Resources for planning Missouri bicycle and trails trips and routes

Resources for planning Missouri bicycle and trails routes and trips

This page covers general resources, ideas, and techniques for planning your bicycle trip in Missouri.

Related pages

This is one of a series of pages on MoBikeFed.org designed to help find routes, roads, trails, and places to bicycle in Missouri:

• Missouri Maps and Routes page for on-road, paved bicycle routes.
• Missouri Trails Page for off-road trails, rail-trails, and single-track mountain bike trails.
• Missouri Gravel Grinder and Bikepacking page for gravel grinder and bikepacking routes featuring Missouri's amazing system of gravel roads.
• Missouri Bicycle and Touring Routes page for ready-made, downloadable bicycle touring routes and route systems across the state
• Resources for planning Missouri bicycle and trails trips and routes for more information about bicycle and trails route and trip planning.

Planning your Missouri bicycling/bikepacking/hiking/backpacking/trails routes and trips

A question we are commonly asked: How can I find existing or planned bicycle routes and trails around Missouri? Where can I hike, mountain bike, or backpack?

Missouri's national bicycle routes

Whether you are planning a bicycle tour, a backpackign trip, or are going on a vacation where you want to find new and interesting places to ride, or just want to find places to bicycle or trails in or near your hometown, these resources will help.

• Want to ride to a nearby store, school, library, or park?
• Want to plan a two-day, two-week, or two-month bicycle trip, bikepacking trip, or backpacking trip around Missouri or the U.S.
• Or are you agency staff or a citizen advocate planning bicycling/walking/trail facilities or routes in your city or region? 

These resources and ideas will be helpful for all of those purposes.

We are fortunate to live at a time when bicycle routes, trails, planning, and construction is blossoming across Missouri. We have more good route choices than ever. But it also means that you have to look at a lot of different resources to get a full picture of what is going on.

On this page you'll find:

• Bicycle Route & Touring Planning Tools

• Route and Trail Resource Collections

• Specific Bicycle Route Networks & Plans

• Finding Camping, Lodging, Services, and Supplies

Bicycle Route & Touring Planning Tools

A few mapping resources have now done a lot of the work of compiling various bicycle route, trail, non-motorized usage, and motor vehicle usage patterns in order to create online bicycle maps and bicycle route wayfinding systems. These show at least some trails and bicycle routes, and their bicycle wayfinding feature usually gives you at least a decent first-draft of a route.

• Google Bicycle Map with bicycle route wayfinding
   
• Cycle.Travel is based on OpenStreetMap and has recently added bicycle wayfinding for the U.S.
   
• RideWithGps has one of the better online bicycle route planning systems (you can get started with a free account), and also many pre-planned routes.
  • MoBikeFed's RideWithGPS page has many Missouri routes
  • Missouri RideWithGPS routes
     
• MoDOT has a new online system showing traffic volumes on all state roads in Missouri. You can immediately see which roads are enjoyable, low-traffic roads and which are high traffic. Generally, for a two-lane road with no shoulders, below 500 daily traffic is a pleasant touring road, 1000 is tolerable, 2000-2500 is usable but unpleasant, above 3000 is quite difficult.
   
• Resources for planning a gravel or bikepacking bicycle route in Missouri

• Strava Bicycling & Running Heatmap
  The Strava Heatmap is an invaluable tool for bicycle & pedestrian planning.  You can identify both the routes that exist and are currently in use by people who walk, run, & bicycle (the map has both "bike" and "run" modes) but also the places where there is obvious need but little travel because people deem it as too dangerous.
  
  If you are planning a ride or run--well, you can GUESS what is the best way to go, or you can just look at the heatmap and immediately see all the great routes that everyone is using. What better place to go than the place everyone else goes?
   
• Missouri railroad corridors
  This shows active & abandoned railroad corridors--some of which may be available or could become available for conversion to trails over the years.

Route and Trail Resource Collections

• On-road bicycle routes around Missouri (MoBikeFed), including:
  • Cross-state routes and trails, state bicycle map, route planning materials (proposed state bicycle routes, maps showing high & low traffic routes, etc)
  • Links to local bicycle route information around the state
• Missouri trails & off-road routes (MoBikeFed), including:
  • Major cross-state trails (Katy)
  • Links to local trail information
     
• Missouri gravel grinder and bikepacking routes - routes that feature Missouri's amazing system of gravel roads. Many of these are beautiful, scenic, very-well-connected, low-traffic routes that are just one notch lower in surface quality that major trails like the Katy or Rock Island Trails.
   
• IBikeMO.org - we are working to create Missouri's premier bicycle tourism web site at IBikeMO.org, with information about trails, routes, events, and much more.
   
• MoDOT bike/ped road & route info 

Missouri's Trail Vision - click for full-sized version

Specific Bicycle Route Networks & Plans

• All seven statewide on-road routes in Missouri on one single map, with links to resources & more information about each
   
• MoDOT has collected several statewide trails & routes into one comprehensive map
   
• Proposed multi-state trail system & connections; Missouri statewide trail vision
   
• U.S. National Bicycle Route System - National Corridor Plan
  This is a planned comprehensive national bicycle route system. As of early 2016, only a few routes are implemented and signed nationally. USBR 76 (the TransAmerica Trail) is the first officially adopted and implemented route in Missouri; the route now has complete wayfinding signs through the state.
   
• Adventure Cycling Association's Network Map
  This is an existing and very well-used system of bicycle routes around the U.S.
   
