Explore the best rated trails in Jefferson City, MO. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Stinson Creek Trail and MKT Nature and Fitness Trail. With more than 13 trails covering 286 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.
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Columbia’s Wabash Walkway travels a short distance northwest from the campus of Columbia College. While currently less than 0.5 mile long, plans are in the works to extend it farther northeast to...
Stinson Creek Trails sits on the wooded banks of the watercourse that gave it its name. The popular Fulton, Missouri recreation path follows every bend and curve of the creek for nearly 5 miles. Aside...
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Bear Creek Trail winds across the northern half of Columbia, following Bear Creek for much of its nearly 5-mile route. Many portions of the trail traverse wooded areas, though the trail is never far...
The MKT Nature and Fitness Trail spans just over 9 miles between the famed Katy Trail State Park, which stretches across Missouri, and Columbia. It gets its name from the former spur line of the...
County House Trail is a 2-mile paved pathway in southwestern Columbia. The southern end of the trail connects to the scenic 8.9-mile MKT Nature and Fitness Trail, which in turn reaches the Katy Trail...
Although Scott's Branch Trail is short (just over a mile), it’s a beautiful gem in western Columbia, traversing both the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary and Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary. (Note that...
Advisory: May 2020 - In June 2019, parts of the Katy Trail were flooded. While much has been repaired, please check trail conditions on the Missouri State Parks website before going out to ride as...
South Providence Trail offers a straight north-south route paralleling its namesake roadway on the southern end of Columbia. As it’s adjacent to both Rock Bridge Elementary School and Rock Bridge High...
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The Katy Trail Spur, although short, provides a vital connection between the 238-mile Katy Trail State Park and the North Jefferson Recreation Area on the north bank of the Missouri River. The new...
Hominy Creek Trail is just over a mile between Green Valley Drive and Lansing Avenue in eastern Columbia. Along the way, the paved pathway follows its namesake tree-lined creek and passes under East...
The beauty of the ACORN Trail is it can be used for both leisure and transportation; cyclists, walkers, dog-walkers and other users can take advantage of the paved pathway to get outside, have fun and...
The Jefferson City Greenway Trail spans the capital of Missouri, east to west. The trail primarily follows Wears Creek, although one segment parallels W. Edgewood Drive, offering striking views of the...
Hinkson Creek Trail offers a beautiful, natural escape as it curves around southern and eastern Columbia. The crushed limestone trail stretches just over 4 miles, partly along the southern end of the...
The Katy Trail Spur, although short, provides a vital connection between the 238-mile Katy Trail State Park and the North Jefferson Recreation Area on the north bank of the Missouri River. The new...
South Providence Trail offers a straight north-south route paralleling its namesake roadway on the southern end of Columbia. As it’s adjacent to both Rock Bridge Elementary School and Rock Bridge High...
Columbia’s Wabash Walkway travels a short distance northwest from the campus of Columbia College. While currently less than 0.5 mile long, plans are in the works to extend it farther northeast to...
Bear Creek Trail winds across the northern half of Columbia, following Bear Creek for much of its nearly 5-mile route. Many portions of the trail traverse wooded areas, though the trail is never far...
Hinkson Creek Trail offers a beautiful, natural escape as it curves around southern and eastern Columbia. The crushed limestone trail stretches just over 4 miles, partly along the southern end of the...
Stinson Creek Trails sits on the wooded banks of the watercourse that gave it its name. The popular Fulton, Missouri recreation path follows every bend and curve of the creek for nearly 5 miles. Aside...
The beauty of the ACORN Trail is it can be used for both leisure and transportation; cyclists, walkers, dog-walkers and other users can take advantage of the paved pathway to get outside, have fun and...
The Jefferson City Greenway Trail spans the capital of Missouri, east to west. The trail primarily follows Wears Creek, although one segment parallels W. Edgewood Drive, offering striking views of the...
Hominy Creek Trail is just over a mile between Green Valley Drive and Lansing Avenue in eastern Columbia. Along the way, the paved pathway follows its namesake tree-lined creek and passes under East...
Advisory: May 2020 - In June 2019, parts of the Katy Trail were flooded. While much has been repaired, please check trail conditions on the Missouri State Parks website before going out to ride as...
Although Scott's Branch Trail is short (just over a mile), it’s a beautiful gem in western Columbia, traversing both the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary and Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary. (Note that...
The MKT Nature and Fitness Trail spans just over 9 miles between the famed Katy Trail State Park, which stretches across Missouri, and Columbia. It gets its name from the former spur line of the...
County House Trail is a 2-mile paved pathway in southwestern Columbia. The southern end of the trail connects to the scenic 8.9-mile MKT Nature and Fitness Trail, which in turn reaches the Katy Trail...
Stinson Creek Trails sits on the wooded banks of the watercourse that gave it its name. The popular Fulton, Missouri recreation path follows every bend and curve of the creek for nearly 5 miles. Aside...
County House Trail is a 2-mile paved pathway in southwestern Columbia. The southern end of the trail connects to the scenic 8.9-mile MKT Nature and Fitness Trail, which in turn reaches the Katy Trail...
Hinkson Creek Trail offers a beautiful, natural escape as it curves around southern and eastern Columbia. The crushed limestone trail stretches just over 4 miles, partly along the southern end of the...
The Katy Trail Spur, although short, provides a vital connection between the 238-mile Katy Trail State Park and the North Jefferson Recreation Area on the north bank of the Missouri River. The new...
