Rock Island Trail Forum

Has anyone biked the Katy Trail from the St. Louis area to Fulton Mo?

Years ago a group of us rode from Hermann to Fulton and back. It was mainly a road ride but some of us used the Katy Trail on the way back. Looks like Hwy C from Mokane is the most direct route from the Katy to Fulton. However I think that we used a lot of back roads. I'll see if I can dig up the cue sheet when I get home later today.

I found the cue sheet. It's mostly road; however, a lot of it is on Hwy 94 so it would be easy to stay on the Katy Trail instead of the highway.

00.0 North on Hwy 19/Main St.
01.0 Cross the Bridge
00.2 X Missouri River
01.7 L Hwy 94
05.7 S Rhineland
11.7 BR Hwy 94 – Bluffton
16.9 R Hwy D
21.9 L Hwy O
25.3 S Should be able to see the Calloway
Nuclear Plant on Left
37.3 S Becomes E. 2nd St.
37.7 X Bus. Hwy 54
37.7 R Nichols St.
37.9 R 5th St.
37.9 R Court St
38.0 S South on Court St.
38.1 L E 2nd St.
38.3 R Hwy C
43.7 BL Hwy C
44.7 BR Hwy C Hams Prairie
51.7 S Hwy C Molane
52.3 L Hwy 94
60.0 L Option to join KATY trail.
61.7 S Hwy 94 Portland
62.9 R Hwy 94
68.0 S Hwy 94 Blufton
74.2 S Hwy 94 Rhineland
78.0 R Hwy 19
79.8 Hermann – Finish!

Notes: There are long stretches without any place to get water or supplies. Bring your “big” bottles.

Thanks much for taking the time. I'm a tyro at this. If I go the direct rounte, KATY Trail from St. Charles to Mokane, then Hwy C to Fulton, can this be done by an old guy (age 73 yrs but in good shape)in 2 days? Tot. mileage is 115 miles. What do experienced bikers figure in terms of miles per hour averaged at a reasonable speed? Also, what's your experience in riding state highways with little or no shoulder. Thanks again.

I make the total mileage to be right at 100. 85.5 from St Charles to Mokane, then 14 on Highway C to Fulton. If you do between 60 and 70 miles the first day you can stay at either Mckittrick, Rhineland or Portland. For me riding on C (or any 2 lane blacktops without a shoulder) would not be fun but a lot of people do it. I would try to avoid riding between 6:00 - 8:00 am and 4:30 - 6:00 pm when there may be traffic from the nuclear power plant and commuters to/from Jefferson City.

What Jim said plus, take a little trip in your car from Mokane to Fulton at the speed you think you can maintain on your bike. This will give you an idea of what to expect. It really doesn’t matter what others think about doing the trip, they won’t be with you, will they?

Jim & Gary, appreciate the good advice from both of you. I think I'll have my wife pick me up in Mokane and drive the rest of the way to Fulton. Looking at highway routes from Mokane to Fulton, they do not look particularly safe for a single biker even in off-traffic hours.

Flying into St. Louis, sleeping in Saint Charles, six of us are renting bikes and have reserved an early morning shuttle to Clinton. First day we cycle to Sedalia.
I see the Amtrak goes to Sedalia. Wondering if that’s a better option? Any feedback is appreciated!

I've ridden all sections of the Katy except Clinton to Sedalia. That section has never gotten rave reviews....open corn fields, not much to see, etc.

I'd have to weigh the cost of each option in both time and money. If it's cost effective to shuttle to Clinton, I'd ride it. If the train is more cost effective, I'd ditch the Clinton to Sedalia ride.

St Chas to Clinton is one long shuttle.
AMTRAK from Kirkwood Station to Sedalia is a blast - we love it!
However...each train trip is limited to 4 bikes. Really goofy restriction and not very supportive of the KT Trail karma. Every time we ride, there is room for plenty of bikes. Check with them early if you have any interest.

We love the entire KT however the Clinton to Sedalia leg is our least favorite. Unless you have your heart set on a "full ride" you may consider starting in Sedalia.

Food for thought, ride safe.

