I will be traveling through St. Louis this month and was wondering if anybody here had ridden the Katy Trail? If so, was it worth a detour to ride around on for 40-50 miles?

Thanks in advance,

Z

I understand that most of Katy is gravel, are you on a road bike? A better ride on skinny tires from St. Charles would be to ride from St. Charles to Alton, Illinois, then up the Great River road along the Mississippi river to Grafton and back. Find a good map for country roads between St Charles and Alton.

Cool. I thought Katy might be gravel. Strange, the website either doesn't make that clear, or I am too stupid to find it. I used to drive on the great river road all of the time...I was holding that in reserve as my other choice...looks like it just went primary.

The Katy Trail is "crushed gravel" or "crushed limestone" so it's not like you'd be riding on rocks or anything... It's fairly smooth, but I'd recommend something wider than 700x23 road tires. It's an ideal trail for hybrid bikes with smoother surfaced tires.

It's a beautiful trail along the Missouri River and goes all the way across the state, including the great Missouri wine country.

The suggesstion for Alton to Grafton on the Great River Road is a good one too... Used to ride that one a lot in my youth. That's along the Mississippi. If you ride it... take a quick detour through Elsah, which is a neat town tucked in the bluffs along the way.

The Katy Trail is WONDERFUL .. certainly worth a detour but it is not appropriate for road bikes. I ride it on my hybird. Be aware, if you take off from St. Charles there is no water available for like 30 miles so be prepared! I agee with everyone else, if you want to road bike take the Alton River Road Ride. It is a beautiful ride.

I did the Katy Trail Last year from St Charles to Clinton. The trail is paved with pack llimestone and is a lot like concrete in most places especially when it is dry. Many bicyclist have ridden it on narrow road tires but I don't advise doing it as there are a few places that are soft and the narrow tires will not work well then or in the case it rains a lot also. If you do ride it on road tires just be sure they are flat resistance and as wide as possible. A cyclecross tire would probably be better.

If you do ride it for about forty mile this will carry you in Daniel Boone Country where he lived the last years of his life. If you are into history this is interesting to see.

When I did it I was on my mountain bike with All Terain tires. When I do it again I will switch tires on my mountain bike to smaller tire with smoother tread, the opposite of what I would do for my road bike.

Since you are actually near the Arch, I will be coming through town on a Thursday. Are there any decent rides going out on Thursday evenings that I could join in the area? I'm comfortable in about any road ride from slow to 23MPH or so, although after climbing out of the car after 8 hours of driving, I suspect I'd be best at moderate speeds.

Thanks,

Z

From St. Charles to Augusta (roughly 20 miles) the KATY trail gets so much use that it's been packed down until it's the next thing to black top. That section is definitely road-bike-able. Immediately past Augusta the trail gets noticeably more gravely. People have ridden road bikes for the entire length, but I think that I'd prefer tires in the 32 to 35mm range. There are some attractive areas between St. Charles and Augusta, mostly surrounding the HWY 40 bridge across the Missouri, but the first several miles from the St. Charles riverfront are, I think, pretty ugly. It's not my favorite ride and I only live a couple of miles from there.

If you start at the soccer park on the north end of St Charles, there are almost always road bikers heading out to ride the network of flat roads between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. On a good Monday night at 6:00, about 100 road riders of all skill levels will go out for a 20 or 30 mile ride.

My summary of riding the River Road (RR) vs the Katy Trail (KT):

RR: Sometimes it's a separate bike trail, a lot of the time it's riding on the shoulder of the road with traffic whizzing by at 40mph or more. Scenery is constant: river on one side, bluffs on the other.

KT: Hard-packed trail, with relatively little traffic interaction, and only at intersections of trail and road. A rural riding experience: some river, some woods, some farmland, with a mix of small towns.

I'm a real cycling klutz, but I've ridden the KT with 700x25 tires. If it has rained recently you may wish to go a little wider.

I strongly prefer the rural KT riding. I commute through the suburbs most days of the week and ride the narrow suburban roads on the weekends. The KT, while not the ultimate cycling experience, is a welcome break from dealing with vehicles.

Haven't ridden Katy trail but descriptions sound consistent with other rails to trails I've been on. Have ridden the River road - both years ago and last year. Be aware that there are many spots where the River road has a lot of junk on it - glass, metal, etc. Also, some spots that are seperate trail have some bumpy sections from tree roots.

That said, I'd still recommend it. Have stopped many times in Elsah and had lunch at a little place called Elsah's Landing. Great soup and bread combos. Assume its still there but others from the area may have newer facts.