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Great Rivers Greenway, MoDOT, and the cities of Sunset Hills, Kirkwood, and Fenton celebrated the grand opening of the new Meramec Greenway bridge over the Meramec River, along the I-44 Bridge, last Saturday, June 24th.

This new greenway is built along the I-44 Bridge over the Meramec River, and makes a trail connection to Emmenegger Nature Park, Unger Park, Fenton City Park, Olde Towne Fenton, and George Winter Park.

Long-range plans are for the Meramec River Greenway to extend along the Meramec River from its mouth at the Mississippi River all the way to Pacific - and perhaps even further, to eventually connect the St Louis metro area to the Ozark Trail.

The new Meramec River Greenway bridge along I-44 provides a major new bike/ped connection across the Meramec River

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources Division of State Parks is pleased to announce the 2023 grant application round for the Recreational Trails Program is now open.

These grants are available to cities, counties and nonprofit organizations to be used to create motorized and nonmotorized trails for recreational use. Federal agencies can also apply for funding for motorized trails.

For more information about this program, to download the grant application and to register for a grant application workshop, visit mostateparks.com/page/61220/recreational-trails-program-rtp-grants.

For questions, contact the grants management team at mspgrants@dnr.mo.gov.

Application packets must be postmarked on or before Feb. 23, 2023.

For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

From Clinton to Machens and everything in between. Join Youtube's "The Sweaty Cyclist" on this epic 5 day journey bikepacking across Missouri:

This is one of a three-part series from The Sweaty Cyclist on Bikepacking the Katy Trail & similar trails.

More resources on Missouri's Katy Trail - and other statewide trails in Missouri - here.

Many Katy Trail connector, side-trip, and loop bicycle routes can be found here - connect from the airport in Kansas City or St Louis to the Katy Trail, from various Amtrak stations to the Katy Trail, visit nearby communities, historic routes, and more.

Magnificent Missouri writes:

Join us Nov. 6, 2022, 9am-Noon at the Dutzow trailhead to plant trees along the Katy Trail.
Forest ReLeaf of Missouri is hosting the event and providing trees, tools, and water. If you’ve never been to one of their tree planting events, you are in for a treat!

Sign up
Sign up on EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/katy-trail-tree-planting-tickets-416253604737

You can get more details on the Forest ReLeaf website:
https://moreleaf.org/event/katy-trail-tree-planting-2/

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. 

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.