robow

Is there someone who lives near Kansas City, more specifically, Lee's Summit or Pleasant Hill, MO that can give us the best 15-20 mile route from the Amtrak in Lee's Summit down to the Pleasant Hill Rock Island trail head? Next summer we plan on taking Amtrak from St. Louis to Lee's Summit, ride down to Pleasant Hill, catch the Rock Island Trail and at Windsor then hook up with the Katy Trail. As always, thank you for your input.

KCNEWF

I live in Lees Summit and have ridden much of the following route between Lees Summit and Pleasant Hill. However not since 2013

If I recall correctly, some of these roads are very poorly paved. I used to ride them on my mountain bike. I will try the route in springtime on my trike and judge the quality of the roads then.

I can definitely state that you do not want to take the "direct route" of going South from Lees Summit on MO 291 and then west on MO 58. Traffic on MO 291 is too busy with a shoulder that is less than ideal on MO 291 and non existent on MO 58.




I believe the trailhead in Pleasant Hill is located just west of downtown Pleasant Hill on MO Highway 58 at the Cass County fairground


turn by turn

Amtrak-Lee's Summit
A B
A
1. Depart SW Main St toward SW 3rd St
0.1 mi
2. Turn right onto SW 4th St , and then immediately turn left onto SW Market St
0.3 mi
3. Bear left onto SW Jefferson St
0.2 mi
4. Road name changes to MO-291
0.3 mi
5. Keep left to stay on MO-291 N
0.8 mi
6. Turn left onto SE Thompson Dr
1.4 mi
7. Turn right onto SE Hamblen Rd
1.1 mi
8. Road name changes to Hamblen Rd
0.8 mi
9. Turn left onto Gambrell St
0.4 mi
10. Turn right onto N Ranson Rd
0.3 mi
11. Road name changes to S Ranson Rd
318 ft
12. Turn left onto Walnut St
0.4 mi
13. Road name changes to 2nd Ave S
1.0 mi
Cass County Fairgrounds
These directions are subject to the Microsoft® Service Agreement and are for informational purposes only. No guarantee is made regarding their completeness or accuracy. Construction projects, traffic, or other events may cause actual conditions to differ from these results. Map and traffic data © 2016 HERE™.
14. Road name changes to Airport Rd
● Unpaved Road
0.4 mi
15. Bear right onto Qarry Rd
● Unpaved Road
0.7 mi
16. Turn left onto E 163rd St
● Unpaved Road
0.5 mi
17. Turn right onto MO-BB
1.6 mi
18. Turn left onto E 175th St
● Unpaved Road
2.1 mi
19. Turn right onto S Boardman Rd
0.5 mi
20. Road name changes to N Boardman St
0.3 mi
21. Road name changes to S Boardman St
243 ft
22. Turn right onto MO-7 BR / Wyoming St
292 ft
23. Keep straight onto Wyoming St
207 ft
24. Turn left onto S Front St
351 ft
25. Turn right onto MO-58
0.1 mi
26. Arrive at MO-58
The last intersection is Walnut St If you reach Oakland St , you've gone too far

KCNEWF

I seem to recall that the above roads that are referenced as unpaved roads are just poorly paved / chip seal.

I also just recently that Pleasant Hill has a bike shop. There is also a bike shop is Lees Summit about 2 blocks from the Amtrak station.

JerrySTL

Here's an excellent resource for the Katy Trail and Rock Island Trail.
Katy Trail Forum - questions, answers, and discussions about
and
https://www.bikekatytrail.com/default.aspx

KCNEWF

Hyperlink for above route

https://binged.it/2iG1bqb
Amtrak-Lee's Summit to Cass County Fairgrounds

Shared from Bing Maps

robow

Thanks KCNEWF for the information. This route that was given to me is similar to what you've posted but if you see any notable differences, I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to point them out. Thanks.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17758635

KCNEWF

I think that route will be fine. The actual trailhead is on 58 highway and not where your directions end. However, at least 3 years ago there was a city trail that goes from where your directions end to the official Rock Island trailhead <2 miles.

Come springtime, I will confirm the route. It is about a 45 mile roundtrip to/from my home in Lees Summit to the Amtrack Station and then to the trailhead . . . . . . longer than I care to ride this time of year.

