Explore the best rated trails in Joplin, MO. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Pittsburg East-West Connector Trail and Ruby Jack Trail. With more than 10 trails covering 79 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.
Nice trail but be warned it doesn’t loop around. I had my little dog with me and we had to walk back the way we started. Looks like it’s under construction.
We parked at the trail head on St. Louis street which is a gravel lot with portapotty and rode south which was packed gravel with some up hill and down hill area near the creek. This area makes you feel like you are way out in the country with woods on both sides. We did see a rider on horseback and pedestrians. The trail head at the south end had a larger paved parking lot but from a quick look I am not sure how safe that neighborhood’s is. Riding north towards web city the terrain was flat and the gravel was smoother but there was a lot of housing development on both sides so not much of a country feel at most intersections cars stopped to let us cross which was nice.
All in all I think the trail is good. I enjoyed my day and had a good ride. I use a road bike with hybrid tires. Initially I tried to start in Carl Junction at the far west end of the trail which was actually Smithfield on the map. The only way you can ride on that section of it is if you have a mountain bike and there’s nowhere to park however if you go into Carl Junction right by the high school that is a good place to start. County Road 200 has a trail head and a place that you can park and you can go either direction on the trail. From Carl Junction East the trail is P gravel that is packed good with the exception of just a few spots. I saw a total of probably 10 people while I was on the trail mostly just north of Oronogo and Webb City when I was riding otherwise the trail is quite secluded. There is a lot of shade and the trail is fairly wide most of the way it narrows occasionally but you can easily pass people¿ everyone
Not as clean and well kept as other trails. There’s a lot of trash left by those overnighting near trails. However, good safe crossings and interesting to weave through Fayetteville. I started at finished at Walker Park, which has a children’s splash park-an added cooling bonus on a hot day!
I started at Horsebarn trailhead 7/14/2022 headed toward Fayetteville. Beautiful ride! This is what I wanted to do the last 2 days from Bella Vista and Bentonville but could not due to construction. Signage was great! I had to detour in Springdale but the detour signs were spot on and I was back on the trail soon. The scenery was nice. I recommend riding from Horsebarn trailhead.
I drove 5.5 hours mid July 2022 with the goal of riding the trail. I reserved lodging at the trail which should have allowed me to ride as far as I wanted to go. Day 1 trail closure was thanks to the Bella Vista Bypass Project with projected completion fall 2021. Day 1 second attempt was stopped by another trail closure to expand the Crystal Bridges Museum. Day 2 attempt was toward Fayetteville from Bentonville only to ride about 2 miles & see a small sign saying “detour” with an arrow. I went the direction the arrow pointed to arrive at a busy intersection with no signage. Asking locals resulted in confused looks and no help. This was disappointing at best & extremely maddening. I’m not sure why trail organizers do not care enough to at least put adequate signage for detours.
Section of trail closed due to construction for a bypass in April 2022
Started from Horsebarn Trailhead and headed south. Trail was pretty easy to follow and signs were at all junctions where one had multiple choices. It was a bit hilly in spots though. We rode as far as Springdale (Phat Tire Bikes) due to the headwinds that day (03/22). Surface is in very good condition. The trail crosses some roads, but also "goes under" many of them, especially the busy ones. Definitely a gem.
There is so much new road and building construction along RRG that the trail has become hazardous to travel. Multiple areas where the trail is torn out, sometimes with dead end, sometimes with routing bike traffic into the street along with vehicle, truck traffic.
This includes all areas north of Fayetteville (Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Bella Vista).
Safe riding has been reduced to only 10 miles at south end of the RRG trail.
Did this trail today from Bella Vista Lake to Rogers (Bass Pro). Beautiful day! Great trails - loves it. It’s under construction right now so I would park farther south to avoid that, but otherwise it was great!! They’ve done a great job with these trails - highly recommend.
A friend suggested riding in Joplin so searched TrailLink to see what we could find. Took a friend, his wife and son up from NW Arkansas on October 10 to explore. The trail reminded us of the Katy Trail with the gravel surface so that started the day just right. With the notes from your site and our GPS navigation, found the trailhead pretty easily. Early morning coolness made this a fun adventure overall. The two things that my riding partners both suggested would make this easier for others would be to see about more signage around the end of the trail about 4 plus miles in as the trail just kind of stopped with out much to identify if we should keep going or turn around. Some nice pedestrians told us we were at the end and were so nice that it really helped us to finish on a positive note then turn around. There was one major street crossing that did not have any lights or devices to have traffic stop for slower riders or children. We had an 8 year old with us so that was a safety concern thta could be easily added. We may be spoiled by all the work in NW Arkansas trails for the local Greenway. Overall, a great morning start before heading over to the Ruby Jack trail.
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