Find the top rated trails in Merriam, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Although only a mile long, the 79th Street Path connects important recreational amenities in Lenexa, a southwestern suburb of Kansas City. The paved, east-west route parallels its namesake roadway...
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The Rock Creek Trail links Country Club Park and Rotary Park on the west side of Independence. It offers nice views of the tree-lined creek that it follows and crosses several times. Between the...
The Gardner Greenway Corridor is a paved trail connecting Winwood Park and Brookside Park in Gardner, Kansas. The trail runs through open space alongside dense woodlands within the two parks. The...
The Prairie Spirit Trail in Kansas is hard-packed limestone and suitable for bicycles as well as wheelchairs. Some of the trail is asphalt (within city limits), which allows for inline skaters. The...
The S. Lawrence Trafficway Trail loosely follows the S. Lawrence Trafficway—also known as State Route 10—on the outskirts of the city of Lawrence. The trail passes by new residential developments,...
The 159th Street Path unsurprisingly parallels W. 159th St. in Olathe. The trail provides access to commercial, industrial and residential facilities, as well as Chisholm Trail Middle School and the...
Paralleling W. Madison Street, the Madison Street Trail is a sidepath that provides access between nearby residences and public facilities. Gardner Edgerton High School is located near the western end...
The Gary L. Haller Trail lies within scenic Mill Creek Streamway Park. Although the trail was not built on a former railroad, it parallels an active rail line for about 6 miles of its length at its...
The Clinton Parkway Trail parallels Clinton Parkway on the southwest side of Lawrence, Kansas. The trail provides access for nearby residents to a number of community facilities and commercial...
Passing through the suburban community of Olathe, the W. Santa Fe Street Path is a sidepath that parallels W. Santa Fe Street. The path connects residential neighborhoods, commercial centers,...
Maurer Road Path parallels its namesake roadway for just over a mile in the city of Shawnee on the outskirts of Kansas City. The north-south route connects residential and shopping areas and, at its...
The Blue River Parkway Trail winds along both banks of its namesake river on the southern outskirts of Kansas City. The paved route begins in Minor Park and heads north, passing Alex George Lake and...
The paved Line Creek Trail follows a wooded creek from Kansas City's Platte Brooke North neighborhood through Frank Vaydik Park (formerly Line Creek Park). The trail provides many helpful connections,...
The Shawnee Mission Parkway Trail runs for 2 miles along the south side of the roadway. While not scenic, the paved route offers connections to restaurants, shops, and offices in Merriam, a...
The Little Blue Trace Trail follows the course of the Little Blue River for 15 miles through the Little Blue Trace Nature Reserve. It stretches south of Interstate 70 at Lee's Summit Road to Blue...
The 6th Street Path runs along W. 6th Street—also signed as US 40—in Lawrence. The side path provides safe access to residential and commercial facilities along the busy road. At its western end, the...
The Tomahawk Creek Trail follows its namesake waterway through the Kansas City suburbs of Overland Park and Leawood. The trail provides access for the thousands of nearby residents to a number of...
The Burroughs Creek Trail and Linear Park runs from 11th to 23rd streets along an abandoned rail corridor just west of Haskell Avenue in Lawrence, Kansas. The trail was made possible through the work...
The Riverfront Heritage Trail meanders through Kansas City on both sides of the Kansas–Missouri border. The 15-mile trail links historic neighborhoods, parks and the riverfront. It also serves as the...
Midland Drive Path offers a paved mile-long east-west route paralleling the southern side of its namesake roadway through the city of Shawnee. Views are a mix of commercial and residential...
Though it exists in three disconnected sections, the Prairie Star Parkway Path is an excellent resource for the western side of the suburban community of Lenexa. The asphalt trail is a sidepath to the...
The Rock Island Spur of Katy Trail State Park travels 47.5 miles through woodlands, wetlands, and bucolic fields nestled in the foothills of the Ozarks. At either end are two towns full of charm and...
Located along the north bank of the Kansas River, the Lawrence Levee Trail runs along the top of the flood-control levee on the outskirts of Lawrence. The trail offers views of nearby farmland and the...
The paved Line Creek Trail follows a wooded creek from Kansas City's Platte Brooke North neighborhood through Frank Vaydik Park (formerly Line Creek Park). The trail provides many helpful connections,...
The Tomahawk Creek Trail follows its namesake waterway through the Kansas City suburbs of Overland Park and Leawood. The trail provides access for the thousands of nearby residents to a number of...
The Little Mill Creek Trail offers a pleasant, woodsy route through Lenexa, about 14 miles southwest of Kansas City. The trail begins at Blackfish Parkway (along which you can hop on the Blackfish...
Lackman Road Path begins across from Swarner Park, where you'll find a number of recreational amenities, including sports fields, a playground, fishing pond, and skate park. From there, you head south...
Passing through the suburban community of Olathe, the W. Santa Fe Street Path is a sidepath that parallels W. Santa Fe Street. The path connects residential neighborhoods, commercial centers,...
As a side path to a busy thoroughfare, the 20th Street Trafficway Path provides both an excellent recreational opportunity for the surrounding communities and a safe commuting alternative for...