• Strava Bicycling & Running Heatmap
  The Strava Heatmap is an invaluable tool for bicycle & pedestrian planning.  You can identify both the routes that exist and are currently in use by people who walk, run, & bicycle (the map has both "bike" and "run" modes) but also the places where there is obvious need but little travel because people deem it as too dangerous.
  
  If you are planning a ride or run--well, you can GUESS what is the best way to go, or you can just look at the heatmap and immediately see all the great routes that everyone is using. What better place to go than the place everyone else goes?
   
• Missouri railroad corridors
  This shows active & abandoned railroad corridors--some of which may be available or could become available for conversion to trails over the years.

Finding Camping, Lodging, Services, and Supplies

Finding a place to stay, a place to eat, supplies, and services is a lot easier now than it once was. But still, finding the best places is not all that easy. And particularly in rural Missouri, the best places may not be easy to find online. 

Camping on a bicycle tour is fun, inexpensive, and helps bring you closer to nature

Here are some tips and available resources:

• Searching Google Maps for the area of interest in the most basic source of information now. You can do this from home or using your mobile device when you arrive in your location. You can use terms like "lodging," "camping," "groceries," "restaurant," "bike shop" and add "near Rolla" or your specific area of interest.  Sample query.
   
• You can look at pre-planned routes like the MoBikeFed Road Routes, MoBikeFed Gravel/Bikepacking Routes, and Adventure Cycling Routes, which include information about lodging, services, points of interest, etc in the route maps & GPS files. Specific routes often have detailed information about local services available--for example, Bike Katy/Rock Island Trail.com and OzarkTrail.com. Even if you choose to not follow a complete pre-designed route, these routes can still serve as a starting point for planning.
   
• Camping: Missouri Conservation Areas are scattered all across Missouri--over 1000 locations.  Many, but not all, offer primitive/dispersed camping or primitive camp sites (read area regulations carefully to see if camping is allowed in any specific CA). You can use MDC's online search to find Conservation Areas with camping.
   
• Camping: Many Missouri State Parks offer camping - and Missouri State Parks has a no-turn-away policy for campers who arrive by bicycle or on foot. See the list of Missouri State Parks that offer camping here.
   
• Camping: Mark Twain National Forest covers over 1.5 million acres spread like a checkerboard across large portions of central and southern Missouri, with many bicycling and hiking opportunities that are often overlooked. The National Forest has many camping opportunities, including numerous organized campsites and cabins. As in all national forests, dispersed camping in most areas more than 100 feet from roads/trails/structures, is allowed except where specifically posted "no camping". 
   
• Camping: In rural Missouri, ask cities, park departments, police. Many cities and towns in rural Missouri, particularly those along well-used bicycle touring routes and well used trails, have some place available for camping or lodging by touring cyclists.  Some allow camping in a city park. Others, like Farmington and Tebbets, have created hostels. To find these opportunities, you may have to call city hall or the local parks departmentor police.  KansasCyclist makes these suggestions:
  • Many churches, particularly in rural communities, will allow travelers to pitch a tent on church property for a night. This can work especially well if the church matches up with your own faith or denomination.
     
  • Small-town or rural fire stations may allow you to camp next to or behind their firehouse. Be sure to ask first!
     
  • Small-town police departments can often provide good advice about where to safely, cheaply, and legally spend the night.
     
  • Call the chamber of commerce in your destination community, and ask for their suggestions.
     
• Camping: RV Parks are typically far more numerous than other camping opportunities.  Nearly all RV parks also offer tent camping. There are some disadvantages to camping at RV Parks--they are typically quite expensive and relatively crowded.  But they often have good facilities, including electricity, restrooms, showers, and a convenience store. Sample online search.
   
• B&Bs: Missouri has an extensive network of B&Bs. You can find many of them via the B&B association search page. Often a search for B&B is more productive than "hotel," "motel," or "lodging".  Sample search.
   
• Warmshowers: The web site warmshowers.com helps match up touring cyclists with who are willing to host them in various communities around the world.
   
• Services like AirBnB and VRBO often have listings in places where hotels and other lodging is scarce--and even more listings in more populated areas.
   
• Many touring cyclists simply ask local citizens for help finding services, lodging, and a place to camp.  Asking "Is there anywhere nearby I can pitch a tent?" is often more helpful then "Are there any campgrounds nearby?" Asking about campgrounds is likely to bring information about a KOA 25 miles down the road, while asking for a spot to pitch a tent might bring an offer of hospitality or the phone number of a relative with a quiet piece of ground.
   
• For the adventerous, "stealth" or "wild" camping is an option. KansasCyclist has an excellent guide to concept, and best practices to follow.
   

Additional resources:

• KansasCyclist has a nice guide to bicycle camping in Missouri.
   
• The Adventure Cycling Association has an excellent guide to packing your bike and finding the right campsite.

Helping create a world-class bicycle, pedestrian, and trails network in Missouri and encouraging more people to bicycle, walk, and use trails more often are two  of the primary objectives of MoBikeFed's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri. Providing resources for trip and route planning, and designing and promoting statewide bicycle touring, gravel, and bikepacking routes in cooperation with many partners and allies are two ways we work to reach those objectives.

Your ongoing membership and generous financial support help turn our Vision into reality!

Photo credit: Lazy Louie Bicycle Camp on the road between Marshfield and Hartville, Missouri. Taken in 1984 TransAmerica bicycle tour by Gene Bisbee. Photo on FlickR. License: CC BY 2.0.