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 tunnels -- faced an uncertain future. Edward Jones managing partner Ted Jones and his wife Pat championed the idea of converting the abandoned rail corridor into a recreational trail, donating significant acreage to the state of Missouri. The conversion began in the early 1990s and proceeded in stages as funding and land acquisition allowed. The trail surface is crushed limestone, firm enough for cycling and walking but soft enough to feel like backcountry. The Katy Trail State Park was officially designated in 1990.

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. Vineyards and wineries dot the hillsides near Hermann, Augusta, and Defiance, towns that were founded by German immigrants in the 19th century and still produce wine from grapes suited to the Missouri climate. The trail passes through the floodplain, and sections are occasionally closed when the Missouri River overflows its banks -- a regular reminder that this is a living landscape, not a static park. Trailheads and small towns provide water, food, and restrooms at regular intervals.

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 geography that the Corps of Discovery described more than two centuries ago. The bluffs, the river bends, the bottomland forests -- many of the features Lewis and Clark noted are still recognizable. The Daniel Boone home near Defiance and the remnants of several Missouri River ferry crossings add layers of frontier history. The trail has become a destination for long-distance cyclists who ride the full 240 miles over several days, camping at state parks and sleeping in small-town bed-and-breakfasts along the way.

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, past restored railroad depots that now serve as trailheads, and alongside fields where crops grow to the edge of the path. In autumn, the Missouri River bottomland blazes with color. In spring, the trail floods in low sections and re-emerges as the water recedes. The trail is open to hikers, cyclists, and horseback riders on some sections. It has become an economic engine for the small towns along its route, bringing visitors to communities that had seen decades of decline after the railroad left. From the air, the trail is visible as a pale line threading through the green Missouri River valley.