Missouri Page 2

A collage featuring photos submitted to RTC's "I Support Trails!" Photo Contest

Picture Perfect: Check Out These Gorgeous Trail Photos from Our 2016 #OptOutside

Posted 12/02/16 by Suzanne Matyas in Trail Use, America's Trails | Tagged with Best Of, Encouraging Trail Use, Missouri, Wild and Wonderful

In celebration of REI’s campaign to #OptOutside on Black Friday, Nov. 25, we asked you to share how you spend time outdoors and on the trail through our “I Support Trails!” Photo Contest— and we were completely blown away by the positive response.

Trail's End Monument in Sedalia, 35 miles east of the Katy Trail's western end in Clinton, celebrating Sedalia's history as the first "cow town" | Photo by Danielle Taylor

Pathway to Prosperity: Missouri's Katy Trail Is a Beautiful Model for Commerce

Posted 12/02/16 by Danielle Taylor in America's Trails, Success Stories | Tagged with Featured Magazine Articles, Missouri, Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations

Missouri’s nickname—the “Show Me State”—reflects its residents’ prudent tendency to question unsubstantiated claims, so when early proponents of the Katy Trail began advocating for its creation in the mid-1980s, it was only natural that their assertions of increased tourism and economic prosperity met with a few skeptics. However, the trail has proved its worth several times over in the quarter-century since it opened, and it now supports more than 400,000 recreational users each year as well as dozens of communities and hundreds of small businesses statewide.

Trail's End Monument in Sedalia, 35 miles east of the Katy Trail's western end in Clinton, celebrating Sedalia's history as the first "cow town" | Photo by Danielle Taylor

Destination Missouri: Katy Trail State Park

Posted 07/11/16 by Danielle Taylor in America's Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Biking, Featured Magazine Articles, Missouri, Tourism , Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations

Missouri’s Katy Trail State Park is the nation’s second-longest rail-trail (at nearly 238 miles) and arguably one of its most celebrated.The route bisects Missouri at its waistline, allowing trail users to glimpse a 100-foot-wide slice of the state and revealing some of the geographic variety, cultural diversity, historical significance and exceptional people therein.

Photo courtesy Missouri Rock Island Trail, Inc.

Final Missouri Rock Island Trail Segment Confirmed in 450-Mile Trail Network

Posted 10/01/15 by Amy Kapp in Building Trails, America's Trails | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Missouri, Rock Island, Success Stories

On Sept. 30, 2015, Jackson County, Missouri, Executive Mike Sanders and KCATA President Joe Reardon announced that a cooperative agreement was reached to purchase a 17.7-mile section of disused Rock Island Corridor stretching from Kansas City to Lee’s Summit for future rail-trail conversion. This is the last peg in the planned 200-plus-mile Rock Island Trail and a 450-mile trail network that spans the width of the state.

Photo courtesy En Why | CC by 2.0

World-Class Trail Network in Missouri Just Got 47 Miles Closer to Reality

Posted 09/23/15 by Liz Thorstensen in Building Trails, America's Trails | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Missouri, Rock Island

On Sept. 17, 2015, Governor Jay Nixon announced the planned completion of 47 miles of trail from Windsor to Pleasant Hill, Missouri. This project comes on the heels of another significant announcement—the railbanking of 144 miles of the former Rock Island Line between Windsor and Beaufort, Missouri. Together, these developments take on epic significance, suggesting the potential for a world-class trail system.

All photos courtesy Columbia Parks and Recreation

Ties That Bind: A New Trail System Is Creating—and Strengthening—Connections in Columbia, Mo.

Posted 08/26/14 by Katie Harris in Building Trails, Trail Use | Tagged with Connected Systems, Missouri, Products of Good Policy, State and Federal Programs

Columbia, Mo., is a city with a few tricks up its sleeve. Its charm starts slowly, unassumingly, disguised as just another Midwestern college town, but after spending some time there, exploring the tree-lined streets by foot or riding part of the trail system, you may just become hooked. And you wouldn’t be the first to fall under Columbia’s charismatic spell.

Photo by Eddie Watson, courtesyColumbia Parks and Recreation Department

Missouri's MKT Nature and Fitness Trail

Posted 08/01/14 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Missouri, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

True to its name, within minutes, travelers on the MKT Nature and Fitness Trail are spirited away from lively downtown Columbia, Mo., and taken into the forest. Although the city is so close at hand, it's forgotten in the company of wild turkeys, deer and a flash of orange as a fox darts across the path. The trail—just a tad shy of nine miles—is serene with the soft crunch of feet on crushed stone, the rustle of leaves overhead and the gentle gurgle of its many creek crossings.

Grant's Trail, Missouri

Posted 11/01/12 by Laura Stark in America's Trails | Tagged with Connected Systems, Heritage and Restoration, Missouri, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

Only 10 miles from the famed Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Mo., fittingly lies Grant's Trail. Like the arch, which was built as a monument to westward expansion, the trail follows a former rail line that set out with an ambitious goal to reach all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Even though the tracks never made it that far, the trail has preserved much of the corridor's pioneering history and spirit.