Note that there is a quarry on the Southside of Greenwood on that route. Truck traffic used to be relatively light.

Also there is a convenience store on your route at 150 highway and Allendale Lake road.

robow

I really appreciate your help and the info that you have been willing to pass on. If you get a chance to ride it, would love to hear your report. Yea, I ended the map where we did because I have heard conflicting reports as to exactly where the trail head is located.
Thanks again,
Rob

syncro87

I live in Lee's Summit. I'm not a big fan of any route I've yet found from LS to PH on a bike. Lots of traffic, lack of decent berms, etc. I'll let you know if I come up with anything. I'd recommend just driving down and getting on the bike at PH.

How many of you are there going to be? I live pretty close to the Amtrak station. Might be able to give you and your bikes a ride to PH. It's 20 min by car from my house to either of the PH trailheads. There would be a decent chance I'd be available to give you a ride depending on day/time. It wouldn't be a problem at all if I'm home.

The MO RIT has a Facebook page. I posted the Google Maps locations to both PH trailheads on there in the visitor comments area.

Let me see if I can post them here for you. The first one is the parking area east of town. The second the one a couple miles west, the "downtown" PH trailhead. If I recall, if you park in downtown PH and ride to the trail and to the eastern trailhead, it's roughly 3 miles. The east trailhead is set out all by itself on a gravel road, nothing else there. Your car is probably more secure (FYI for anyone that parks and rides) at the western PH location.

By the way, if you use the downtown location, you have to loop around and get on paved roads a bit. It isn't the most well marked route, but does have a couple of signs. Next time I'm down there, I'll try to remember to pin the location on GM to the actual entrance from the road segment back on to the trail on the east side of town.


MAP LOCATIONS OF BOTH PLEASANT HILL TRAILHEADS:

https://goo.gl/maps/fdp93LQrJX72

https://goo.gl/maps/vKui7eGijBM2


There is a bike shop in downtown Lee's Summit very close to Amtrak. Excellent mechanic there named Kevin. Also one in PH called New Town Bicycle and Coffee shop. Guy named Alan runs the place, and they have a FB page. They are closed on Mondays. I was down there the other day having some coffee, and I noticed there was a sign in the window declaring the building for sale. Not the shop, but the building. Not sure how this will affect New Town. Business has seemed really slow the few times I've been in, unfortunately, but I was there in winter during the day, so maybe not a good indicator. PH isn't exactly the most progressive town in the world, and my impression driving through and riding around down there is that the town has seen better days. It can't be easy for New Town down there, to do enough business to stay afloat. From what I can gather talking to a couple of folks in PH, there was a lot of hope that the trail would bring some biz, and stuff like NTBC opened to hopefully take advantage of this. But I think it has been a struggle, and the trail came more slowly than people anticipated.

I think the big thing that will really get people on the RIT is when they expand it to Lee's Summit. LS has a population of about 100,000, and is the beginning of the outskirts of the KC metro area. Fair number of cyclists here. Once the trail taps into a metro area of this size, I think the ridership will go way up. Right now, you have to get to PH to get on the trail, which makes it inconvenient for most folks. Pleasant Hill is one of those places that's just enough off the beaten path...not sure the trail will really take off until it hits LS.

robow

Thanks syncro, appreciate any info that you can send our way. Did you look at the route linked above in post #6. Not sure yet how many will be riding, doubt there will be more than 3 or 4 of us and we'll likely be limited to the 4 bikes you can put on the train out of St. Louis. Thanks again for your local insight.

syncro87

I'll look at that route. I may drive it tomorrow just to check it out. I'll keep you posted.

The Amtrak station in LS is a tiny little thing. Basically just a couple of benches and a little enclosed waiting area. It is right smack in the middle of old downtown Lee's Summit. It's a nice downtown area. There is a small convenience store a few blocks away if you needed to get a bottled water or small snack item last minute. Most of the stores, restaurants, etc are a mile or two from the middle of downtown. Most of the businesses in the immediate area of the train station are little knick knack places, such as antiques, boutique clothing, offices, etc. But there is one convenience store with the typical stuff a couple blocks east of the train station, not out of your way. If I'm not mistaken, it's called Convenience Plus, on 3rd street.

