You are not supposed to do it. That said, it would be easy, but you will be on private property often because the State Park property is pretty much JUST the path.

you can't on the trail.
but with all the town parks and designated wildlife areas along/by the trail, there is no need to stealth.
go to the trail planning website, select the camping locations, and plan away.

https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2005/02/conservation-camping

Seems like it is allowed, so long as you are on public lands and subject to certain distance restrictions. As always, no campfires and make sure youare leaving no trace.

The conservation areas along the trail are what I was referring to as 'wildlife area's in the previous post. There are some along and near the trail.
but camping on the trail itself isn't allowed. You are either literally on the path or are otherwise most always on private property.

the conservation areas, private camping locations, and town camping locations really make this moot.
the conservation camping is primitive and effectively like stealth camping so use those locations and get all giddy over being primitive.

MO state parks are run by the DNR which has different rules than MDC.

You are required to be off the path at dusk.
There is no camping on the path.
That said, I've done it a few times in the spring and the fall.
I've always been worried about a patrol in the height of the summer season ready to kick me off.
In the fall it seems deserted and I didn't worry about it.
There are little pull outs with benches and that is generally where I set up my tent.
I've always done this riding after dark to ensure there weren't any other bicyclist.
I think if you try to stealth camp in the "conservation " area in the height of the summer you are in for a miserable experience with bugs.

Yay, I love it when there are multiple agencies with different rules for the same thing

Just to reiterate, if you aren't freaked out by camping on private property that is remote with close to 0% chance of being discovered, it is easy to do so.

As others have stated, just a small amount of money and some planning gets you into proper and approved locations. I prefer the latter. Nice to catch a shower or at least have a fresh water supply at hand and not looking over my shoulder all night.

Why camp on someone's private property when there are plenty of established places to camp? Go ahead and piss off the property owners along the trail and see what happens. We have a trail here that has a really horrible detour, owners went to court and got the trail closed in front of their property. All because a few fools couldn't obey trail rules and stick to the trail. Ruining it for everyone else.

Please stick to established sites for camping.

98.3% of rural Missourians have shotguns.

go here --> https://bikekatytrail.com/planner.aspx
select 'camping'
and press 'build my list'.

You will have a list of all the places available to camp- both designated traditional campgrounds and primitive campsites. Then plan your trip accordingly.

Regardless, please do not camp at none designated campsites and possibly be ruining things for everyone else. With proper planning, there is simply no reason to not use designated campsites.

"Per Capita" in my understanding is based on a percentage figure, or can be, which is how I made the original mistake. For instance, New Orleans is the most dangerous city in the USA for murders according to statistics that take into account that NOLA is a tiny city with plenty murders. So "Per Capita" we are the most violent city even though Chicago has many times more murders per year than we do. TOTAL murders, we don't come close to #1 . Per Capita, we are #1 . Like "Most murders per 100,000 people" or something like that.

I looked up the definition of Per Capita in five sources. No help. I thought I knew what it meant.

****/m

Thanks.

Somebody's wrong on the Internet. Imagine that!

Yeah, our poor were never relegated to ghettos like many larger cities. We had public housing complexes but they were spread out all over the city, which is smart because people who needed service help or offered education / and poor people who wanted to work or go to school could hook up easily (geographically speaking). And zoning for houses didn't include the type of house you could build. Often, the old shack was there first, along with a bunch of other modest homes. Then a rich person buys up five lots and plops a mansion on the land. Same happening all over after Katrina ran off anyone who didn't have homeowner's insurance. More giant houses next to dilapidated shacks.

Historically speaking, and architecturally, it is very interesting here. Hunting and fishing is off the hook too. Never freezes. Get anywhere in about 20 minutes on a bike, 40 in a car.

Cheers.

This thread is going to get moved to P&R in 5, 4 3...

It may be worth noting that property rights issues almost stopped the Katy from becoming a trail and are the primary issue stopping the Rock Island Line from becoming a trail. The people along the trail do care about trespassing, and if you trespass, you are giving cyclists and MO parks a black eye. Even if you don't get caught, a land owner who find evidence that people are camping on his property will be someone arguing against future developments or expansions.

Respect private property. If it isn't yours, it isn't yours. 'nuff said.

Finger hovering over the button.......

Press it! Press it now!

Guys, I trust that's the end of all the gun talk.

And said so well. Thank you.