PT is right about the 4-bike limit per train, so be careful about that if you have 6 people and bikes.

My family rides the train quite a bit, and it is a nice trip in most regards. One downside is that the morning train leaves Kirkwood at 9:44, meaning you get to Sedalia close to 1pm. Now that it is later in the year, there is less daylight to make it far along the trail, but maybe you have that worked out. The shuttle (with Todd) would get you to Sedalia a bit earlier, given that it leaves St. Charles around 8am.

Another thing to consider is that there have been some issues with Amtrak lately - train delays or cancelling the train altogether and putting people on buses. Not sure what the issue is right now, but it is happening with some frequency. I would shuttle rather than trust Amtrak right now.

We rode from Sedalia thru St. Charles, fully loaded on 35mm tires and camping. Followed detours around Rocheport, Coopers/Easley and rock slide near KT118. Coopers/Easley was a workout and we pushed up one hill. Our main issues were finding groceries and water as it was over 90 degrees most days. Still a nice trip.

I wrote that quick conditions report on the road but here's a more full report in case it helps somebody.

Left our car in Alton, IL, rode 25mi toward St. Louis and crossed the McKinley Bridge in the early evening. Took St. Louis river trail system through industrial areas and stayed at the Red Lion Hotel. Next morning caught the Amtrak (across street) to Sedalia. Train was 90 min late to Sedalia but we still biked 37 to New Franklin and camped at the KT Roundhouse amid the national mosquito convention. The Booneville & New Franklin detours were easy to follow.

Day 2 we rode to Hartsburg. The short Rocheport detour was no problem but we're used to roads. The gravel detour after Coopers had some steep hills and we were beat after 93 degrees. It wasn't too bad but back on the trail there were some sandy spots. Arrived in Harrisburg, nice locals warned us it was supposed to storm/hail so we camped under the Lions pavilion at the ballpark. Public bathrooms there and an outdoor hose was our washup. Ate at an outstanding restaurant called 35 something. No store in Hartsburg.

Day 3 we stopped into Jeff City for lunch before heading to Bluffton. Loved the ramp up and over the bridge. High Rise Bakery was great food. Good convenience store was a block up the street too. Back on KT, we stopped in Mokane and there was a small store open there. Continued on to the Bluffton Barn where we camped & showered. Doug was a great host and has a nice place to stay.

Day 4 we headed for Klondike Park. Good grocery store just off the trail at the Herman spur - we stocked up as we heard there was nothing at Klondike. Some bad gulley washouts as we crossed roads around KT135. Ate at Dutzow Deli. We rode to the KT118 rockslide to see if any possible way to hike it for fun but no. The detour around was super short & easy. Climb to Klondike Park was a push. Armadillo and skunk at our camp.

Day 5 we rode into St. Charles & had lunch at the bike shop. Then continued on urban trails (Boeschert?) & roads to the Golden Eagle ferry ($4) across the Mississippi. We crossed hilly Coventry County between the rivers (11 miles, stunning & gorgeous) and caught the Brussels ferry (free) across the Illinois River. Rode another 4-5 miles NW to Pere Marquette State Park. Camped 2 nights, then rode the Sam Vadalabene bikeway back to Alton, IL to get our car. This worked out as a nice loop.

Advice: carry lots of water, refill spots are fewer than ideal. We carried nearly 4L and wished we had more a couple times but most of our days were +90 degrees. Stores and cafes were sparse. Trail surface conditions were fairly good. Using Google for bicycle directions is how I planned our routes off the KT.

Curious if there were certain sections that had less amenities than others or where critical refueling spots would be? I plan on riding from Clinton to Machens and back to Clinton at the end of September all self supported so I’d like to plan my water refilling stops accordingly.

Toby, use the Towns and Services link up above to identify where you can get food, water, etc. Keep in mind that the businesses in small towns keep short and odd hours, so always have a Plan B.

We filled our water in Sedalia, New Franklin (cafe), Rocheport (store), Hartsburg, Jeff City, Mokane (store), Dutzow (deli), Klondkike Park & St. Charles. We also topped off in a couple other places I can’t remember. Ran low between Rocheport & Hartsburg but we were riding in 90+ degree heat. Coopers might have had water but the place appeared closed. Carry 2 large bottles, top off every chance & you should be OK.