The Gardner Greenway Corridor is a paved trail connecting Winwood Park and Brookside Park in Gardner, Kansas. The trail runs through open space alongside dense woodlands within the two parks. The...
When complete, the Landon Nature Trail will follow a 40-mile corridor of the former Missouri Pacific Railroad, running between Topeka and an intersection with the 117-mile Flint Hills Nature Trail...
The Rolling Ridge Trail winds through the city of Olathe on the southwestern outskirts of Kansas City. At its northern end, the paved route provides access to Prairie Center Park, a 75-acre...
Although only a mile long, the 79th Street Path connects important recreational amenities in Lenexa, a southwestern suburb of Kansas City. The paved, east-west route parallels its namesake roadway...
The S. Lawrence Trafficway Trail loosely follows the S. Lawrence Trafficway—also known as State Route 10—on the outskirts of the city of Lawrence. The trail passes by new residential developments,...
Note: The eastern third of the trail, from the access point at Horizons Parkway to the end of the trail, is currently closed (as of June 2016) due to bridge construction. Check the City of Riverside's...
The Monticello Road Path offers a paved north-south route through Shawnee on the western outskirts of Kansas City. It connects shopping areas, housing subdivisions and schools. At the north end of...
Paralleling W. Madison Street, the Madison Street Trail is a sidepath that provides access between nearby residences and public facilities. Gardner Edgerton High School is located near the western end...
The Little Blue Trace Trail follows the course of the Little Blue River for 15 miles through the Little Blue Trace Nature Reserve. It stretches south of Interstate 70 at Lee's Summit Road to Blue...
Maurer Road Path parallels its namesake roadway for just over a mile in the city of Shawnee on the outskirts of Kansas City. The north-south route connects residential and shopping areas and, at its...
The Switzer Road Trail parallels Switzer Road in Overland Park. The sidepath connects to the 133rd Street Path, 143rd Street Path, 151st Street Path and Tomahawk Creek Trail, making it an important...
The Olathe Heritage Trail provides an off-road connection between two popular local parks, making this a surprisingly useful and rather scenic trail considering its length and suburban...
Blackfish Parkway Trail lies in the southwestern corner of Shawnee, a suburb of Kansas City. Although the trail follows a major roadway, much of the route is lined with mature trees and nice homes....
The 143rd Street Path is a sidepath along W. 143rd Street in Overland Park. The trail offers access to the surrounding residential communities as well as nearby schools, religious faclities and...
Midland Drive Path offers a paved mile-long east-west route paralleling the southern side of its namesake roadway through the city of Shawnee. Views are a mix of commercial and residential...
Inside of Lee's Summit's Community Park, the Legacy Park Trail is a family oriented destination with an abundance of activities available. Sitting on 692 acres, the park host many youth sports games,...
Nestled within the suburban landscape outside Platte City, the Prairie Creek Greenway offers an escape into nature as it runs through fields and forests and across the titular creek. The trail gives...
The 159th Street Path unsurprisingly parallels W. 159th St. in Olathe. The trail provides access to commercial, industrial and residential facilities, as well as Chisholm Trail Middle School and the...
The four disconnected sections of the 133rd Street Path run though the communities of Olathe, Overland Park and Leawood outside Kansas City. The trail parallels sections of 133rd and 132nd Streets,...
The Eastbrooke Trail forms a useful link between the city of Olathe's 133rd Street Path and the lengthy regional backbone, the Indian Creek Bike/Hike Trail. This paved, short trail serves as a nice...
The Riverfront Heritage Trail meanders through Kansas City on both sides of the Kansas–Missouri border. The 15-mile trail links historic neighborhoods, parks and the riverfront. It also serves as the...
The Armourdale Levee Trail offers an unpaved route (hybrids or mountain bikes are recommended) of just over a mile through Kansas City, Kansas, along a Kansas River levee. Opening in 2014, the trail...
The Clinton Parkway Trail parallels Clinton Parkway on the southwest side of Lawrence, Kansas. The trail provides access for nearby residents to a number of community facilities and commercial...
Winding nearly two miles through suburban Olathe, the Mahaffie Creek Trail offers connections to the beautiful Mill Creek Streamway Park, schools and the city's northern neighborhoods. Much of the...
The 6th Street Path runs along W. 6th Street—also signed as US 40—in Lawrence. The side path provides safe access to residential and commercial facilities along the busy road. At its western end, the...
The Monticello Road Path offers a paved north-south route through Shawnee on the western outskirts of Kansas City. It connects shopping areas, housing subdivisions and schools. At the north end of...
Lackman Road Path begins across from Swarner Park, where you'll find a number of recreational amenities, including sports fields, a playground, fishing pond, and skate park. From there, you head south...
Passing through the suburban community of Olathe, the W. Santa Fe Street Path is a sidepath that parallels W. Santa Fe Street. The path connects residential neighborhoods, commercial centers,...
The Little Blue Trace Trail follows the course of the Little Blue River for 15 miles through the Little Blue Trace Nature Reserve. It stretches south of Interstate 70 at Lee's Summit Road to Blue...
