Trails Across Missouri — The Katy and Rock Island
By Dan Burkhardt, President, Magnificent Missouri
Join us on a photographic exploration of Missouri’s landscape and learn how the incomparable trail system of Missouri came to be!
Missouri has something no other state does — a cross-state pathway, America’s longest rail/trail, connecting its two largest urban areas. Often running next to America’s longest river —the Missouri — through miles of farmland and past old railroad towns, the Katy and Rock Island trails currently traverse more than 280 miles, with another 140 to be built.
Trails Across Missouri is a story of history, landscape and perseverance. Trails chronicles these pathways with original photography and a discussion of how they create recreational opportunities and economic activity, providing those who use them with a connection to the land.
Read about the Rock Island Trail in suburban Kansas City, how it came to be, and how it connects to the Katy. Learn about the 140 miles of the Rock Island remaining to be built and the anticipation in these former railroad towns as they await the trail. Follow the Katy’s route from the Osage Plains near Kansas City in western Missouri, through the Missouri River valley, and on to the trail system of Great Rivers Greenway in St. Louis.
David Kelly, Director of Missouri State Parks; Frank White, County Executive of Jackson County (Kansas City); and Susan Trautman, CEO of Great Rivers Greenway (St. Louis) each discuss the impact of trails in their communities and in Missouri.
156 pages.
$40
Click here to buy this book at Missouri Life, our publishing partner.
This book is published in partnership with Missouri Life and created by Magnificent Missouri, a 501c3 dedicated to conservation and improvement of the Katy Trail and Rock Island Trail corridors.
Articles and Reviews
“The Man Who Saw Missouri’s Beauty” by Jeannette Cooperman, published in The Common Reader, a Journal of the Essay.
From the person who wrote Trail Blazers, the biography of Ted and Pat Jones, comes this article about how Dan Burkhardt picks up the torch, writing and publishing books, including Trails Across Missouri.
“Paging through the lush new coffee table book Trails Across Missouri, I realized that if someone pasted over the title and told me these were photographs from the French countryside, or the rolling hills of Czechoslovakia, or small Renaissance towns in Italy, I would be enthralled—and want to go there. No need to buy that transatlantic plane ticket—these photos were taken right here, along the Katy and Rock Island trails.”