The Jefferson City Greenway Trail spans the capital of Missouri, east to west. The trail primarily follows Wears Creek, although one segment parallels W. Edgewood Drive, offering striking views of the...
Columbia’s Wabash Walkway travels a short distance northwest from the campus of Columbia College. While currently less than 0.5 mile long, plans are in the works to extend it farther northeast to...
Advisory: May 2020 - In June 2019, parts of the Katy Trail were flooded. While much has been repaired, please check trail conditions on the Missouri State Parks website before going out to ride as...
Although Scott's Branch Trail is short (just over a mile), it’s a beautiful gem in western Columbia, traversing both the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary and Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary. (Note that...
The beauty of the ACORN Trail is it can be used for both leisure and transportation; cyclists, walkers, dog-walkers and other users can take advantage of the paved pathway to get outside, have fun and...
South Providence Trail offers a straight north-south route paralleling its namesake roadway on the southern end of Columbia. As it’s adjacent to both Rock Bridge Elementary School and Rock Bridge High...
Bear Creek Trail winds across the northern half of Columbia, following Bear Creek for much of its nearly 5-mile route. Many portions of the trail traverse wooded areas, though the trail is never far...
The MKT Nature and Fitness Trail spans just over 9 miles between the famed Katy Trail State Park, which stretches across Missouri, and Columbia. It gets its name from the former spur line of the...
Hominy Creek Trail is just over a mile between Green Valley Drive and Lansing Avenue in eastern Columbia. Along the way, the paved pathway follows its namesake tree-lined creek and passes under East...
rode entire trail in August heat!! used shuttle services in St. Charles and Jefferson City(red wheel bike shop) . worked out great!! Trail around St. Charles under repair after recent flooding but can get through it. Jefferson City to Boonville the nicest section. From Boonville to Sedalia it seemed uphill for the first 4 miles out of Boonville!! Because of the time of year, there were very few other bikers. Nice little stops along the way with information boards-lot of history. Great memories!!!
July 15 - 18, 2022 - I did a solo bike packing ride starting in St Charles and heading west. I rode approximately 120 miles each day. Day 1 was St Charles to Hartsburg on Friday. Lots of places to stop to eat and refill water. Trail was in great shape. Day 2 was Hartsburg to Clinton. Once you cross the river the trail is not well maintained until about Sedalia. Day 3 was Clinton back to Hartsburg. Day 4 was Hartsburg to St Charles. Everything is closed on Monday so this was a harder day with only a couple of stops. Overall a great experience and I would recommend this trail!
We road from the Sundermeier RV park in St Charles to the end of the trail in Machens. It was a really smooth and relatively flat ride. We only had a couple of days to ride and will definitely come back to ride more of this trail.
Trail is interesting and well maintained. The bridge that was causing a detour is now open as of last week. We ate at the general store in Rocheport, delightful.
Who would guess that a ride in the middle of August in the middle of Missouri would be so spectacular? The Katy Trail’s inclusion in the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame is totally deserved. While we only had time to ride a small stretch of the 240-mile trail that bisects the state, if the rest of trail is anything like what we experienced midway, it’s not to be missed. As of 2021, it’s also the longest continuous rail-trail, built upon the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT) or the Katy, for short.
We chose to put in close to Rt. 70 near the northern-most point of the trail in the tiny but picturesque town of Rocheport, population 244. The trail is the main attraction in Rocheport; signage was clear, there was a nice parking lot, a cute depot with restrooms, and a great little café called Meriweather just steps away from the trail.
Heading east, on our right was the broad and beautiful Missouri River. Every mile or so, we passed inviting benches that faced the yawning expanse. The trail itself was wide and the packed gravel and dirt made for easy pedaling. Towering above us were dramatic sandstone, limestone and granite bluffs, at times reaching up nearly 75 feet. Caves could be seen embedded in the stone and occasional signs warned us not to stop for the next quarter mile where falling rocks were a threat.
There appeared to be three levels of terrain along this portion of the trail – the water level, the trail level, then the top of the bluffs level. We passed only a few others the whole time we were on the trail.
There is winery within walking distance of the trail or a popular brewery in nearby Columbia for celebrating a great ride!
The trail is now extended, very nice trail with few road crossings
Fun trail. Rode BAM from Clinton to St. Charles pre-Covid. Looking forward to doing again.
Well-maintained crushed limestone. No problem even for a road bike.
We have ridden the trail over 25 years, camping along the trail using the Katy Trail Guide Book. We just camped at the Katy Roundhouse this fall and rode west the first day, and east to Rocheport and beyond the second day. We were very disappointed to find that because a bridge was out we had to ride on Highway 40, for over 2 miles, with cars and trucks speeding along at 50 to 60 miles per hour, and not slowing or giving a wide berth at all. We were on trikes, so felt very vulnerable, but met other users who were not happy about the situation either. Had there been a warning about this situation, we would have trucked the bikes over to Rocheport.
We rode this trail from the Daniel Boone Bridge (I-64) to St Charles for lunch at the Bike Stop Cafe. The trail is well maintained and is shaded by trees most of the way. The section adjacent to Greens Bottom Rd is exposed (no shade, except late afternoon). The trail is EASY to follow and is pretty level. The city of St Charles has businesses close to the trail.
My family of 4 did 9 miles on the Katy Trail starting at Cooper’s Landing. It was well maintained, a great combo of tree cover/no tree cover, and I could have stopped for photo opt after photo opt! Beautiful trail!!! Coopers landing was a great stop with yummy food trucks and terrific people watching!
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