How to connect from MO's Katy/Rock Island Trail to KS's Flint Hills Nature Trail using trails & low-stress routes

Recently one of our members contacted us with a very good question: How can a trail rider connect from Missouri's Katy /Rock Island Trail system to the Flint Hill Nature Trail in neighboring Kansas?

Missouri's Katy and Rock Island Trail systems reach almost state line to state line--and almost to tantalizingly close trails in nearby states

One reason we're so excited about our recent working in developing and promting gravel and bicycle touring routes across Missouri, is that when you put that together with our expanding local and statewide trails system, connections like this are VERY possible today--even for riders who prefer trails and low-stress roads.

Here is what I wrote to Todd--explaining both one nice way to connect the Katy/Rock Island and the Flint Hills Nature Trails, but also in general the resources and routes we have been developing recently:

We've got some  resources that should help, though you'll have to put a few things together. All of these routes and resources are designed with exactly your use case in mind--what if you are the kind of rider who prefers trails but would use a nice connection to between trails if it were lower traffic/backroads mostly.

 

Also the bicycle world's recent  discovery helps a lot:  The discovery that--with the right bike--gravel roads are ALMOST as good as trails and they already go to tons of places. 

So if you don't mind riding some gravel roads that opens up a lot more options.  You could probably connect the Rock Island Trail near Pleasant Hill with the east end of the Flint Hills Trail with an almost 100% gravel route.  Our Missouri Gravel and Bikepacking Page has routes and resources to get you started with that.

The Santa Fe Trail Bicycle Route (gravel option, in red) and Flint Hills Nature Trail (green) in eastern Kansas

 

Here are my specific suggestions for routes that will help connect the Katy/Rock Island the Flint Hills Trails:

 

• #Bridging the Greenwood Gap - how to get from the Katy Trail/MO State Parks Rock Isl Trail to the remainder of the Rock Island Trail through Lee's Summit.
   
• How to get from the Rock Island Trail/Lee's Summit to (almost) anywhere in the Kansas City area. These are excellent low-traffic, low-volume connects that make use of the growing regional trail system at the west end of the Rock Island Trail. So...you can almost do what you are asking just be selecting the right connector routes there.
   
• The Birthplace of the Santa Fe Trail Bicycle Touring System in central-west Missouri and eastern Kansas makes the final connection.

Putting all that together, if it were me, I would take the State Parks Katy/Rock Island Trails to Pleasant Hill, then the Greenwood Gap Connector to Lee's Summit, then the Rock Island Trail northwesterly to its current end point, then Rock Island-Indian Creek Trail connector west or east, then at MILE 10 of that route you take the Blue River Trail south a couple of miles, where you jump on the SFE-03.01P Santa Fe Trail through KC area, joining it around mile 26.  Take that to the end of the route at Gardner Junction, then jump on the Santa Fe Trail mostly-gravel option (or paved, if you prefer), taking that west to near Council Grove, KS, where it meets the Flint Hills Trail.

 

That might not be the shortest route but it would be an AMAZING ride linking those two major trail system.

General bicycle tour and route  planning resources

 

• Missouri Gravel and BikePacking Bicycle Maps and Routes - some gravel routes you may not have thought of, and resources for developing your own gravel route to most anywhere in Missouri and the Midwest. 
   

• Missouri Bicycle Trails & Trail Maps Page - Info on the Katy Trail & other trails--including "how to I get to and from it" and "how can I connect from the trail to another trail, a nearby community, Amtrak, or the airport>=?"
   

• Missouri Bicycle and Touring Routes - ready-made, downloadable bicycle touring routes and route systems reaching most every part of Missouri, that MoBikeFed has created or collected
   

• Cross-State Bicycle Routes page - the Lewis & Clark and American Discovery Trails might give you route ideas, though I think the others listed above are better in several ways.
   

• Resources for planning your Missouri bicycle and trails route or trip

 

Developing and promoting better bicycle routes, trails, bikepacking options, bicycle route systems, and bicycle  touring systems helps with several of the major goals in our Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri:

• Encouraging more bicycling and walking
• Building a statewide movement in support of bicycling and walking
• Creating a world-class bicycle, pedestrian, and trails network across Missouri.

Your ongoing membership and generous financial support makes projects like this possible and helps turn our Vision into reality?