Ride along on Missouri's scenic Katy Trail

Much of the Katy Trail is open to a broiling Missouri sun. But bicyclists don’t seem to mind. Maybe that’s because equally much of the trail winds through shaded canopies and past cool limestone bluffs fronting the Missouri River.

Cyclists and hikers can enter and exit the trail at more than two dozen trailheads. Some bike or hike for a couple of hours. Some for a couple of days.

The Katy Trail State Park began life more than a century ago as the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MK&T) railroad, known to all as the K-T, or “the Katy.”

Machens — a lonely spot accessible only by bike or foot but once a bustling link that served as the junction for the MK&T and CB&Q (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy) railroads — marks the trail’s eastern terminus.

Riders should expect company but the trail is not crowded.

In May 1804, Lewis and Clark spent a couple of days in St. Charles before heading upriver and into history. Katy Trail riders roll past a statue honoring the explorers.

In Augusta, one of several colorful trail towns that the Katy has helped revitalize, cyclists might be surprised to discover that the number of craft shops, artisans, B&Bs and eateries nearly equals the population (249).

The hamlet of Augusta, like Hermann, Rocheport and several other trail towns that hug the Katy, are carved from the rugged hillsides that define the region.

The trail, however, is practically level and an easy ride, as would be expected from a century-old rail line.

Hermann is a vibrant trail town and a hub of Missouri’s surprisingly vast wine industry.

At Rocheport, Katy cyclists and hikers pass through the only tunnel on the trail.

Like much of the history-soaked Missouri farmland, cities, towns and hamlets through which the trail runs the Katy is clean, neat and well-kept.

Residents are friendly. Business are accommodating. Visitors are welcome.

Sculptor William J. Williams works on a bust in his Rocheport shop.

At Boonville the trail turns southwest, away from the Missouri River.