For food, Sedalia had several options, New Franklin had a good cafe and Rocheport had a small store/cafe. After that we saw nothing until Jeff city (plenty). Mokane had a limited store, Dutzow had a deli, Herman Spur had a fine grocery store and then nothing more until near St. Charles.

Where can you park long-term at the Sedalia Amtrak station? Cheap or free?

Don't know about an Amtrak parking location, but have parked at the Katy Depot lot for several days. It is free. Leave your name, phone, and car info at the depot desk just in case. Have done so on several occasions without incident.

Sent a question earlier but I did not include contact info. Heleneperera@gmail.com
Thanks

Is it too late to be a vendor.? I sell goat milk soap and would be interested in a booth.

I am in Sedalia today am looking for a person how like to ride with my to Harttsburg tomorrow morning, please call if you like a company 9203711150

We enjoyed a lovely stay here with 2 other couples during this past weekend. The owners could not have been more hospitable and every room was decorated beautifully. The storage shed was perfect for all our bikes and we were able to get in rides both before and after breakfast. The town, itself, is lovely too with a wonderful boutique just across the street and restaurants within walking distance. We will stay here again!

I understand there is a public park you can camp in at Boonville. Is that true and where is it ?

I don't know if there is or not - we always camp at the Roundhouse In Franklin - it's just across the bridge from Boonville. Very nice campsite, clean shower house, reasonable price and owned by good folks.

Sharon

Sharon, any camping recommendations for Herman

City park in Herman
Next: Ball fields in Marthasville
Next: Klondike park just east of Augusta

Thanks for all tour help

Regarding bicycleguy from Topeka's camping questions.
We also camp just north of Booneville at the Roundhouse campground. (A 'Roundhouse" is where trains used to turn around at). Quiet, beautiful, clean and clean showers.
Then going east the next place is Coopers Landing at Easley, or Hartsburg, or Jeff City, depending on what mileage you want to do.
Next is Steamboat Junction campground between Bluffton and Rhineland, right on the trail. It also has a nice shower house but only one person can use the shower at a time. The other drawback is there is only a porta-potty for a toilet. However, it is very conveniently located.
Next is Hermann, in the city park.
Next may be Marthasville, depending on what mileage you want. You can camp on the south side of the ball diamonds, which is their city activity area so the bathrooms are open and have showers.
Then Klondike Park, a few miles east of Augusta. Be sure to stop at one of the wineries in Augusta and the brewery too. Brewery has good food. Be aware that the brewery on Friday and Saturday days and nights in October is busy, and call ahead to check their hours as they are reduced through the week after September. Happy Trails.

This past week (Aug 25 - Aug 30, 2019), two of my cycling-club friends rode from Clinton to St Charles. They provided their GPX files, which I am happy to share. These are helpful because they show the location of the detours, which they took during their ride. I would post them them, but this site has no provision for posting attachments. Most of the detours were on Missouri Hwy 94. If interested, I will send them to your email address.

What was the condition of the trail between Hartsburg an Dutzow?

Tony,

Between Hartsburg and Dutzow, my friends detoured as follows (West to East):

West of Portland: Take Schmid Rd to MO Hwy 94 CR 476; CR 476 back to the Trail.

At Bluffton take MO Hwy 94 for approx 2.3 miles, then hop back on the Trail.

At Case us Case Rd to detour around damaged bridge.

East of Gore take MO Hwy 94 to Hwy N to Treloar and back to the Trail

At Marthasville take Main Street/Hwy D to Boone Monument Rd to Trail

Karl, thank you for sharing the gpx data!

Below are the comments from Karl's friends, and a downloadable link under each for the gpx. The gpx files are large, so when you click the link, it will take a minute for the file to download, so please be patient.

Different browsers will act differently: Chrome will just download immediately, while IE and Firefox will prompt you before the download starts.