When you get closer to the actual trip, if you like, shoot me a message and I can get you my phone number and email. That way at the very least, if you got in a jam, you have someone local you can call in a pinch. My house is 3.1 miles from the Amtrak station, roughly 14 miles by car from the PH trailhead.

When you get to Pleasant Hill, most of the businesses, stores, gas stations, etc, are on Highway 7 on the north side of town. Downtown, by the trailhead, there isn't a whole lot. The New Town Coffee and Bike place is pretty close to there. But your options for food and drink, snacks, supplies are pretty limited in the immediate area.

The trail is brand new and pretty sparsely serviced south/east of PH toward Windsor. You have about 46 miles of very few services. From Windsor east toward Sedalia, there are regular established stops with water, stores in some places, etc. But it's pretty much nothing yet from PH to Windsor. So you'd want to plan on a worst case scenario of about 46 miles with little support. Once you're on the Katy, you're a lot better off at this point.

I've only ridden 6 or 8 miles outside of PH at this point, myself. Once the weather gets better I'll venture out further.

robow

So am I understanding this correctly, can you hop on the second link you show which contains the Cass County fairgrounds and nearby the Rock Island Spur ? which would then take you to the first linked position which is south and somewhat east of town and that is the Rock Island trail at that point? Thanks for the updates.

syncro87

Yes.

If you get on the trail at the location off Purvis road, you are a couple miles east and a bit south of town (Pleasant Hill). There is a parking area there, and a trail head sign. From that parking lot, you can ride east or SE toward Windsor, or west (NW) toward Pleasant Hill. If you ride west, you start getting into town, are routed on and off some city streets until eventually hitting the fairgrounds trailhead, at which point you are done. From the Purvis lot west to the fairgrounds is roughly 3 miles.

If you get on at the fairgrounds, which is basically downtown Pleasant Hill or close to it, you have to pay attention and follow a few signs, as you will be routed through town a bit on city streets, then small distance on highway 58 before you catch the trail proper. Then you will ride a couple miles until you hit the Purvis lot location southeast of town.

If you care about getting your car dirty, you'll want to park at the fairgrounds location. The Purvis Road location, you have to travel about 1 mile south of highway 58 on a dirt road. Gets pretty dusty.

syncro87

OK, I drove the ridebygps route you posted.

The first minor hurdle is when you turn off Blue Parkway to get on 291 South. That is a really busy intersection right there at the junction of 291 and 50. You have to cross 50 right there. It isn't the end of the world, but that is a pretty rough area to be on a bike at busy times of day, i.e. am, lunch hour, and evening rush. You have a zillion cars getting on and off 291, and frontage roads joining in, like Blue Parkway, on either side. I do ride through here occasionally, but in general it isn't my favorite part of town to ride through.

Once you start heading south on Hamblen, you start to head out through BFE. The roads are pretty poorly maintained pavement...layer upon layer of old pothole patching especially on the right side where you'd be riding.

It isn't horrible, but the road surface isn't that great. Once you get about half way to Greenwood and beyond, the roads are two way and about 1.5 lanes wide. No dividing lines, etc. Just some mediocre pavement, wider than one lane but not as wide as two. Country roads. Lots of pothole patching in multiple layers over time in some stretches.

I now remember why I avoid Hamblen road. It features a number of hairpin curves, has no berm and in many places has poor visibility ahead of you as the driver of a car. Not real good as far as people in cars being able to see cyclists very well...small hills, etc. If I rode Hamblen, I would want to have very bright clothing on, blinky lights, etc . People tend to fly down these little back roads around here, and this would be an easy one to miss a cyclist if you weren't paying attention. It just never impressed me as the safest road to ride on around here. Can you do it, though? Yeah.

By the way, your route ends about a mile from the fairgrounds trailhead. A road called Boardman at the end of 175th takes you into town the last mile or so.

Overall, the route would be OK during total daylight given that there aren't many alternatives. If it was even remotely dark, dusk, any kind of poor visibility situation, probably not the best cycling road. Lots of sharp curves, few markings, lots of wooded areas with lower visibility.