2023 Katy Trail bicycle trip
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| The obligatory start of ride photo |
In April of 2023, I went on a trip with some friends to spend 5 days bicycling the Katy Trail in Missouri. The Katy Trail is a rail-to-trail project and is a Missouri State Park (linear park).
The trail is about 95% through rural area with no buildings, just farmland and fields, with a cliff along part of it and the Missouri river along a big part of it as well.
Each town along the trail has a stopping point with historical markers. I did not photograph all of them (and we didn't do all of the trail) but I did photograph quite a few. I'm not even including all of them in this account, though I did check them all off on HMDB.org. In addition there are some MDNR signs along the way.
Monday April 24, 2023
The first day was driving to Missouri and being tourists in St. Louis, with a stay in a hotel.
Tuesday, April 25, 2025
The second day was taking a shuttle to Sedalia which would be our starting point.
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| Unloading our stuff from the Bike Stop Cafe's shuttle van |
We did a westward ride of about 20 miles to the high point of the trail, as a shakedown. These first two markers were on that portion of the trail:
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| High Point |
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| 25th Anniversary |
The first night was spent at Hotel Bothwell, a very nice old hotel with some character.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
The next day we properly started our ride!
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| Me and my stuff for the week on the first day |
This is the style of the stops at most towns. There is some variation but this is the basic layout. Rain shelter, bike repair stand, water and sometimes toilets. Not every stop is at a town with services. Some just have a few houses and no food or lodgings. We wound up making lunch from purchases at Dollar General in one town.
They all had four signs about this size, at each stop telling the history of the current town, a local map and key to available services, and emergency contacts, a mileage chart to all stops on the trail, then a sign pointing in each direction down the trail and any interesting facts about the trail in that direction.
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| History of Boonville |
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| Sample stop to stop point of interest sign |
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| Rise and Fall of the Osage Empire |
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| History of Clifton City |
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| From Boone's Lick to Boonslick |
That evening we camped at the Katy Roundhouse and ordered in a pizza
If you go over and peek into the brush, you can see the original roundhouse (behind a fence)
Bicycle panniers hold enough for an evening:
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Mornings always started with a nice big breakfast to fuel up.
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| Breakfast at Miracle Coffee Cup, New Franklin MO |
There were quite a few spots where remnants of the old railroad were on display courtesy of various historic societies.
They're a bit hard to make out but there are petroglyphs on the cliff walls here.
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| The Lewis and Clark Expedition Across Missouri |
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| History of McBaine |
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| The Plank Road, Columbia-Providence |
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| The Lewis and Clark Expedition Across Missouri |
Ted Jones is credited for the inspiration, guidance and construction of the trail in numerous markers along the trail.
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| In Appreciation, Edward D (Ted) Jones |
This was apparently a storage area for the railroad, including explosives.
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| The Lewis and Clark Expedition Across Missouri |
There are over a dozen "The Lewis And Clark Expedition Across Missouri" signs like that above. Each is different and relevant to the immediate area it is located in.
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| Roche Percée Natural Arch |
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| The Lewis and Clark Expedition Across Missouri |
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| Fertile Fields and Flooding |
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| Hartsburg Bottoms and Bluffs |
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| History of Hartsburg |
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| Hartsburg to N. Jefferson |
This day ended in the state capitol, Jefferson City
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| View from the hotel room |
To move between the Katy Trail and the road leading in to Jefferson City, there's this bicycle/pedestrian ramp. It's quite a thing. It spirals 3 levels from the bridge on the divided highway above to the park below.
Friday, April 28 2023
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| Jefferson City |
This is pretty typical of the landscape in the region, mostly farm fields with some forested area, farmsteads, cliffs and the Missouri river.
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| Battle of Côte Sans Dessein |
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| History of Tebbetts |
Some of the railway infrastructure continues to serve the trail.
The Standing Rock was a good place to stop.
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| Mysteries of Standing Rock |
We overnighted that night at the city park in Hermann
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| Mowed grass AND power to charge our stuff! |
Saturday, April 29 2023
The next day we had lunch at the "Katy Caboose" where a kitchen has been built into an old caboose.
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| The proprietor said he plans to RUN across the US in the fall! |
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| Story and Legend of Daniel Boone |
Daniel Boone is on a HECK of a lot of stuff around here. Not quite as much as Lewis & Clark though.
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| Daniel Boone's Missouri Golden Years |
These cliffs ran north of the trail along most of it, bordering and defining the edge of the Missouri River floodplain. Sometimes they were close enough to touch, sometimes a quarter mile or so away, but never too far.
On our last evening we checked in to the bunkhouse in Defiance, MO
Defiance has a lot of night life (and little else from where we were standing)
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Our final day was, by design, short miles, I think about 25, so that we could drive home.
We reached our destination in St. Charles at the bike shop we had left our vehicle and gotten the shuttle from. We had a nice lunch, wandered around the area on foot for a bit, then headed back to Michigan.
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| Successful and weary |
One last Lewis & Clark monument, in St. Charles:
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