Adventure Cycling Association

We’ll gather in St. Charles, across the river from St. Louis, to meet our fellow travelers. We’ll then hop in a shuttle to the start of the trip in Clinton, the westernmost terminus of the Katy Trail the railbed of the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. This railroad became defunct in 1989 and has been providing recreational opportunities for cyclists, joggers, and horseback riders ever since.

The highlight of the first day is certainly the American Flag–painted caboose in Windsor, but Sedalia has its charms, too, including numerous festive events such as the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival and the Missouri State Fair.

This small city is also packed with shops and restaurants, and it’s worth stopping in at the Katy Depot museum housed in the town’s beautiful 1896 depot. Come evening, you may also be inspired to visit the suds-sational Fifth Street Brew Pub.

Today, we’ll head northeast through sunny farmland on another easygoing section. We’ll head toward the Missouri River and cruise down a gentle downhill to end the day in Boonville. Make sure to check out the Boonville Trailhead/Depot and the Riverside Diner, a pair of popular stops for trail riders. Then enjoy the quaint town and take a stroll along the mighty Missouri River.

Say goodbye to the Katy Trail today and hop onto the MKT Trail which heads to Columbia, the home of the University of Missouri. In historic Rocheport, with its numerous antebellum homes, check out the old railroad tunnel on the trail just west of the Trailside Café, then stand awhile on the adjacent bridge spanning Moniteau Creek. Sooner or later, you’ll see a red-eared slider turtle bobbing slowly downstream on a log. Columbia has many interesting places to check out, so feel free to walk around, grab a piece of pie and some coffee at one of the many cafés, or ride through the beautiful campus of the Tigers.

We’ll ride the MKT Trail back to the Katy Trail in the morning. Watch for red-headed woodpeckers and other birds in the huge cottonwood snags in the slough between milepost 177 and 176. We’ll end the day by crossing the mighty Missouri River into Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. Our hotel is nestled in the middle of downtown, giving us the perfect opportunity to tour the town and soak up the beautiful state building architecture.

Before we leave Jefferson City, it’s worth visiting the capital city’s picturesque downtown, which brims with specialty shops and restaurants. Don’t miss Central Dairy, an ice creamery that’s famous throughout the Midwest for good reason! We’ll then head through Tebbetts and Mokane before we make it to Hermann, a picturesque German town known for its wineries, homemade sausage, and kraut If we’re lucky, we’ll get to enjoy an evening filled with live music among blossoming flower gardens.

Our path continues along the Missouri River as we encounter more hardwood forests, prolific wetlands, sheltered valleys, and manipulated croplands. We’ll ride through several rural towns such as Rhineland, which was devastated during the Great Flood of 1993. It’s said to be the first community in the U.S. whose residents voted to accept federal funds to move out of a flood plain; about 60 percent of the town’s 50 houses were relocated to higher ground more than a mile away from the original town site.

We’ll proceed down the trail beneath towering bluffs, past wide-open pastures, and alongside gently rolling farm fields. The route is steeped in history, and not just that of Lewis and Clark. Daniel Boone and his family lived in this area; we can visit his homestead located a few miles off the trail at the Historic Daniel Boone Home and Boonesfield Village. We’ll then say farewell as we ride back to where we started the trip in St. Charles.