Qualla: Katy Trail State Park

Katy Trail State Park: Introduction

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Athoenix, CC BY 4.0. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad -- the 'Katy' -- once hauled cattle, coal, and passengers along the Missouri River through some of the most fertile bottomland in America. When the last train ran and the tracks were pulled up, the railroad's right-of-way became something its builders never imagined: a 240-mile recreational trail, the longest continuous rail trail in the United States. The Katy Trail follows the Missouri River from Machens near St. Louis to Clinton in the western part of the state, crossing wine country, passing beneath limestone bluffs, and tracing the route that Lewis and Clark traveled in 1804. It is a path built on industrial remains that has become one of Missouri's most beloved natural spaces.

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Image: Athoenix | CC BY 4.0

Katy Trail State Park: From Railroad to Recreation

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Athoenix, CC BY 4.0. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, commonly known as the MKT or the Katy, operated along the Missouri River valley from the 1870s until its merger with Union Pacific in 1988. When service ended, the railroad's right-of-way -- a continuous corridor of graded land, bridges, and tu...

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Image: Athoenix | CC BY 4.0

Katy Trail State Park: Two Hundred and Forty Miles of River

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Americasroof at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5. The Katy Trail hugs the Missouri River for much of its length, passing through landscapes that shift from urban fringe to deep rural solitude within a few miles. East of Jefferson City, the trail runs beneath towering limestone bluffs that rise 300 feet above the river bottom. Vi...

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Image: Americasroof at en.wikipedia | CC BY-SA 2.5

Katy Trail State Park: Lewis and Clark's Highway

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Colin.faulkingham at English Wikipedia, Public domain. For roughly 130 miles, the Katy Trail follows the same corridor that Lewis and Clark traveled during the early stages of their 1804 expedition up the Missouri River. Interpretive signs along the trail quote from the expedition's journals, placing riders and hikers in the same geo...

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Image: Colin.faulkingham at English Wikipedia | Public domain

Katy Trail State Park: The Quiet Corridor

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Athoenix, CC BY 4.0. What makes the Katy Trail distinctive is not just its length but its character. Because it follows a former railroad grade, the trail is almost entirely flat -- a rarity in the hilly Missouri landscape. The crushed limestone surface winds through tunnels of overhanging trees, pas...

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Image: Athoenix | CC BY 4.0