Explore the best rated trails in Parsons, KS. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Ruby Jack Trail and Southwind Rail Trail. With more than 8 trails covering 84 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.
Opened in 2015, the Missouri Pacific Recreational Trail (or Mo-Pac Trail) is a half-mile multi-use pathway located in Iola, Kansas. While short, the trail nonetheless provides valuable connections: it...
The Southwind Rail Trail opened in 2013 for recreation and active transportation use on a converted railroad corridor stretching between the small southeast Kansas cities of Iola and Humboldt. The...
The Watco Trail, named for the short-line railroad operator headquartered in Pittsburg, stretches diagonally through the Kansas city just west of downtown. The trail is open on a portion of the former...
Thom Station Trail sits on an old Frisco railbed in the town of Carl Junction, just 15 minutes north of Joplin, Missouri. It’s a relatively short trail, 2.8 miles roundtrip. The southern half of the...
The southern terminus of the Frisco Greenway Trail is tucked into an unassuming neighborhood in Joplin. From there, the gravel trail winds northward along the former St. Louis–San Francisco Railway,...
Spanning 51 miles, the Prairie Spirit Trail State Park runs from Ottawa to Iola, offering plenty of recreation and enjoyment for birdwatchers, cyclists, walkers, joggers and anyone with a desire to...
The Ruby Jack Trail runs for 16 miles between Carthage, MO, and the Kansas state line. The trail links the towns of Carthage, Oronogo, and Carl Junction, traversing farmland, wetland, and woodland....
The southern terminus of the Frisco Greenway Trail is tucked into an unassuming neighborhood in Joplin. From there, the gravel trail winds northward along the former St. Louis–San Francisco Railway,...
Spanning 51 miles, the Prairie Spirit Trail State Park runs from Ottawa to Iola, offering plenty of recreation and enjoyment for birdwatchers, cyclists, walkers, joggers and anyone with a desire to...
Thom Station Trail sits on an old Frisco railbed in the town of Carl Junction, just 15 minutes north of Joplin, Missouri. It’s a relatively short trail, 2.8 miles roundtrip. The southern half of the...
The Southwind Rail Trail opened in 2013 for recreation and active transportation use on a converted railroad corridor stretching between the small southeast Kansas cities of Iola and Humboldt. The...
Opened in 2015, the Missouri Pacific Recreational Trail (or Mo-Pac Trail) is a half-mile multi-use pathway located in Iola, Kansas. While short, the trail nonetheless provides valuable connections: it...
This collection of trails was built of the site of a former cement plant and quarry along the banks of Elm Creek in Iola, Kansas. There are over 2.25 miles of gravel rail-trails occupying the railbeds...
The Watco Trail, named for the short-line railroad operator headquartered in Pittsburg, stretches diagonally through the Kansas city just west of downtown. The trail is open on a portion of the former...
This collection of trails was built of the site of a former cement plant and quarry along the banks of Elm Creek in Iola, Kansas. There are over 2.25 miles of gravel rail-trails occupying the railbeds...
Thom Station Trail sits on an old Frisco railbed in the town of Carl Junction, just 15 minutes north of Joplin, Missouri. It’s a relatively short trail, 2.8 miles roundtrip. The southern half of the...
The Ruby Jack Trail runs for 16 miles between Carthage, MO, and the Kansas state line. The trail links the towns of Carthage, Oronogo, and Carl Junction, traversing farmland, wetland, and woodland....
Opened in 2015, the Missouri Pacific Recreational Trail (or Mo-Pac Trail) is a half-mile multi-use pathway located in Iola, Kansas. While short, the trail nonetheless provides valuable connections: it...
Spanning 51 miles, the Prairie Spirit Trail State Park runs from Ottawa to Iola, offering plenty of recreation and enjoyment for birdwatchers, cyclists, walkers, joggers and anyone with a desire to...
