Geo from Bentonville Transplant from Chicagoland on 10/28/2024 6:32:33 PM:
Homestretch of Day 6. After the St. Charles stop for lunch, I headed to Machens to ring that terminus bell. It's about 12 miles from St. Charles. As this forum page suggests, there's not much there but I had to ride the Trail end to end for it to be official for me. The Trail meanders through tree-lined areas, farm fields, passes some residential areas but other than that, there's no place to stop. I think I remember a sports facility along the way. Black Walnut is a TH but has no amenities so I took my photo and moved on. As the previous poster on this forum mentioned, there is a chain across the road about .25 miles from the Machens TH to the north. I heard that road is not private property so I am not sure why the owner of the chain is allowed to keep riders from being picked up closer to the TH. Maybe it is private but either way, I rode out of the TH on a somewhat hidden human-made trail, turned left then right onto the road and onward to the chained barricade with a no trespassing sign posted. Katy Trail complete! 278 miles and 6 days.