Explore the best rated trails in Marshall, MO. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Rock Island Spur of Katy Trail State Park and Hinkson Creek Trail. With more than 11 trails covering 330 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.
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...
The Spirit Trail provides opportunities for recreation and alternative transportation in Johnson County, Missouri. The trail is envisioned to stretch from the City of Warrensburg to the Whiteman Air...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
The Rock Island Spur of Katy Trail State Park totals just over 52 miles (in two disconnected sections) through woodlands, wetlands, and bucolic fields nestled in the foothills of the Ozarks. The 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 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...
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...
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 Rock Island Spur of Katy Trail State Park totals just over 52 miles (in two disconnected sections) through woodlands, wetlands, and bucolic fields nestled in the foothills of the Ozarks. The 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...
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...
The Spirit Trail provides opportunities for recreation and alternative transportation in Johnson County, Missouri. The trail is envisioned to stretch from the City of Warrensburg to the Whiteman Air...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The Rock Island Spur of Katy Trail State Park totals just over 52 miles (in two disconnected sections) through woodlands, wetlands, and bucolic fields nestled in the foothills of the Ozarks. The trail...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The Spirit Trail provides opportunities for recreation and alternative transportation in Johnson County, Missouri. The trail is envisioned to stretch from the City of Warrensburg to the Whiteman Air...
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!
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.
I was able to ride from Pleasant Hill to Windsor back in June 2019 with my wife. Kim of Kim's Cabin's helped out with a shuttle so we could then go up and ride in KC on Little Blue Trace, Gary Haller and Indian Creek Trails. A storm blew in so we moved our starting point out to the Purvis Road trailhead and stayed dry and just ahead of that storm!
We came back in May 20201 and got to ride from Hartman Park in Lee's Summit through Vale Tunnel northbound on an 18 mile loop for a fantastic day. Hoping to get back up there once the trail is finished up to the sports park and when weather allows! Highly recommend this trail!!
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!
The trail is well maintained and a lot of fun to ride. It has something to offer for all type of riders.
Trail is now 13.6 miles as has just been opened from downtown Raytown to the sports complex. Surface is smooth and trail surroundings are safe. South of downtown Raytown the surface is mostly rock, and signs say not to ride the rock sections when wet. From Raytown north the trail is concrete but doesn't follow the railroad grade and has some good hills. South of Raytown the trail is shaded, not much shade north of Raytown. Water is only available at Hartman Park in Lee's Summit, which also has modern rest rooms.
Great ride from Columbia. Loose chat and gravel, so best for fat tires, gravel bikes, cross bikes, or hybrids with larger tires. Great fall trail. Stop off in Rocheport for lunch!
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