The Watco Trail, named for the short-line railroad operator headquartered in Pittsburg, stretches diagonally through the Kansas city just west of downtown. The trail is open on a portion of the former...
The southern terminus of the Frisco Greenway Trail is tucked into an unassuming neighborhood in Joplin. From there, the gravel trail winds northward along the former St. Louis–San Francisco Railway,...
The Southwind Rail Trail opened in 2013 for recreation and active transportation use on a converted railroad corridor stretching between the small southeast Kansas cities of Iola and Humboldt. The...
Late March ride so weather was still a bit cool but sunny. Surface was fine for just about any bike. Most of the trail was bordered close in with trees (cedar) so not a lot of vistas. Nearly a straight shot all the way. Well preserved railroad bridge just south of Iola. Trail just ends on Humboldt end at the north edge of town. Not a lot in Humboldt but it would be nice if the trail went a half mile farther and dropped you off at Bridge St. Would make for a leisurely ride to grab lunch and return
Started the trail at Riverside Park in Iola on the north end of the trail where the Prairie Spirit Trail ends. This is a nicely done trail with compacted finely crush stone surface. It is a wide trail allowing two to ride abreast with ease. As with all railtrails it is flat and straight. There a few old train signal towers along the trail. We didn’t ride the full length. Noted all the trail are some mileage markers, in this section they are numbered in the low 100’s. Not sure the origin point in the north for the mileages.
Took this spur off of the Southwind trail and rode a short distance into the trail system. The first portion of the trail has a course gravel surface, good for mountain bikes but not sure others would like so well. Once into the trail system the surface improves. This is a very wooded area with plenty of single track options to explore. If had more time would be worth trying more trails. Signage asks that riders stay off trails after rain, they can get real muddy and torn up.
Started the trail at Riverside Park in Iola on the south end of the trail where the Southwind Railtrail begins. We rode north for a few miles. The trail surface was mostly paved while in town. At the edge of town the surface changes to the compacted finely crushed stone surface that isn’t much different than the paved surface. This is a wide surface with lots of room to ride two abreast. Nicely done trail. Time permitting worthy of further exploration. Noted all the trail are some mileage markers, in this section they are numbered in the low 100’s. Not sure the origin point in the north for the mileages.
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.
A friend suggested riding in Joplin so hopped on TrailLink to see what we could find. Ruby Jack sounded interesting and it did not disappoint! Put in at Carl Junction on October 10 and rode to Carthage for about a 25 mile round trip. Cool morning temps helped make this a great trail to explore. I highly recommend giving this a look and have already recommended it to several friends. Just a little over an hour from NW Arkansas so easily reached and lots of food options for post ride nutrition!!! Since I was solo, did not go much past the rough patch going west. Will explore that more in the future!
Very nice trail, nice variety of scenery. South of Ottawa is riding through farm fields so recommend skipping that section.
Well mantener and friendly people along the trail - walking, running, and biking.
Very impressive that this trail is kept up by volunteers. Very few loose gravel spots where a hybrid bike can get questionable. Not really much to see, but very few road crossings and you can safely ride from Carthage to Car Junction.
I biked this trail May 26, 2021. Except for about 100 feet of trail at mile point 4.2 (just carry your bike across the railroad tracks and bike to the north edge of the short unfinished section), this is a great trail from about mile point 2.5 all the way to the eastern end in Carthage.
The 2.5 mile section from the state line to near Carl Junction is (currently) only recommended for good bikers on mountain bikes (the gravel is thick in points and the trail is mostly un-cleared of brush).
I did the complete 16 mile trail on my hybrid bike, but I found the western-most 2.5 mile section a bit tricky.
I would recommend biking from the Carthage trailhead to Carl Junction and returning to Carthage. This gives you a nice 25 mile ride.
The Joplin Trails Coalition expects to have the entire 16-mile trail completed by sometime in 2022.
Section to Humboldt is completed with excellent trail side park constructed that has tiny housing, camping, indoor center for cyclists
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