American Travel Journal

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Rocheport to McBaine - Katy Trail State Park

The 8.8 miles of the Katy Trail State Park from Rocheport to McBaine may be the most beautiful along the entire trail. Following the route of the Katy Railroad, the trail hugs the base of the 150 foot high Manitou (or Moniteau) Bluffs along the banks of the Missouri River. The trail is relatively flat with a net elevation drop of about 30 feet.

There are two notable caves along the route. The first has a stacked rock face and was used as a warehouse for explosives by the railroad. The second is the privately owned Lewis & Clark Cave. A spring in the cave probably provided fresh water for the Corps of Discovery as they passed through the area in early June 1804.

We biked this section of the trail in October 2017.

Missouri River

Edward D (Ted) Jones Memorial

Another view of the river

Railroad explosives cave

Bluff towers over the trail

Interstate 70 bridge over the Missouri River

Bluff downstream of Interstate 70

Side trail to the top of the bluff

Another bluff towers over the trail

Typical trail surface of crushed gravel

Missouri River

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) atop the bluff

Bench next to the wayside exhibit about Lewis & Clark

Lewis and Clark Cave from the trail

Spring water flows out of the cave

Although we didn't see them, there are pictographs on the bluff

Fall foliage colors have begun

Lewis & Clark campsite 6 June 1804

Straight and level through the river bottom lands

Terrapin Creek bridge

View upstream of Grocery Branch

View downstream of Grocery Branch

Terrapin Creek bridge builders plate

Grocery Branch bridge

Hindman Junction

Bike trail to Columbia

Columbia MKT Nature/Fitness Trail map

Perche Creek bridge

Mile 169.7 Perche Creek

View upstream of Perche Creek

View downstream of Perche Creek

Perche Creek bridge superstructure

McBaine Trailhead

Restrooms

Points of Interest exhibit

History exhibit

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.

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.