After our 2010 bikepacking trip on the Katy Trail it would be a few years before we could get back to the trail. We had enjoyed our stay to the Bothwell in Sedalia so much that we decided to plan our next trip around a visit there. Our obvious choice then was to complete the western end of the Katy by riding from Sedalia to Clinton. We could do this ride in one day, so no bikepacking needed this time. We scheduled the ride for after our Ames family visit. I’m including a ride on the front end of the trip on an Iowa rail trail as part of this trip report.
5-28-13,
Heart of Iowa and High Trestle Trails, Slater to Woodward
Jean
and I had ridden part of the Heart of Iowa Trail in 2010 and now we were
hearing fantastic things about the nearby High Trestle Trail. Jean’s Dad CJ had
visited it and had been impressed. We decided to combine the two trails for a
good warm up ride for our Katy trip. 
The High Trestle.
We
started in Slater, at the west end of our 2010 trip. Most of the Heart of Iowa
Trail is gravel, but we found the High Trestle Trail to be concrete, not quite
as much fun to ride, but faster and easier, so nothing for us to complain about.
We were on High Trestle Trail almost immediately. We saw lots of bikes and a
few walkers. The trail is mostly through cornfields, this is Iowa after all.
The trail could have used a few more trees to give it some shade. 
Pillars at the start of the High Trestle.
We
first went through the town of Madrid with some cafes and bike facilities
geared toward the trail users. 
The Trestle from the west end.
The
High Trestle lived up to its hype. The trestle over the Des Moines River is a
half mile long and 130 vertigo inducing feet high, not what you’d expect in the
midst of farm country. But this was once coal country, and it’s the mining
theme that drove the rehabilitation of the trestle. A public art installation
incudes twin pillars at the entrances of trestle with a stylized coal seam
winding across the pillars. Along the trestle’s outer side run a series of
square set steel beams set at angles to each other to mimic the effect of
looking down a mine shaft. I’ve looked down a 5,000’ deep mine shaft, and can say
the effect at the trestle certainly works. There are a ton of display panels at
the trestle interpreting both the history of the area and the art display. 
Jean and I on the Trestle.
We
rode to the west end of the trail at Woodward just to finish the segment of
trail. We saw lots of bikers and walkers out on the trail, the trestle was
obviously the big impact attraction that would pull in the locals and draw in
the tourists. 
The High Trestle illuminated at night (from a later visit).
High Trestle Trail, Slater to Woodward, 26.5 miles
6-1-2013,
Katy Trail Bothwell to MP 223
We
drove down to Sedalia from Ames, getting in early enough to visit the Katy
Depot and tour their museum. Then we checked into the Bothwell, and got the
bikes ready for a short warm up ride on the Katy. We wanted to get in about ten
miles, so we just rode east to about MP 223 and back. 
Jean honoring Scott Joplin.
The
trail was in great shape, with just a few limbs down from a recent storm. About
half our miles were on city streets, but once out of town we were back on well
packed gravel trail. Near the MP 223 it looked like another storm was on the
way, so we hustled back to the Bothwell. 
The Sedalia Depot.
I
think we were both afraid that the Bothwell wouldn’t live up to our memory from
our 2010 ride. But to our happy surprise it still did. We were in larger room
this time, and this helped us with the logistics of packing for our ride.
Again, we had dinner at a bar about a block away before heading back to the
hotel to take notes on the ride.
Katy North of Sedalia, 10 miles
6-2-13
This
time we used Davidson Transport to shuttle us to Clinton and we would ride back
to our Subaru in Sedalia. They were pricey ($165) but the driver was early,
courteous, and even had a bike rack. He dropped us in Clinton near the
campground. We had a short 0.4 mile ride west to the far end of the maintained
trail, then we turned around to head east toward Sedalia.
The Clinton Depot.
The
trail from Clinton to Calhoun is close to US 52, but not enough for the road
noise to bother us. The sunny, open sections had thick spiderwort. The town of
Windsor had both a Dairy Queen and a Katy-themed hotel. We crossed the old Rock
Island Railroad line on a bridge near Windsor. At the time of the ride this
rail trail was not yet developed, but as of 2022, 47 miles is open from Windsor
northeast to Pleasant Hill. Beyond that there is a small gap on public roads,
and then another 13 miles of developed trail from Lees Summit to Truman Sports
Complex in Kansas City.
Jean in Calhoun.
There
was a nice section of open prairie near Bryson near MP 242 that had the barely
discernable highpoint of the trail. Prairie flowers included Queen Anne’s Lace,
wild roses, poppies, phlox, and lots of honeysuckle. We stopped at a Casey’s in
Green Ridge for a badly needed ice cream break. The rest of the way was mainly
through the woods into Sedalia. We didn’t see many people (~10) until we got to
Sedalia. 
The Katy Trail Highpoint.
The
entire section is open to horses up to the fairground in Sedalia, and although we didn’t see any damage from them,
it is likely that the horse use makes this a less appealing stretch of trail. Despite
the recent hailstorm, the trail was in good shape. We saw three blow downs and
lots of downed limbs, but there was no damage to the trail bed. The state was
doing some prairie restoration in the right of way, and in some properties
adjacent to the trail. 
Nutrition break.
We now had the western half (121 miles) from North Jefferson to
Clinton of the Katy Trail complete. The eastern half (116.5 miles from Machins to North Jefferson
is reputed to be less scenic, but otherwise sounds just right for a two night
bikepack.
We
had started riding about 9AM and finished in Sedalia around 2PM. Our weather
was cool and overcast with a bit of light rain near Green Ridge. We left
Sedalia around 2:30 and drove to Marion, Illinois by 8PM. The next day we
walked a short section of the Tunnel Hill Trail near the Tunnel before returning
to Knoxville. 
Tunnel Hill State Park, Illinois.
Katy
Trail, Clinton to Sedalia, 41.3 miles
