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The eastern
portion of
the Katy
Trail follows
the Missouri
River for 165
miles past
farmland,
floodplains
and other
topographic
features that
showcase
the region’s
natural
history.
408 feet
LIFT SPAN OF THE KATY BRIDGE IN
BOONVILLE
The path to prosperity hasn’t been without its bumps,
and ongoing challenges demonstrate the continuing
need for oversight and advocacy. Still, the 237.7-mile
Katy Trail shines as one of the most robust rail-trail
projects in America. In September 2007, Rails-to-Trails
Conservancy (RTC) inducted it into the Rail-Trail Hall of
Fame ), the second of only
30 trails nationwide to receive this honor.
A Celebrated Trail
Passing through some of Missouri’s most scenic areas,
it makes sense that the Katy Trail would be a popular
pathway with tourists and locals. The eastern por-
tion follows the Missouri River for 165 miles, where
scenic farmland, fertile floodplains and other distinc-
tive topographic features showcase the area’s natural
history. Along certain sections, towering limestone
bluffs—documented by Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark in their famous Corps of Discovery Expedition
(1804–1806)—provide an otherworldly experience, and
the trail segment between St. Charles and Boonville
is an official portion of the Lewis and Clark National
Historic Trail.
Despite featuring many landscapes—including forests,
wetlands, valleys, remnant prairies and farmland—the
trail is relatively flat and convenient for many types of
trail use. The Katy Trail is also part of the coast-to-coast
American Discovery Trail and is designated a Millennium
Legacy Trail )—a testa-
ment to the trail’s place in American history and culture.
The Road to Here
The Katy Trail’s name comes from the rail line that once
ran along its path—the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad
(MKT), first nicknamed the “K-T.” The company incorpo-
rated in 1870, bought the Southern Branch of the Union
Pacific Railway that year and then began expanding
from the nearly 200 miles of track in Kansas acquired as
part of the deal. Over the next 100 years, the company
laid more than 3,500 additional miles of track through-
out Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
The portion of the MKT system between Boonville and
St. Charles, Missouri, ran along the floodplains of the
Missouri River. It suffered multiple washouts over the
years that required extensive repairs. When an October
1986 flood severely damaged a portion of track along
the route, the railroad decided against performing yet
another repair and sought permission from the Inter-
state Commerce Commission (now the Surface Trans-
portation Board) to abandon the line. Fortunately, recent
federal legislation in the form of railbanking (via an
amended National Trails System Act in 1983)—in which
a railroad can transfer management of a rail corridor to
a recreation entity while preserving the line’s infrastruc-
ture for potential future transportation use—had paved
the way for conversion of the rail corridor to a trail, open-
ing up a new opportunity for Missourians.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources
jumped on the opportunity to acquire the Katy’s right
of way and received a certificate of interim trail use in
1987—one of the first projects in the nation to benefit
from the new railbanking statute. Philanthropists Ted
and Pat Jones, who had lobbied the Missouri legisla-
ture for the project, donated $200,000 toward acquisi-
tion of the right-of-way and $2 million toward construc-
tion costs.
In April 1990, the first section of the trail opened up
between Rocheport and McBaine. The Union Pacific
Railroad, which purchased the MKT system in 1988,
donated a 33-mile extension in 1991, and the state con-
tinued adding sections through 2011. Since then, expan-
sion efforts have turned to the Rock Island Trail project,
a separate rail-trail that will intersect with the Katy and
significantly augment the state’s recreational offerings.
PREVIOUS SPREAD, MAIN: DANIELLE TAYLOR; INSET: AARON FUHRMAN. THIS SPREAD, FROM LEFT: AARON FUHRMAN; DANIELLE TAYLOR
10 RAILS TO TRAILS FALL 2016
PAT H WA Y T O P R O S P E R I T Y