I live in St. Louis so I'll probably start doing the Katy trail a couple times a year. I need to buy a guide book, but I'll ask you 1st. What about camping along the Katy? I'll bet that stealth camping is out of the question. I hear the the Rock Island trail from KC to St. Louis is in progress. I would probably come back through northern Mo, nice rolling farmland, or through the Ozarks. Your experience?

Google 'Katy Trail'. The first result is overflowing with information on anything you want to know and a ton that you wont care about.

Check out the website and figure out the camping thing. That being said, I've ridden a couple of times at night with a headlight and set up a tent right on the trail in October.
Highly illegal.
No one is in sight between 11pm and 6 am.
It's beautiful.

My experience is from 2010, so it is getting a bit dated and possibly no longer applicable.

West end of the trail, community center, camp outside, they told us where to camp. Bring your own padlock for when you use the showers. Sorry about the poor photo quality.



If this is still available, it is a great place to stop. There was a bar next door where we ate and drank.



We also camped at a private campground right on the trail, I think the word Roundhouse might have been in the name.

How could someone practically live on the trail, not know the answer to this question or where to find the answers?

We just ran the Katy this October and camped at our usual spots:

Katfish Katy's along the Missouri River (though it's up for sale again and the small camp store was not open)
Rivers Edge Campground (great sandwiches at the bar next door)
Klondike Park (very nice state run facility)

I don't care for the close quarters of the RV/tent campground a few miles east of Katfish Katy's but it's the only place one can get some home cooked Thai food along the Missouri River

The Turner Katy Trail shelter shown above is a decent bunkhouse and they were just getting ready to open up a new small restaurant right next door when we rolled thru so that should be convenient because otherwise you're on your own, no stores or cafes near by.

You can also camp at Marthasville near or on the ball diamonds and there's a terrific restaurant, Twin Gables, just a stone's throw south of that area.

Stealth camping is abundant most anywhere along the trail but it is illegal, that being said, if you choose this option, Leave No Trace so as not to alienate the locals.

I've only owned race bicycles, never a bicycle with tires wide enough for the trail. And an attitude about the limestone slime that gets everywhere. I've also been up in the arch only once or twice. Also have ridden a mountain bicycle only once or twice. Go figure!

I did the whole enchilada last summer and enjoyed every mile. However, I wimped out and didn't camp as I had the wife along. There were a handful of people doing minimalist camping at the sites mentioned in the google links. No real worries. Trail was in great shape and there really wasn't a whole lot of dust. Fenders are highly recommended though.

Don't let the negative ninnies around here spoil the fun. Most of us understand why you asked here first. Some small and insecure folks just have to try to feel superior. ..

How many miles per day did you do on the Katy? Do the camp sites tend to have potable water and a privy? light grocery store seem to be often enough.

The BikeKatytrail site is excellent but some services listed no longer exist. Call beforehand to confirm.

Here's a great resource for all things Katy Trail: bikekatytrail.com

The Rock Island Trail is years from being finished.

I've ridden across Missouri a few times on roads. I'd go the northern route as it's flatter.

If you want a supported ride, this one is hard to beat. I've done it the last 5 years and plan to do it again this year. Make sure to sign up on March 1st as it's been known to fill up in as little as one day!

https://mostateparks.com/2016KTRide

NASCAR ace Carl Edwards annually rides the Katy trail on a MTB & included a charity ride to raise funds for a guy paralyzed in MTB accident. He notes that padded shorts are a plus. Most DC-area trails used to be crushed limestone; gets some grit on chain but not a huge problem.

Carl Edwards' annual bike ride raises money for childhood friend | Sports | columbiamissourian.com

Ditto the remarks above about stealth camping. With some luck, flexibility, and plenty of respect, there are options. Sedalia fairgrounds has a great, cheap site. Hermann's town park is a few miles off but worth the trip through town anyway.

I'll echo some of the remarks from above. Worth noting is that Katfish Katy's and Cooper's Landing both have live music in the summer.

--Katfish Katy's is a great place and I believe that their general store has different owners. This past summer the store owners were a young couple that was very awesome.
--Cooper's Landing is a marina/campground that has a food truck on site with the best Thai food that I've had in a while.
--Turner Katy Shelter is also a good place to stay especially if you want to shower or enjoy some air-conditioning. Cost is only a small donation but you may want to have food with you, unless the new pub is open next door. It was under construction last spring.
--Hermann City Park was actually a very nice park to camp and an short distance from downtown which has some great amenities (like a meat shop & a brewery)

Btw, I should have mentioned that the major bike advocacy group in that area is trying to get the Missouri State Park system to allow for camping at any of the designated trail heads and is trying to obtain enough signatures so it can be presented as such. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if you wanted to send an email stating that you would be much more likely to visit the Katy and spend your dollars there if camping was more available along the trail. Maybe someone nearby and with knowledge of a more specific link would be kind enough to post it.