By the way, I hid all the posts of people asking for the files. This will prevent spammers from finding the email addresses, and keep this thread down to the posts with info

---

Day 1: No Comments… Clinton to Sedalia
Katy_Trail_Day_1_Clinton_to_Sedalia.gpx

Day 2: 1 flat, 2 washed out detours and the last hour in the rain! Still having a blast!
Katy_Trails_Day_2_Sedalia_to_Rocheport.gpx

Day 3: Started off smooth.. Then a detour that took us on Gravel roads up a get off the bike and push climb then hit a mud pit and topped it off with a flat! Beautiful weather though!
Katy_Trail_Day_3_Rocheport_to_Jefferson_City.gpx

Day 4: A near perfect day with perfect weather. 66-90 deg. We had 1 detour on a flat smooth road for 1 mile around a rock slide with tailwind and a few downed trees.
Katy_Trail_Day_4_Jefferson_City_to_Rhineland.gpx

Day 5: Another splendid day.. We had a couple of easy detours around a few washed out sections. See Map
Katy_Trail_Day_5_Rhineland_to_Agusta.gpx

Day 6: Today’s ride started off with the Detour into Klondike Park and was about 16% for a 100 ft climb but the park was worth it.. The lake is beautiful.
Day_6_Last_Day_Augusta_to_St_Charles_Congrats_to_Tanja_for_being_such_a_Trooper_.gpx

Comments: The worst was Day 3 by far. The elevation of the Detour was abrupt and crazy gravel in some spots but was the shortest route. Most of the Detours were short and on 94, parallel to the trail.

Thanks Karl and Ray these gpx file will be invaluable, esp after 24hrs of travelling just to get to the trail.

Cheers Don

Is the Blockage around mile 117, east or west of Sycamore Road where it connects to 476, and can you pass Schmidt Road (going east on Katy) and take Sycamore Road and 476 or Sycamore Road and 94 to avoid 94 from Schmidt Road to Sycamore Road, or from Sycamore Road to 94 /476 ?

Frank -
For the trail closure around MM117 - here's what I know, hopefully it helps.
Riding West to East, we passed Hwy 464 and then when we got to the next road - Schmid Way, the trail was closed going any further east. We took Schmid Way out to Hwy 94. We actually got picked up at that point, but it was our plan (based on seeing other reports on the detour) to ride East on Hwy 94 and go over the Logan Creek Bridge. After going over the bridge, we planned to take the next right and get back to the Katy from there. If you look at this on a map, it should be fairly easy to see. We talked to a few other riders who had gone past the closure notice at Schmid Way thinking that they could get through. They had to turn around and come back. You definitely cannot ride the Katy through the closure and have to use Hwy 94 detour. Hope this helps.

As soon as you go over the Katy Trail on 94 at Logan creek you take a LEFT and come back down to the trail.

Here are some screenshots that Frank sent to help illustrate his question above about the detour (3 posts up). He explained "Apple maps shows sycamore valley road going on south to connect back to 94 east of Schmidt Road, but Google doesn't. I had tried to ask if that was an option for the detour, maybe taking Schmidt to 94 (apparently you have to), 94 east a bit, then sycamore road north to 476 and connecting (maybe) to 94, and eventually the Katy.".

OK if you are bound and determined NOT to ride the little bit of 94 around the bluff collapse at mm 118 Then Schmid Way 464 is NOT what you want to do. It is a private drive now. The way to do it is by taking 459 (the second gravel road east of Steedman) north about 100 yards then 468 east (right) about 2 miles then 469 south (right) about 1 miles to 94 at Portland. Jog left right down to trail. You will climb and of course descend, a large hill. In loose gravel. With local car and truck traffic with less room than 94. This can be ridden. But why? 94 is flat clear open and only 1/4 of a mile.

Planning to ride this week. What are the conditions between Booneville and Jefferson city?

I have seen conflicting reports about closures between Booneville and Jefferson City. Are the reports on the parks page accurate? Particularly, McBane to Hartsburg seem to be questionable. Any insights are appreciated.

Any info people have about this would be helpful. Planning a trip in the coming weeks.