As you might imagine, the 151st Street Path is a sidepath along 151st Street though Olathe and Overland Park outside Kansas City. The path provides access to commercial centers, schools, parks,...
The Prairie Spirit Trail in Kansas is hard-packed limestone and suitable for bicycles as well as wheelchairs. Some of the trail is asphalt (within city limits), which allows for inline skaters. The...
The fairly remote paved running path consisted of small rolling hills and low traffic. At 5:45 on a weekday we passed only four people on our out and back from the south parking lot. We ran about 3.25 miles of the path and it was well maintained and quiet. the south trailhead had a port-o-potty and convenient parking right off of N highway south of Platte City. There were some decent hills in the mix of you are looking to do hill repeats.
Loved this trail. We made it from the start to south of Berryton. It's mostly tree shaded and really pretty; very peaceful, especially after you leave city limits. Concrete for a long while -- great for skating; then crushed stone -- some pitted parts here and there but mostly nice and smooth.
We sailed through the hot sun completing 98.6 miles which was intenseeeeeeee. We camped at Pleasant Hill City Lake which was lovely and started in Pleasant Hill early morning biking from there to Windsor and back. Loose gravel most of the way with a packed edge to it except for three or so miles from Chilhowee towards Leeton. Those three or so miles were very loose gravel which we came to say was "that hellish part." Hopefully, it gets more redone as years go by in that section. Nice wide spread to bike on for the whole trail with little ponds here and there.
Our intentions were only to go to Chilhowee and back but we felt that sense we could do the long haul. One of our group headed back at Chilhowee hanging with a cool crew of a German long distancer and two men with a small dog. It's that way on these trails although VERY little people were seen. We saw a total of maybe 5 bikers the entire day although the heat may have scared off a few.
We started at 7:30am and ended at 10:00pm. We did have an hour eating and napping at Windsor which was lovely and stopped both ways at the store in Chilhowee. You MUST stop at this cute rural mecca with a homegrown feel and easy to get tire tubes and a hot meal if needed(no hot food Sunday). Such nice folks too and a little room to eat and get air conditioning if needed. Needing water is a really big deal as this trail is pretty non established in terms of little stores and such. On this trail you can get water in Chilhowee and that's pretty much it unless you ask at farmhouses or go into the small towns more than a few miles off trail.
However, beautiful corridor of trees, fields and fields of corn, and the beauty of friends, the sun as it rose and set and sounds of nature.
Awesome!
I rode the part of the trail from Pickett Road to the Noyes parkway by the rec center and back. The ride was very enjoyable and staff at Rec center was very friendly allowed me to get some water and fill my bottles. great section for new riders.
I regularly do 40-50 on this trail. The best part is from Admire to Council Grove, both in terms of scenery and trail conditions. East of Admire has a lot of ballast that will slow you down. If you like solitude and scenery, it's the best trail in KS. If you like amenities, not so much. As for thorns, I use tire liners and have never had a single flat.
We rode from the Medford Trailhead west for about 8 miles and back on 6/26/17. The trail was in fantastic shape and we enjoyed riding past Rock Island Lake where the locomotives used to refill their boilers.
We got caught in a torrential downpour for the last 3+ miles on our way back to the car. Although it didn't make for the best ending to a great ride, we were very impressed at how the trail maintained its integrity during such heavy rain.
We can't wait to go back and ride other sections of this trail.
My son and I did an overnight leaving from Council Grove, camping at Vassar State Park and back to CG the next day. We had excellent weather and plenty of time to accomplish the 50+ miles in each direction. My bike handled the rough terrain well but my son's tires did not like the many thorns. We exhausted his extra tire and my 6 pack of patches. We even broke into my air mattress repair kit. Either go tubeless or make sure your tires can take a beating. Some very rough patches and THORNS! That aside - beautiful landscape and scenery! Say "hi" to the cows! Also, Vassar State Park is a beautiful camping area. Friendly people, too. Also, stop off in Allen and talk to Paul who runs the auto shop - super friendly and will sell you a coke for 50 cents. You can fill up on his free water, too. Stay a spell and let him tell you about his town. You won't be sorry.
We took a ride from the trailhead at Princeton KS, about 17 miles to Garnett KS, where we ate lunch at a restaurant on the town square, and returned that afternoon. This trail has excellent surface condition, good vegetation control, safe bridges, and nice variety of scenery in open space and deep forest cover. Bathrooms and water available at Princeton, Richmond, and Garnett. Its a nice day trip from Kansas City to get out in the country.
I have ridden this trail a lot. It crosses many streets so you have to be very careful when riding it. Also there are numerous businesses that have driveways exiting onto 151st St and drivers have a tendency to only look eastward for oncoming traffick. I have had a few motorists come very close to hitting me when I was riding east on the path because the motorist didn't pay attention to bikes on trail.
Rode this and enjoyed even though there are several steep grades. Flowers in bloom and cows in the pasture to see. Many families out and dog walkers so be considerate.
We rode the Western 10 miles out of Pleasant Hill and found the trail to be in excellent condition. The scenery is excellent and the getting out of the city/suburban setting is really there. Great job Missouri!
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