ET from Columbia on 5/30/2006 8:43:28 PM:
Actually, it is an old railroad bed, except for the very end, out by the Katy, where a landowner didn't want to sell. That's the reason for the big curve. Since then, he sold to the city to create the wetlands that are there now, and you can use the access roads instead of the trail--more direct, but rougher, and can be a bit smelly (the wetlands treat the effluent from the Columbia sewer system so that they are much cleaner before they hit Eagle Bluffs and the Missouri River). It's the only way in high water, as the official trail route tends to flood. The railroad was the MKT spur into Columbia, and ended at the old station, which is now a sports bar and restaurant--you can see it from the trailhead at Flat Branch Park.