island Trail Forum

We met someone who rode in an end to end ride in June 2018. He said they do it every year, just switch the start and finish locations. He said it was put on by Katy Trail State Park. Does anyone know when this is in 2019?

It's usually the day after Father's Day so that would be June 17th. However you'll probably want to catch the bus to Clinton from St. Charles. That leaves on Sunday the 16th most likely.

Here's the web site from 2017. It should be similar to 2019. I suggest signing up on March 1st as it often fills up fast.

https://mostateparks.com/2017ktride

Hopefully see you there.

Are you riding it next year Jerry or volunteering?

I plan on riding. It will by my 9th year with that group.

Is there a place to park a car at the Kirkwood Amtrak station for a week instead of using a shuttle from St Charles?

There is an outdoors shop called the Alpine Shop about 4 blocks away. They have plenty of parking and you could walk to the station. nice place for last minute purchases as well.

There is long term pay parking at the Kirkwood station. Just remember to allow plenty of time to park and pre-pay at the entrance of the lot. The lot is actually on the other side of the tracks near Bar Louie so you want to allow plenty of time to get back to the station before the train gets there. Otherwise you will be stuck :( My dad and I road Clinton to St. Charles in June. This is where I parked for the week. No problems at all. Again, allow PLENTY of time.

Gore was a breath of FRESH air as a kid, This home is where my Family Genalogy started in 1868. GGGrandfather Oetting, released the slaves, who remained to help run the farm and as time passed so did they, starting families and there own farms, but always there to help him. There is alot of history behind this old home, Which you could feal it in the Air as I do and did in 2007.

Thank You for the info., Connie. Too bad someone had to e-mail in some of their hateful political bull. Get a life.

connie, where abouts is gore?? thanx

Just a couple miles west of Bernheimer. East of Case.

Connie, I wish I would have known that historical anecdote before my trip through there this past summer! Learning historical tidbits from locals and the like make for even more enjoyable trips...

The Quinn family purchased the historical town of Gore, Missouri December 1, 2008. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. We are trying to restore the town to origional. If you have any information on the grave that sits on the property bearing the name of a 3 and 1/2 year old boy by the name of Christopher Benjerman I would like to know. Christophers mothers name was Caroline and his fathers name was Henry. We love this town as we also have family who were from neighboring areas.



Most Respectfully,



Me Quinn

Our farm is about a mile from Gore. I used to go to Gore as a kid. Im at our farm when the weather is warm and would like to stop by

and visit with you all. Regards, Gordon Sieckmann

1-314-749-6991

Me Quinn, would love to get in touch with you please e-mail me. I'm doing our family history of Gore could give grave info. You busted my bubble, I was checking into buying the home back into the family. Would love to help with anything you might need to know. I love that old place. Connie

To: Me Quinn

I grew up in St. Louis and my dad had cousins in the Gore area. Their names were Ace and Francis Cullom. We also had kin named Nadine. I do not have her kast name. They were all decendants of Pauline Kimmick, one of a family of German immigrants who cane to the US in the 1850's. I remember the general store/Post Office and the old hand pumps for gasoline. How is the town doing...I thought it was lost years ago.



Jiom McMillen

hi where was the grave site at? i ran across gore town a year ago n it was beautiful is it ok to look around the town.

can we set a time n day to come see the town?

Noticed the Oetting house in Gore was listed for sale 3/3/11. My grandparents Ed & Pauline Reinhardt owned the store, post office, gas pumps and lived above the store. My parents Emmet & Amelia Reinhardt built the house on the hill above Gore which is now Lost Creek Winery to open in May 20ll. It was a beautiful place to grow up. My heart still belongs in GORE.
Kathy Reinhardt Bacigalupo, Osage Beach, MO
573-480-1467

Kathy know just how you feel, my fondest memories was of Gore and my family that lived there. We are trying to find out about the sale, do you have any pictures of store and etc.

What happened to the Quinn family? Anybody have any more information on Gore and what was there?

I grew up about a mile north of Gore. My parents were Ace and Frances Cullom. I walked
to Gore almost daily for the mail. My aunt and
uncle lived there and three cousins. Darrell
Reinhardt still lives in the neighborhood.

My husband and I purchased Gore in August of 2011. Sounds funny to say that we bought a town, but I guess we did. We are restoring the house first and then will work on the other buildings. We found some old receipts and orders from as far back as 1896 in the attic of the mercantile. Our plan is to give some items to the Katy Trail State Park so they can create an information board. If anyone has any pictures of the town I would love to make a copies to give to them as well. We have been working on the house since about October and are making progress. All the systems and part of the roof had to be replaced, so from the outside it does not look like we are doing much but it is coming together. Please call us we would love to learn more about the history. Heather Jacus 314-724-4238

Just wondered if there is still being work done in Gore. We'd be interested to hear more updates.

I remember going to visit the fretted Oscar and Otto oetting many times as a teenager, when Charles and dorathy oetting would come from Tucson az to visit in the 70,s . Was so sad when I heard that someone came in and stole most of the stuff out of their home when the last one passed away.. When they owned the town they had just closed the doors to the stores and every thing was just like it was so long ago. I gave many pictures of the place. It was part of the family for many years.

