Explore the best rated trails in Cape Girardeau, MO. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Tunnel Hill State Trail and Paducah Greenway . With more than 4 trails covering 68 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
All concrete well maintained and flat. Nice trail
My husband and I rode this trail on 9/6/2022 and 9/7/2022. The first day we caught the trail from our hotel in Harrisburg and got about 4 miles south of Carrier Mills. The trail is in pretty decent shape. It's crushed stone, but could use some minor maintenance, as the underlayment in some areas is exposed and has larger rocks poking through. The first day we rode my husband ended up with 2 flat tires, due to the larger rocks. The second day we rode from Stonefort to Belknap. It was a beautiful ride. There is the tunnel in Tunnel Hill plus many bridges along the way. The area is mostly shaded as well. Vienna has a nice park, with flushable toilets. Just a note: we did walk part of the trail from our hotel in Harrisburg 1.5 miles north and we did hit a bridge on the trail that did seem unsafe, many of the planks need to be replaced, there were chunks missing out of several of the planks.
Rode it on June 10, 2022 from Cache River Wetland Center to Vienna, IL a distance of approx. 27 miles round trip. The trail is fairly straight and level with plenty of shade, beautiful scenery and wildlife. BUT, it is covered with crushed limestone which has been allowed to accumulate in the track to a dept of 1 to 2 inches in places. Additionally, some idiot has used white rock to fill in places. If you have thin tries, I would not recommend this portion of the trail. It needs to be graded and compacted, then it would be 5 stars.
you can get over 12.5 miles if you extend the south end a bit. trail is narrow in places so biking is best during non crowded times. South end is rough in places from tree roots.
Over two days, rode from the southern end at the Barkhausen Cache River Wetlands Center north to Stonefort. Beautiful scenery, lots of birds and very peaceful, encountered only a few other riders and walkers.
Beautiful area and April 8, 2022 lost dog Rosebud. Has on Grey reflective collar and tags and orange harness. Very fearful and will run. Please call with any sightings. 231 920-0735.
The trail is a nice five-mile ride. I went on the second day of spring, but it must look even better when there is more foliage along the path. Unless it's unusually busy, I recommend parking by the riverfront mural wall downtown just off Broadway. The mural in the tunnel is a nice touch. As an extra excursion, you can take an extra loop in Noble Park or the County Park, where there is a mountain bike course. Noble Park gets busy on balmy weekends and holidays, so look out for traffic. There is talk of extending the trail southward from the west endpoint of the trail, so don't think that you've necessarily done the whole trail if you happen to return in a few years. If you happen to stop in Noble Park, be sure to bring discs if you want to play some frisbee golf on the 18-hole course. Also, a walk on the brick-surfaced sidewalks on Broadway downtown offers some breathtaking historical scenery.
The bridge over Massac Creek has been replaced and fully open. This connects Fort Massac State Park to the concrete paved former railroad bed section of the trail and can continue on east to Brookport IL via county road and city streets. The concrete railroad bed section of the trail is the only section motorized vehicle prohibited. All other sections are shared with vehicle traffic. Note the stop signs have been stolen at the Belgrade Road crossing. This is the parking area with restrooms midway of the concrete trail section. Caution the traffic crossing the trail does not stop.
We parked in the public lot by the muraled flood wall but could only ride part of the trail to the west to where construction blocked us from continuing. The Detour sign led us to busy 45, with no indication of where the detour led. 45 has no shoulder or sidewalks. We missed half of the trail. Park at the west end, in Noble Park and ride east.
[[ AS OF JUNE 1ST 2021, THE TRAIL IS CLOSED BEHIND THE SMOKE SHOP GAS STATION FOR UPGRADES TO THE CITY STORM WATER DRAIN SYSTEM. THIS IS A SMALL SECTION OF THE FLOOD WALL TRAIL NEAR THE US HWY 45 OHIO RIVER BRIDGE. THE TRAIL IS OPEN ON EITHET SIDE, BUT NO DETOUR PROVIDED SO THE TRAIL IS TEMPORARILY BLOCKED AT THIS POINT.]]
Review:
The trail is not gravel, but crushed limestone on the original section. This is the wooded section behind Bluegrass downs accessible from Noble Park, Stuart Nelson Park, and now from a parking area off County Park Rd accessing a new section that connects a loop trail with some steep but doable hills around the old land fill, to Stuart Nelson park via a new bridge over Perkins Creek. A new phase has also been completed from the convention center along the Ohio River front to the park at the foot of Broadway and Kentucky Ave. There are restrooms by the trail downtown as well as shops and restaurants. The trail from Noble park to downtown Paducah is all concrete.
Construction of the double diamond intersection at I-24 Exit 4 has created a wide greenway style concrete walk bike path, but unfortunately it only extends to the stop light on either side of the interstate. It literally connects nothing to nothing. I was going to park at the mall and ride back into the city on Park Ave/Hwy 60, but one can’t even access the the walk from across the intersection. Unknown if there is planned expansion to connect to this or it’s something the interstate construction created with no practical use.
This is a great trail that offers plenty of options for all level of cyclists. The trail is well maintained but there are short sections where gravel was put down versus crushed limestone and could be a challenge for those riding a bicycle with skinny tires. Water was available on the trail but all the air pumps at the trailheads were unusable due to issues with the pump heads but the restrooms were open. There is tree canopy along 95% of the trail which made all the difference on an unseasonably warm day for May. There was plenty of wildlife to be experienced especially as we launched back to our car at sunrise which included deer, box turtles, chipmunks, lizards and of course snakes which included some of the poisonous variety. We spent the night in Harrisburg and enjoyed a superb gastro experience at Morello's with an extensive menu and excellent wait staff. In my opinion, I would avoid the section of the trail from Harrisburg to El Dorado as it is poorly maintained, exposed to the sun and eventually turns into a road. Enjoy the Tunnel Hill Trail experience!
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