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Saturday, November 18, 2017

New Franklin to Rocheport - Katy Trail State Park


Our October 2017 trip to bike the Katy Trail across parts of Missouri continued with a 9.9 mile segment from New Franklin east to Rocheport. This part of the trail along the Missouri River bottom land has long tangent sections with a few sweeping curves. The route passes through farms and along the edge of the Davisdale Conservation Area before passing under US 40 and over Salt Creek. The trail then hugs the base of 150 foot high cliffs before ducking into a short tunnel, the only one on the Katy, and arriving in Rocheport.

While there is more shade along this section than the open farmland between Boonville and New Franklin, there are still long stretches without much shade at all. All the grade crossings on this section are with gravel county or field access roads. The one major highway passes over the trail and Salt Creek by way of a bridge. The tunnel is straight with a good surface. While helpful to allow other trail users to see you, a headlight is not needed to see the surface of the tunnel. Other than crossing the Salt Creek levee, the trail is level with a total elevation change of about 10 feet over nearly 10 miles. The trail was in great shape with a smooth crushed limestone surface.

Bonne Femme Creek bridge

View upstream

View downstream

Typical trail conditions

Cattle grazing on a hillside

Wide open spaces

Farmland along the trail

1921 clay-tile elevator in Pearsons

Beside the Salt Creek Levee


Bridge from Davisdale camper parking area

Primitive campground at Davisdale

One of the few tunnels of vegetation on this section

US 40 overpass

Bridge over Salt Creek

Biking below the bluffs

One of several caves in the bluffs

Looking back as the afternoon sun highlights the limestone

Another cave

Straight up

The only tunnel on the Katy

Looking back at the tunnel from the Moniteau Creek bridge

The creek flows along the base of the bluffs

View downstream

Rocheport City Hall and public restrooms

Autumn colors are highlighted above the trailhead parking area

Looking back at the trailhead and City Hall

History

Sights along the way


Entry to the park is free. The trail is open from sunrise to sunset for walking and bicycling.
The section of the park from Boonville to Machens is part of the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail.

The Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail website is https://www.nps.gov/lecl.

The Katy Trail State Park website is https://mostateparks.com/park/katy-trail-state-park.

1 comment:

  1. Excellent help to know what this section has to offer. I appreciated the photos and the description of the scenery one can expect.

    ReplyDelete