A group of us are writing a history of Gore and its surroundings. If anyone wants to send our group text, photos, etc please email me. We will credit you. Love to have pics of blacksmith shop. Trying to locate Alan David, whose Grandfather owned the blacksmith shop.
Gordon, Roxie, Darrell, Betty, Josie, Linda, Gottlieb and more
Rebecca...any pictures left?
Regards, Gordon

My Great grandmother was Nancy Cullum Davis
Her husband Davis's son George married my grandmother Beulah Smith
The Smith's also had a farm in Gore where my mother (Georgia Davis Maxson) was born
I remember playning at the mouth of a cave near a creek od small streamm that hat a white sand beach. We took some of the white sand home and made levels ofcolored sand in clear glass bottles

My mom’s family is from Hermann. I’m interested in the history of the surrounding area. Gordon mentioned 2 years ago that he was working on a history of Gore. Can I get a copy of that?

We had the best time at the School House B&B. It was a wonderful mini vacation and a true break from reality. The hosts were so welcoming and provided tons of helpful information to ensure we enjoyed our stay. It is in the perfect location and close to the trail. They had a place for us to put our bike (we ended up keeping them in our vehicle). They also had cloths for us to wipe our bikes down after a damp ride. The breakfast was amazing. The entire experience was so cozy and everything was EXTREMELY CLEAN! (This coming from a neat freak). It was very classy, I will stay there again and recommend it highly.

Martin "Cotten" was so accommodating for us. He shuttled us twice on our recent trip to the Katy Trail. We drove to Sedalia, overnighted at the Best Western. Next day drove to Clinton Trailhead & parked, rode back to Sedalia for 2nd night and then biked to New Franklin where Cotten picked us up at 3pm and brought us back to pick up our car from Clinton. Then stayed at Globe B&B in Hartsburg, drove to New Franklin TH, parked & rode back to Hartsburg for a 2nd night and then biked to Portland where Coten picked us up again to shuttle us baack to our car. It's a good idea to call the Katy Trail office to let them know you're parking overnight at a TH lot. Cotten had a great trailer for the bikes. He was so personable, was on time both times and readily communicated by phone/text (phone service not always available on the trail) to adapt to our needs. Plan to pay in cash. He made our biking the trail in shorter segments and without too heavy a load possible!

We had a wonderful two-night stay. Leaia and Mark have worked so hard in these 3 years to restore this landmark hotel and continue to pour lots of creative energies into it. The breakfasts were marvelous and they accommodated our time to eat preferences. You can see the Katy Trail right from the Globe. We stayed the night, then drove to the New Franklin Trailhead, parked & biked to the Globe for a 2nd night and then biked to Portland where Marvin Cotten with Cbamshuttle shuttled us back to pick up our car. Made for reasonable 40mile days for us. Leaia overcharged us but caught her error and sent us a $20 refund check - such honesty! Can't go wrong with this B&B:)

Enthusiasm for Rock Island Trail Loud and Clear at Missouri State Parks Public Meetings

Source: PR Newswire

Full article:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/enthusiasm-for-rock-island-trail-loud-and-clear-at-missouri-state-parks-public-meetings-held-this-week-300743254.html

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Nov. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds from across Missouri attended public meetings hosted this week by Missouri State Parks to help determine the fate of the 144-mile Rock Island Railroad corridor between Windsor and Beaufort, Missouri. Public feedback at the meetings was overwhelmingly positive, mirroring the sentiment of the nearly 9,000 comments—nearly unanimous in their support for the project—that were previously submitted to the state in the summer of 2017.

"We appreciate the work that State Parks has done to gather the necessary information to make a decision about the Rock Island corridor—including this week listening to hundreds of people talk about the importance of preserving this incredible asset," said Brent Hugh, Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation executive director.

.... [see link above for the rest of the article]

We are planning our first overnight ride to Hermann, and are wondering where is the safest/legal place to park overnight? We are leery of using the trail lots and were wondering if parking at the Premium Outlet Mall, near the bridge, is our best option? Is this possible? Do we need to alert mall security or anything? Any other ideas welcome! Thanks!

We parked at the Fairlfield Hotel in St. Charles last week which worked out great, so if you're staying first at a hotel that may work for you. Otherwise, you could probably park at the Streets of St. Charles Shopping/Dining Center as there were several parking lots that we saw as we biked to the start of the trail from our hotel.

We have parked at the Duckett Creek lot several times and rode to Hermann for the weekend. So far we have been lucky and not had any issues leaving the car for the weekend. We have also done the same thing in Augusta at the trailhead.

Dotty has retired and sold the building to a trained chef from out west. They are open under the name 35th on Main and their hours are seasonal (feb-dec) 11-9 wed-sat, and 11-8 on Sunday. We were there on a Tuesday so we couldn’t try it. Locals say it’s good!

Glad Dotty finally got to slow down. She provided great food and service for a long time.

Looking forward to trying to the new place for lunch tomorrow.