I had no issues from Rocheport to Easley. I did not ride from Easley to Hartsburg. I spoke to a another biker on this forum who had tried it and he said that a strong rider on a mountain bike would be able to do it. It was very rough, sections with large gravel, long sections of sand/silt that required walking the bike through it. It can be done, but it just depends on how much time and effort you want to spend to complete these 10 miles as it sounds like they will wear you out fairly quickly.

New Franklin to Rocheport is closed with a detour available on Hwy 40. You may be OK with it or not, depending on your experience riding on fast roads. It's not for me -- I am strictly a trail guy.

Just a quick note before it gets dark! I started my trip at the Pleasant Hill City Lake this morning. I'm planning on updating this forum with trail conditions as I go.
From the Pleasant Hill City Lake to Sedalia the trail is very good with no issues. Between MM 240 and 239 the trail was a little loose but other than that, very good condition.
Important note: Medford has water!! Woot! I talked to a couple of the Parks Department guys and they just finished installing the water fountain this morning (9/10). Tell everyone!
It's dark now, 75 mi day fully loaded. Time for food and a nap. More updates tomorrow.
Jharte

Jharte, thanks for your feedback. My friend and I plan to ride from Clinton to St. Charles on 9/20 and look forward to your comments and input regarding various detours.

Thanks,

Gary

Hello Gary. I got as far as Cooper's Landing in Easley and cut my trip short. The trail is still closed at just East of Booneville (right at Kingsbury Siding). The detour is easy (not too dangerous). The next trail closure is at Mile Marker 181.5 to Rocheport. That closure/detour is very dangerous. There is a long steep hill to climb to get into Rocheport. The road was recently repaved, no shoulder, rumble strips at the edge, and traffic was heavy. A nice gentleman in a black pickup caught up to me 1/3 the way up and gave me a ride into Rocheport. He told me he was recently hit by a car on that road.
I've been commuting/bike touring over 40 years. That detour into Rocheport is one of the most dangerous roads I've been on. If you can find a shuttle or some transportation for that stretch, that would make for a much safer/enjoyable trip. Safe travels!
Jharte

Hi there ,
What time of day did you do the detour to Rocheport. There are so many different descriptions from riders about this detour, ranging from terrifying to no problem. I’m thinking the time of day may be in play. Maybe rush hour is very busy and other times of day aren’t.
Sorry you had to cut your trip short. I hope you have better luck next time.
Allen

I thought the same - maybe time of day or day of the week would matter on the Hwy 40 detour between Boonville and Rocheport since I was seeing varying reports as well. However, I don't think that is the case. I was going through there on a Friday midday, and the road was super busy at that time. The cars are going very fast and there isn't much of a shoulder. We had family close, so we called for a shuttle around the highway detour.

I am driving from green bay to St Charles and looking for a place to stay Overnight any suggestion, Thanks

The Comfort Suites in St. Charles is close to the Katy Trail. I've stayed there a few times in the past.

https://www.choicehotels.com/missouri/saint-charles/comfort-suites-hotels/mo131

Depending on availability, my Bird Haus is an option. I do 1 night stays for bicyclists during the week. It is located a block up from the Katy Trail, next to the Stone Chapel: https://missourihaus.com/birdhaus

I'm stating at the Best Western which is just a few blocks from the trail.

My husband and I are planning to bike East to West. St Louis to Clinton. We don't plan on biking back. Any suggestions for getting back to STL? Is there a train near by?

How would someone get back to STL from Clinton if they didn't want to bike back?

There’s an Amtrak station in Lee’s Summit and one in Sedalia. Look up the schedule for the Missouri River Runner on the Amtrak website & you’re good to go.

There are also shuttle services that you can use. Cost more than train fare unless you have a group but they meet you at your location and time and take you directly to where you want to go.

Kathy was a wonderful host and made us feel extremely welcome coming off the Trail! She had fresh-baked cookies and breads as well as fruit, coffee, and soft drinks available for us. She accommodated our need to get on the trail early the following morning, which was so appreciated. She was friendly and engaging. The rooms were immaculate and extremely comfortable. Thanks for a great stay Kathy!