Nearly 50 miles of new bike trail added in Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A new state bike trail will enable cyclists to access the Katy Trail from Columbia and ride nearly all the way to Kansas City.

A 47.6-mile segment of Rock Island Trail State Park, which cost $15.5 million, was to open Saturday, The Columbia Missourian reported. It connects in Windsor with the Katy Trail, which continues west to Pleasant Hill, about 30 miles southeast of Kansas City.

The distance between the trail system's western end and Columbia is 135 miles.

There are plans to eventually build a cross-state trail along the old Rock Island corridor. It will intersect the Katy Trail at both ends to form a nearly 460-mile loop.

Bike enthusiast Mark Bendel has been riding the Katy Trail since the first section opened in 1990, and said he was looking forward to the new routes.

"It'll be one of the nicest loops, if not the nicest loop, in the country," Bendel said.

The city park has six camping sites cyclists can use, as well as a fishing lake.

"It's a different region than the Katy Trail," Bendel said of the first part of the park. "There'll be different scenery than the river bottom."

Missouri Rock Island Trail Inc. executive director Greg Harris said the next step in the trail system will add 24.8 miles from Pleasant Hill to the Kansas City Truman Sport Complex.

Hotel owners Leia and Mark Clerzi of Hartsburg anticipate increased business as the trail flourishes.

"The more this becomes a national and international attraction, the more it aids in the overall effort in Missouri to get a little more tourism going with the economy," Mark Clerzi said.

Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.columbiamissourian.com