Spent a night here recently. It is $5 per person, which is a great price for a place to sleep indoors. They have bunk beds and mattresses, but bring your own sleeping bag. There's also a decent kitchen to cook in. Warm showers included. The only issue was that the heat was turned up way too high! And there's no one at the site, which brings me to how do you get in. When I reached there, someone was already there, so the door was unlocked. But I was told by another group about having to hunt for the key on a utility pole to the right of the house.

The key has been on the utility pole for many years and is not really a “hunt”. No public facility is going to allow the public to control the heat, there are window air conditioners there.

Good camping spot, but a little expensive at $20. Warm showers included. There are picnic tables and fire pits with grills at the camp sites.

Is there anywhere you went that was without issue??

The price at Katy Roundhouse is 10.00 per person.
Some campgrounds charge per person, (Katy Roundhouse, Coopers Landing, Marthasville ball fields) some charge per tent, (Sedalia fairgrounds, Herman city park), some charge per site with a limit on number of tents (Klondike park).
Seems the going price on per person ones is 10.00 each.

Allen

Can you take your camp stove fuel on Amtrak?

Have you tried calling Amtrak to find out? They would be sure to know.

I checked on this a few years ago and it is not allowed, at least as canister gas. Don’t know about liquid type but seems unlikely they would ban one and accept another. Their website will have a list under baggage of what is not allowed.
Allen

I had camp fuel in my panniers and they never checked or said anything

I rode the Katy end-to-end in 2004 & vividly remember the horror of the bridge over the river going into Hermann. I'm still bridge-phobic and willbe riding again next year with a group. For planning purposes (so I can get a shuttle) is that bridge still standing? I had heard it was scheduled to be replaced. Thanks you to all the helpful people on this board who make it work so well!

The new bridge has a separated lane, and is wide enough to ride on the bridge itself (I did in September as the bike/pedestrian lane was blocked).

I fondly remember the old Hermann bridge. Though not for biking of course. The new bridge has a protected bike lane and 10-ft shoulders if the bike lane is blocked.

We say "new" bridge. It actually opened in 2007!

No worries at all to cross into Hermann now.

Thanks for the replies. Rejoicing! But will probably still shuttle.

Here is a video clip from 2015 -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39hEz6cUwc0&t=7s

Fantastic video! Wow--that bridge sure has changed. Thank you so much. That's the kind of bridge I can actually get over. You're a trail angel.

Almost all the bridges over the Missouri River near the Katy Trail have been rebuilt or modified for safe bicycle and pedestrian traffic. St. Charles (the 370 bridge and Page bridge), Chesterfield, Hermann, Jefferson City, and Boonville all have bike safe bridges over the Missouri River

The Route 47 bridge to Washington, Missouri is a work in progress. Last I heard it's schedule to open this December.

.

Missouri State Parks has announced three public meetings the last week of October at towns along the Rock Island Trail Corridor. An alert released this week by the Missouri Parks Association indicates that attendance at these meetings by supporters and the quality and quantity of the written comments submitted by supporters may well be the crucial deciding factor in State Parks' decision whether or not to accept the corridor.

Three meetings--please plan to attend if you can: Oct 29 (Owensville), Oct 30 (Versailles), Nov 1 (Meta)
The three meetings will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 29
Scenic Regional Library
503 S. Olive St., Owensville
(east-central MO, nearest St. Louis metro area)

Tuesday, Oct. 30
Morgan County Library
600 N. Hunter St., Versailles
(west-central MO, nearest Kansas City metro area)

Thursday, Nov. 1
Citizen's Civic League Hall
301 Olive St, Meta
(central MO, nearest Jefferson City & Columbia)

Meetings are informal open houses, where you can view displays, chat with State Parks staff, ask questions, and leave written comments.

We hope that State Parks will create a way to submit your comments online if you cannot attend in person. However, State Parks Rock Island Corridor page currently has no way to accept online responses except via State Parks regular "Contact Us" page. We well let you know if an online comment submission page is created.

Missouri Parks Association Alert: Attendance at meetings and substantive written comments crucial
The Missouri Parks Association recently sent an alert that said:

It is critical that park supporters attend as many of these meetings as they can and submit substantive written comments, as the quality and quantity of these comments may well be a decisive factor whether the state agrees to take possession of the corridor when it must make its decision by February 2019.

MoBikeFed page with more information, ideas for your written comments
We have created an online page with:

The full text of the Missouri Parks Association's Alert
More information and background about the Rock Island Trail
Why these meetings are important right now, and
Ideas for your own written comments in support of the trail.
Click here to visit that page with more Rock Island Trail Meeting information.

Thank you!

When you speak up in support of Missouri trails, it really makes a difference. These meetings are our opportunity to make the biggest single difference in Missouri trails in a generation. And I can tell you that acceptance of the Rock Island corridor is NOT a slam dunk with State Parks right now.

They **need** to hear from you--they need to hear your support for the trail.

--Brent
director@mobikefed.org
816-695-6736

During our ride on the Katy Trail we stopped at 35 on Main. Excellent food, drinks and service. We will definitely visit there again on our future rides.