Export to Trail Guide
Create Guidebook 
Download GPX 
Print Friendly MapThe 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 Missouri Pacific Railroad line that Watco Companies acquired as its first railroad purchase in 1987. The company generously donated this section of the corridor to the City of Pittsburg in the mid-2000s.
The paved trail has 23 road crossings, so trail users should exercise caution. A landscaped trailhead with benches at its northern end provides a pleasant place to relax before or after a trek on the trail.
Parking for the Watco Trail is available at Trail Head Park on W. 11th Street, just west of N. Broadway Street.
A nice, short, well-maintained, shady, paved trail that runs through residential areas in Pittsburg, KS. There are lots of street crossings, but most of the streets are quiet. Trailhead Park, at the north end, added in 2010, has a parking lot and water fountain. Because of the numerous street crossings it isn't conducive to fast bicycling, but it's a safe and pleasant place for a jog.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails conservancy
(a non-profit) and we need your support!
