Find Trails > Kansas > Merriam Trails

Merriam Trails and Maps

Find the best:

Little Blue Trace Trail

Looking for the best trails around Merriam?

Explore the best rated trails in Merriam, KS. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Burroughs Creek Trail and Linear Park and Rock Creek Trail (KS). With more than 77 trails covering 546 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.

View City Map

Recent Trail Reviews

Lawrence Levee Trail

not best for electric

October, 2022 by lesnord 1023

Mostly fields, river often obscured, north part has a section that is a small trail only big enough for single bike trail. Electric bikes not nimble enough for that section. Looks like fun for mountain bikers.

Prairie Spirit Trail State Park

Beautiful trail--Garnett to Colony return

October, 2022 by cizawood

Another lovely trail in Kansas. We were pleasantly surprised. We started our section in Garnett in mid-late Sept 2022. We drove south from Ottawa due to rain there and when we got to Garnett, the rain and moved on, so we rode south (40 miles return). The parking lot at the old train depot has water and toilets and is a good place to park. There is a delicious Amish run restaurant in town--a must stop for breakfast or lunch. The cycling was great--just watch for some dry cracks in the trail base and some limbs or trees can be down. This section was partly shaded, but more out in the open. Some of the trail was parallel to the north/south highway connecting Ottawa to Iola. Every small town had a nice rest stop complete with toilet and water. Only Garnett had anything worth stopping in, the others were small settlements with residents only (or that's what we saw anyway). The entire trail looks great, and we hope someday to return to do the entire trail from Humboldt to Ottawa.

Flint Hills Trail State Park

Beautiful trail--needs a bit of upkeep

October, 2022 by cizawood

We rode 2 sections of this trail in mid-late Sept 2022. 1st section--from Council Grove towards Admire and return. It was an extremely hot day (over 100) and we only rode 12-13 miles out and back for a 25 mile ride. Beautifully kept trail. No goat heads and no other cyclists. Gentle incline out with periodic shade and beautiful rolling hills scenery. The worst part is it is so dry that in the center of the trail can be LARGE cracks in the limestone base (up to 3-6" wide and maybe 2-3' in length) and if you're not paying attention, you could take a major tumble. You have to pay attention at all times as the cracks are here and there.

Council Grove has lodging (limited) and grocery for snacks and cold drinks. We were going to stay in CG, but opted to drive to Pomona St Park and stay there for the next section.

2nd section was from Vassar to Ottawa return (around 50 miles). We stayed in the Pomona St Park (~1 mile from trail head) and again, the trail was fabulous. No other cyclists, beautiful country, some riding next to active train tracks, some out in the rolling fields, shade on and off. One 2-lane highway crossing, you MUST watch for cars as they are going 65+. There is a crosswalk where you can push the button and it signals drivers of cyclists crossing, but they will not stop, I'm pretty sure...it's just an alert. Cyclists must stop and heed traffic.

There were a few downed trees in this section blocking the trail, one we could just get around by walking, the 2nd we had to carry our bikes over as the branches were too big for us to move. They need some chain saw volunteers to come in and clean up some of the downed trees. The 3rd, we moved some of the smaller branches out of the way, to clear a path wide enough to pass, but again, a chain saw is badly needed along this section.

Ottawa is a cute town with lodging, food, drink and lots of other trails around town and the Flint Hills connects to the Prairie Spirit running north and south (we did 1 section of this trail also, will leave review under that trails reviews).

There was 2-3 mile stretch just west of Ottawa that the trail is closed and looked to us like it had been for a long time due to the overgrowth. There is a detour, VERY WELL MARKED and is such a short section that it's easy to get back on track. Again watch for the cracks in the trail base, but other than that, a beautiful trail. We'd like to return and do the entire trail from Council Grove to Osawatomie.

Accordion