I'm going to Indianapolis later this year and am planning on bringing my bike to try out some other places on the way to/fro. I was trying to find some long trails and the choices in Illinois and Indiana are limited which is strange because they are both so flat and had a ton of railroads that have been abandoned.
Missouri has one thing going for it that could easily be expanded and that is bicycle tourism. Looking at the map, urban areas have clusters but there are very few places where topography and natural beauty have long-haul trails that can attract people from all over the world.
The KATY has done great things for small towns that once were left for dead when the last train left town. It's not the only long haul trail in the state however.
Have you ever heard of the Frisco Highline Trail which connects Bolivar to Springfield? How did I know about it? Years ago a crew of folks from the KC area went down to Springfield and got a tour of some of the very innovative things Green County/Springfield were doing. The community had formed a non-profit called Ozarks Greenways and it had a director who was willing to work within constraints as necessary to build a trail system where most others would say it couldn't be done. They had a downtown creek that had been paved/channelized/ignored and they exposed it and put a trail system along it and turned it into a linear park connecting Central High School, Ozarks Technical College, and Evangel University.
The picture below is courtesy of Ozark Greenways and it shows where the trail was built to fit underneath an existing bridge with limited clearance. While not ideal, it's safer to cross under while ducking versus having to deal with cars. What once was a dumping ground for tires and overgrown with invasive honeysuckle is now a place people want to be and the "greening" of the stream reduced runoff and improved water quality.
I also saw some good ideas on low water bridges and low water crossings. I also remembered that at that time talking about the Frisco Highline Trail so as I recently attended a conference in Branson, I took the bike and on the way back since I didn't have the kids, I budgeted a couple of hours to try it out and man was I happy I did. The Highline has differing sections but I'll start with the pictures from Bolivar and then going south and then advise you on the best way to tackle the trail.
The trail starts in Bolivar but you can spot it on the west side of Route 13 by the old grain elevator just a mile or so north of of "Smiths" restaurant: it of course being famous for its tenderloins (according to the billboards). Here is the map of the whole system.
I used my oldest son's bike which is a Kent™ 700c Eagle Ridge Adventure Gravel Bike and I highly recommend you look into buying one. It has wider tires but also works great on-road as I used it to cruise around Springfield. I got it for him for Christmas one year and assembled it myself in fifteen minutes. It was great on the Highline which has a rough and uneven surface in some places and I love the front disc brakes on non-paved trails.
This is a nice paved section just south of Route 13 which is where I started. It rode great.
The trail then opens up to a restored open prairie area for maybe a quarter mile.
The trail is only paved for about two miles and then it hits a slight rough spot. There were quite a few cattle guards along the way. I'm thankful that local farmers and Ozarks Greenways were able to work out deals to integrate the trail without impacting farm operations. I might use this idea in one location. Don't worry, no cows were tipped on this afternoon. One just has to use a little common sense and get off the bike to cross the cattle guard so as to not pop a tire and also to navigate some mud spots. The versatility of my son's Kent™ 700c Eagle Ridge Adventure Gravel Bike came in real handy here.
There was a section that was flat and not graded well which meant the water formed ruts within the trail because the grass along the sides impeded water from flowing away from the trail essentially turning the gravel trail into a ditch.
I did have to walk a little of this because they had not had the chance to get a grader out to recut the ditches. This was about three miles south of Bolivar and south of Route U.
This was a mile long stretch of rough riding but it then hit a stretch where the old railroad was benched into a hill so there was good drainage and the trail surface was a fine limestone that was compacted perfectly for my road bike tires. Here I had to cross a drive to someone's house. They waved to me on my way back when I happened to arrive right when they got home.
This part I was able to really fly on because the surface was solid and the trail was elevated. I didn't like all the wild red cedars because it cramped the view. I'd recommend that they cut them down to restore the corridor and light to the other trees along the old fence lines.
The next stretch had quite a few bridges over roads and creeks which provided some awesome views because it was transitioning from high plains to Ozarks hills.
One of the bridges and creeks had amazing views and some quality Sycamore trees. It was very cool being that high and being able to see so much of a natural stream system from above. The picture doesn't do it any justice.
I could upload and annotate a bunch of pictures but I won't. I'll get straight to the best part of the ride--the Sac River Bridge. Now it took a mile of going through some quarter inch size gravel which was rather soft on a road bike but at this point there was no stopping. Once I got to the bridge I of course climbed under and around it to get some pictures.
I was rather gassed at this point but it was worth it but I kept plugging along because I saw in the aerial where the trail followed a creek and I'm glad I did. I also ran into the director of Ozarks Greenways and we ended up talking for about fifteen minutes and he told me it would be worth it and it was. Coates Branch had a shale lined bottom which is something I've never seen around here.
There was another creek strecth but the stream was right by the trail and the banks were stable. It was very similar to the Line Creek Trail in Vaydik Park.
Now if I were you and I wasn't sure about this nor if I didn't have much time here is my "Beginner's Guide to the Frisco Highline Trail."
If you don't have much time, I would start at the trailhead in Wishart and walk or bike south to the bridge. It's also about six miles to reach the point where I stopped where the creek reaches the top of the watershed and it returns to rolling pasture. I'd also bring plenty of water, a spare tire/tube, an inflator, and a buddy. The grade is nearly flat and the trail surface seems to be a lot better maintained than the north end.
It also seems to be the best scenery. The trail south of Walnut Grove seems to follow state highways. I ended up doing about 25 miles round trip. It's always fun to ride something the first time and explore what is along it. I look forward to checking out the southern portion of it sometime. I also uploaded about 90 pictures of the whole ride to "Flickr" so if you want to see all of the other bridges and some other things I saw along the way, click here and enjoy.
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