Ed and I spent the week of October 10 – 16 riding the KATY trail, a 237-mile route stretching across Missouri. We followed the footsteps of Lewis and Clark as we rode beneath towering river bluffs while the Missouri River flowed by.

The trail meanders through peaceful farmland and small-town Americana. It’s America’s longest “rails-to-trail” project, formerly the MKT (Missouri Kansas Texas) rail line. We booked a six-day ride with a local outfitter — Independent Tourist — who arranged our B&B lodging along the route and contacted local SAG support (KATY Bike Rentals) to schlep our stuff between locations. 

Setting Off On The KATY Trail

We set off from St Charles (near St. Louis) to start the trek. Little did we know that it would be pouring! Our “schlepper” picked us up in the downpour and drove us 200 + miles to the trailhead at Clinton. On the way, we stopped at his bike store and purchased full-finger gloves–as it was much colder than we were anticipating, a rear-view mirror for Ed’s glasses (so we could stay together) and a few other items to help with potential flat tires. When we arrived in Clinton MO and it was 35 degrees Fahrenheit and raining. Brrrr!

The first day on the trail was chilly. We donned our newly acquired gloves and put our knit hats on under our helmets. This caboose marked the beginning of the trail.

We didn’t dare stop on the trail, else we would become more chilled. We saw a few fellow riders on the first day. The original train depots display historic information.

We learned that the silent film star, Pearl White, was from Green Ridge. In her famous silent film series, The Perils of Pauline, she dangerously dangled from a cliff at the end of one film. This was the origin of our expression, “cliff hanger”. Who knew?

The Fairly Flat Trail

Riding on a gravel railroad trail is quite different from the California and Idaho trails and roads we are accustomed to. There is not much climbing or descending–due to the constraints on locomotion power, but unlike pavement, there is little opportunity to coast.

One of the largest towns on the route, Sedalia, was a (chilly) delight. 

We stayed in the Hotel Bothwell, from 1923. This was a cool venue with lots of history. We had breakfast in the Harry Truman Breakfast room, where the former President had also dined.

Sedalia was also hosting a Corvette show. We took a break from the trail and enjoyed looking at the 100 Corvettes in the town square.

We each picked our favorite Corvette, in case anyone is in the market to give us a present!

Back in the saddle, the trail twisted and turned through rural Missouri. Recent flooding had wiped out many parts of the trail, including the passage through the only tunnel on the route.

Small Towns Were Thriving

Our favorite parts were in the small, rural towns. Rocheport, population 240, was recently named one of the “Best Tiny Towns in Missouri’ by Southern Living Magazine. We learned that this accolade was the result of the efforts of our innkeeper, Conrad Yates of the Yates House B&B. In 2008, Conrad, his wife, and another couple moved to Rocheport, which was in demise. With some ingenuity and lots of sweat, the two couples set out to revitalize the town. In 2008, the town had 208 residents, and 8 worked in town. Currently, it has 240 residents, with 40 people making their living in the town. Very cool! There are cafes, restaurants, art galleries, and antique shops in a small, charming downtown. And it’s only a 15-minute drive to Columbia, the home of the University of Missouri.

In Rocheport, we dined at a local winery. We admit that we are California wine snobs, and did not love most of the Missouri wines as they are very sweet. However, at the Les Bourgeois Winery, we found a Syrah which was quite nice.

The label was selected from a local design contest. Isn’t this dog wearing the pope’s hat?

Along the way, there were humorous additions on the side of the trail.

Signs are posted to help the riders. Jan mistakenly read this one as ” Do not stop for 25 miles (instead of .25 miles!) She wasn’t sure she could ride for 25 miles without stopping!

Fun KATY Trail Facts

We learned some trivia from people on the trail:

• The KATY Trail was enabled by the generosity of Edward “Ted” Jones, who built up the Edward Jones investment firm, whose 14,000 branches are located in small towns across America.
• Missouri shares a border with eight states and is tied with Tennessee for the most adjacent states. (They are Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Kentucky.)
• The KATY Railroad put an end to a great American institution — the “cattle drive”. Prior to the railroad’s existence, cowboys would run cattle from Texas to Chicago. They bought the cattle in Texas for $2 a head and sold them in Chicago for $75 each. When the railroad started, they could bring the cattle to Sedalia and put them on the train, so fewer cowboy days were needed. Who knew? 

Due to extreme flooding of the Missouri River this spring, many sections of the trail washed away. Rock slides cover other areas. We followed the suggestions of our outfitter and took a shuttle around these areas. The trail needs $1 million in repairs which is a huge sum for Missouri and not the highest priority for the state.

The KATY Trail is a “thing” for bikers. We learned that most of the riders are either locals .. or they’re from California (!) or Colorado. During the same week when we were riding, there were 32 riders from a Road Scholar group. It didn’t appear that there were any other riders with our exact itinerary, as no one else shared the van for our luggage or stayed at the same inns with us. So we didn’t pass many other riders on the trail, and most of the inns were fairly empty. But we did meet one couple, who snapped our picture.

Check it Out!

We would recommend the KATY trail for other riders. However, two or three days might suffice! The small towns on the route were very charming, but the biking route was fairly monotonous. We experienced the same small-pellet gravel and tree canopy throughout the trek. (We noted that trails that run from North to South offer much greater variety than those that run from West to East.) The trees had not really turned color yet during our week-long trek, but we heard they will be changing color soon!

We were glad to experience small-town, rural America. The fall weather was mostly cooperative, yet the colors were not as brilliant as we were expecting. We learned a lot about the history of Missouri and the travels of Lewis and Clark. The outfitters for the KATY trail were excellent and everyone was very friendly. So it was a fun week, even though we were happy to be off the saddle when the week ended.