Robow, which end do you start from?

On this occasion, I drove to Portage De Sioux on the Mississippi River, left my vehicle at the marina and rode 35 miles to the downtown St. Louis Amtrak. Took the train out to the west end and met up with friends. We then rode the Katy back east to the end at Machens, MO. Superb weather and good friends made for a wonderful time.

So what was your route from Portage de Sioux to downtown?

You've basically already been told that. Go to your other post regarding the Katy Trail and see what JerrySTL had to say. Between his route (taken in reverse) and a good map you ought to be able to figure it out. Portage des Sioux and Machens are only about 2 miles apart. Look at a good map anyway - there are a few places you can veer off Jerry's route onto less heavily trafficked roads.

This was the route I took. I was pressed for time and didn't have the extra time for the additional 10 miles that re-routing back thru Illinois takes using Jerry's route. Unfortunately the Chain of Rocks bridge was closed the day I came thru which made my choice even more fortuitous. It makes full use of the St. Louis River Road trail which is really a nice ride.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12321040

I provided a link in the other thread that has a link to the area. It doesn't have JerrySTL's desription on it perfectly, but if you look at the map, scroll in and look at the details, you will be able to trace the route he describes easily. The trail on the Missouri side is on the map, you'll need to scroll in some to view it.

MCT Trails Map

It's a wonderful map that has the 100+ miles of trails that are easily reached from St. Louis. These are wonderful trails that extend out into the countryside. Probably one of the top trail systems in the country in my book. I can't figure out where they got all the money to build it.

Another idea I just thought of looking at this map is to roll your bike on Metrolink in STL and get off at Shiloh. Then ride to Carlyle Lake. Nice weekend trip probably in the 40-50 mile range, haven't checked it exactly but that's close. It's probably less to the campground.

Here some guy went out and bought a 200.00 bicycle. Never even crossed his mind to even know what the frame is made out of or count the spokes. He was smart enough to put his beer in a cooler. The good ol' days...don't drink anymore. Bike did the Katy trail 3 times until it was upgraded. Notice the wonderful camo paint job...if your going to stealth camp might as well be stealth.

The state has plenty of money to purchase land and build campgrounds. It was a fight to get that trail built and they probably promised the local towns, etc. a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. Helping out the economy was part of the promise and developing state run campgrounds would take away from the locals.

They are currently spending a ton of money on two state parks out in the Ozarks burning through the cash.

I think the trail has plenty of camping. Most of it doesn't look like a well run KOA with sparkly shower houses but if you bike and camp, roughing it happens sometime.

forget the googles, not necessary for this. why not go to
bikekatytrail.com as has been mentioned in some of the
numerous threads you've started on the same subject.

it's just amazing! there's so much information on that site,
nicely organized by topic. just take a gander at the menu:

Katy Trail Home | Mileage Chart | Towns and Services | Trip Planner |
Comment Forum | Events | Shirts/Merchandise | Maps

but wait, there's more!!!

Other Useful Information

Comments and questions from other trail users

Katy Trail current weather conditions, and Missouri average temperatures and precipitation

Ride reports & trip journals - Learn from the experiences of other trail users!

Katy Trail emergency phone numbers (county sheriffs)

Share a shuttle ride

Katy Trail Bed & Breakfasts (includes towns not directly on the trail)

Wineries along the Katy Trail (includes towns not directly on the trail)

you can print off a list of campgrounds on the trail! not that important
really, the trail is only 264 miles in length. you could do in 2-3 days easy.
heck, i bet even a manly studmuffin could almost do it in a week, even
on an inferior steel tourbike!

you can read trip reports by those who have gone
"where no squeezebox has gone before!"

in additional, if you dare to leave the trail, it should be possible to camp
in city parks. for free. and legal! just check in with the shi'rf when you
arrive. if you ask nicely, maybe they'll even open the showers at the
park's cement pond.

and here's a thought....you live right there at the end of the trailhead.
surely somebody in your village must know something about the trail!

if not, why don't you bike out there to one of the access points. there's
a large parking lot just across the misery river, about 200 meters past
the page bridge (aptly named as page avenue runs thereover). don't
fear the bridge. google privacy invasion satellite mode shows the
creve coer park connector (hike/bike?) on the north side of the bridge,
taking you south to the creve coer airport...and beyond.

so get your buttocks out there, find a shady spot on the trail under the
bridge, and gee, i dunno, maybe chat with cyclists on the trail? maybe
take along some energy drinks and gorpish snacks to share while you
interrogate them?

Bro and I are camping at Hermann, MO and riding the Katy on out-and-backs. FYI-the trail for about fifteen miles on either side of Mokane is badly scarred by horse hoof prints. Some folks are riding 94 to bypass. We did it on mtb's but it wasn't fun. Going the other direction today to avoid that stretch.

Thanks ever so much for the info!!