DNR
Home PageDay 5 Facts
| Date: | Friday, June 22, 2001 |
| Breakfast: | Eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, cereal, coffee, juice and milk |
| Start: | Marthasville, MO |
| Finish: | St. Charles, MO |
| Mileage: | 38 miles |
| Lunch: | Turkey sandwich, potato chips, pickle, cookie and soda |
| Trail Features (Taken from the rider's daily map booklet.) | |
| Marthasville
to Matson : |
Dutzow (1835) is an old Slavic county placename. The trail head (74.0) is located adjacent to the Dutzow Deli. A short distance east on Hwy. 94 will take you to the town's few businesses and post office. One of the many wineries in this region is reached at 73.6, Blumenhof Winery & Vineyard. At 71.0, glance right to see the skyline of Washington (1822). The old rail stop of Nona is reached at 69.6. One of the more popular stops along the Katy is German-influenced Augusta (1836) at 66.3. A few storefronts can be viewed from the trail head and SAG stop, but most of the town is located uphill and offers restaurants, vineyards, gift stores, bike rental and B&Bs. Riders reach the concrete silos, once used to store sand that was mined from the river of Klondike at 64.1. The Labadie Coal burning powerplant can be seen to the right. For the next mile, bluffs and bottomland forest offer one last wilderness experience before the trail parallels Hwy. 94 again at 62.8. Matson is reached at 60.6. It was in this area that Daniel Boone and sons platted the town of Missouritown, which was encountered by Lewis and Clark on May 23, 1804, and was soon lost to the Missouri River. Across the river is Tavern Cave. |
| Matson
to St. Charles: |
Defiance is located less than two miles from Matson. It was given this name after preventing Matson from having the only nearby rail stop. Note the store (1898) immediately east of the parking area at the trail head in Defiance (58.9). Femme Osage Creek is crossed at 57.4, supposedly named by a French settler who encountered a dead Osage woman in the creek. A spur road at 56.7 leads to the U.S. Department of Energy's Weldon Spring Site, originally used by the U.S. Army as an ordnance works in the 1940s. Weldon Spring trail head and SAG stop is reached at 56.0. Continuing east, the trail runs through bottomland forest and between bluff and river. A trail to the 385-acre Weldon Spring Natural Area is encountered at 53.5. Prior to reaching the Hwy. 40/61 overpass, riders will encounter concrete structures associated with the quarry operation and the one-time rail stop of Weldon Spring. Greens Bottom trail head and SAG stop is reached at 45.7. Take the spur trail on the right across the road to a prairie demonstration area. Riders cross (under) I-70 for the third and final time at 40.1, and reach the depot in Frontier Park and end of the ride at 39.1. Historic downtown St. Charles (1769) is one block north and features First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site, and many restaurants and antique stores. |
Day 5 Highlights |
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| Many cyclists stopped and enjoyed Ted Drewes Frozen Custard at Seasons and Memories in Defiance. |  |
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Park superintendents Scott Schulte and Jim Gast take a break in Defiance. Scott and Jim manage the central section of Katy Trail State Park and rode with the cyclists all five days. |
| Volunteers Chuck and Sara Yates work the information booth during lunch. |  |
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Gary Grigsby from KOMU-8 (an NBC affiliate from Columbia, MO) gets one last story from a rider at St. Charles. |
| Many families participated in this years ride. |  |
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Ride coordinator, David Kelly, rides the last 38 miles with the cyclists. |
| Baggage was unloaded in the parking lot at St. Charles. |  |
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Cyclists relax and eat lunch at the depot in St. Charles. |
