First annual Rock Island Fall Festival in Stover Oct 8-9, celebrating the Rock Island Trail

Stover, at mile marker 185.5 of the forthcoming Rock Island Trail State park, is starting a new Rock Island Fall Festival this year.  Stover is north of Lake of the Ozarks and southeast of Sedalia.  The Rock Island Fall Festival starts at 9am on Saturday, October 8th, 2022.  Events continue in different locations around Stover throughout the weekend. 

Rock Island railroad passing through Stover

The Lake Expo reports:

As communities in central Missouri work towards and hope for the development of the Rock Island Trail, which would follow the old Rock Island Rail Line, some are already pioneering the kinds of events that punctuate a traveler’s trip along the trail.

The little town of Stover touches the very northernmost points of Lake of the Ozarks, with three Missouri Department of Conservation Access Areas, Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area, Carpenter Memorial Conservation Area, and Wigwam Access. The former Rock Island Railroad line winds through the middle of the charming downtown district, where it was once used to deliver and pick up from the still-existing Stover Milling Company.

On the east end of Dale Hollow Winery, the line exits Stover, snaking back into the countryside. The west end heads to Cole Camp, near the Big Buffalo Creek Access. . . .

Stover was originally located southeast of its current location. In 1905 when the railroad arrived, Stover moved closer to the line, since the rail bypassed the original town.

Now the rails are no more, so by trailway reckoning, Stover is located at Mile Marker 185.5 of the Rock Island Trail.

Read the full article on the Lake Expo web site here.

• More about the history and current status of Rock Island Trail State Park here.
   
• None of the newly acquired 144 miles of the Rock Island Trail State Park is built and open to the public yet - though the first section may open in 2023. However, you can bicycle now to EVERY Rock Island community using amazing, scenic mostly-gravel connecting routes mapped by MoBikeFed here.