The ADT joins the 250-mile Katy Trail in St. Charles. It follows the north bank of the Missouri River to Franklin, then crosses the river at Boonville, and goes cross-country to Clinton. This was the route of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad, which was built in the 1870s and was affectionately known as "the Katy." The ADT joins the Katy in Frontier Park in St. Charles. Heading west from St. Charles, the Katy passes limestone bluffs in the Weldon Springs Wildlife Area. The trail is ideal for bird watching, as it is located along the Missouri River flyway, which is used by many migrating songbirds and waterfowl. Daniel Boone lived the last twenty years of his life near Defiance, and his four-story Georgian-style home, built between 1803 and 1810, is open to visitors.
The ADT passes north of Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. Towering limestone and dolomite bluffs border the trail from here to Rocheport. American bald eagles are common along this section in winter. Hartsburg, McBaine, and Huntsdale are typical post-Civil War railroad towns. A spur of the MKT has been converted into a rail-trail that goes into downtown Columbia and the University of Missouri-Columbia. Rocheport prospered as a riverboat town before the Civil War, and a large part of the town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The railroad tunnel just west of Rocheport is the only tunnel on the Katy Trail.
Franklin and then Boonville were where the first great wagon trains started out on the Santa Fe Trail. The first battle of the Civil War in Missouri was fought at Boonville. Boone's Lick State Historic Site is nearby. It comprises two salt springs where Daniel Boone's sons, Daniel and Nathan, made salt by heating brine in large iron pots.
Codes for type of trail along route:
Codes for services along route:
P=Paved road w/shoulder
R=paved road no/shoulder
C=camping
PC=primitive campsite
T=Trail-hiking only
B=Trail allows bicycles
BB=bed & breakfast
zipcode=post office
H=Trail allows horses
S=Sidewalk
L=lodging
M=meals
G=Gravel or dirt road
G=groceries
B=bike shop
W=water
CO=country road
CUMULATIVE MILES
CODE
DESCRIPTION EAST TO WEST
ST. CHARLES
33.2
JUNCTION MO 340 &MO 94, TURN LEFT
34.5
ST. CHARLES, I-70 (G,M,L,B,BB,C,) 63302
51
WELDON SPRING
54.1
DEFIANCE (G,M,B,L) 63341M
55.6
MATSON (M,B) 63341
61.3
AUGUSTA (L,M,B,G) 63332
69
DUTZOW (L,M,B) 63342
72.7
MARTHASVILLE (G,M,L,B) 63357
76.2
PEERS (M)
79.4
TRELOAR (M,B) 63378
95.8
MCKITRICK (L)
100
RHINELAND (M) 65069
105.9
BLUFFTON (C,BB,B). DOUG RENDLEMAN HOME B&B
110.9
PORTLAND (M) 65067
116.4
STEEDMAN (C,M)
120
MOKANE (G,M)
126.2
TEBBETTS (M,G)
138.2
NORTH JEFFERSON CITY (L,M,G,C)
148.6
HARTSBURG (G,M,L) 65039. GLOBE HOTEL (JEANETTE) &HITCHING POST SALOON.
152.4
WILTON (C,G)
157.5
EASLEY (C,G,M)
164.5
MCBAINE (M)
173.3
ROCHEPORT (M,G,B,BB) 65279 PRICEY LITTLE TOWN!
183.2
NEW FRANKLIN (C,M,G,B,BB) 65274. TRAILS END B&B.
184
FRANKLIN (C,M). ROUNDHOUSE CAFE &CAMPING (JOHN JAMES)
185.8
JUNCTION KATY TRAIL &MO 87, TURN LEFT ON MO 87
186.3
JUNCTION MO 87 &US 40/MO5, TURN RIGHT. CROSS MISSOURI RIVER ON HIGHWAY BRIDGE
187.1
JUNCTION US 40/MO5 &E SPRING ST, TURN RIGHT. BOONVILLE (C,L,M,G,BB,B) 65233
End of Segment 2
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