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Reply to katy-trail-to-downtown.aspx (2015 Update)
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Mark from Lee's Summit, MO on 10/23/2015 7:31:00 PM:
I really enjoyed the route that I took this October from the Katy Trail to Downtown St. Louis. I really enjoyed rolling into downtown one hour before the Cubs/Cardinals game...here is the route:
Take the Route 364 (Page Avenue Bridge) across the Missouri River from the Katy Trail.
Follow the signs to follow the Creve Coeur Connector Trail.
When you dive down the hill away from the highway into Creve Coeur Park, continue straight through the bike roundabout and go past the Lakehouse (a great place to stop if you want to eat a whole meal or to just grab a Gatorade).
Continue straight on the trail until it parallels Creve Coeur Mill Road and turns into a sidewalk.
Continue straight on the sidewalk for about 500' past the apartment complex where the sidewalk turns into a crushed gravel path that turns left along a creek and utility easement.
The gravel path connects to the Old Farm Estates pool parking lot and playground where you can then connect to Bookbinder Drive.
Turn right onto Bookbinder Drive and enjoy a couple of big hills with fairly light traffic (especially compared to Creve Coeur Mill Road).
Bookbinder eventually runs into Creve Coeur Mill Road, but you only have to ride about 100' on it until you link up with Olive Boulevard.
Olive Boulevard is a road with heavy traffic, but it has a mix of wide bike shoulders, striped bike lanes, and sidewalk areas. Along Olive, the single point interchange at I-270 and the cloverleaf interchange at Lindbergh (Hwy. 67) are the only difficult parts.
Once you get past Lindbergh, continue straight on Olive for about 1/2 mile past Warson and Old Bonhomme, then turn right at the next street Newcastle.
Go down the hill on Newcastle for about 1/4 mile and you will see an asphalt bike trail begin along the left side of the roadway (this is an awesome paved trail through Olivette).
The 1/2 mile trail connects to Dielman Road where there is a signed bike route from Dielm

 
Mark from Lee's Summit, MO on 10/23/2015 7:34:07 PM:
The 1/2 mile trail connects to Dielman Road where there is a signed bike route from Dielman to Hill/Dale to Elkington to Villa Avenue.
From Villa Avenue, turn right onto Price Road, go up the hill and turn left onto Old Bonhomme Road.
Take Old Bonhomme Road for 1/4 mile over the I-170 bridge where you will immediately turn left and go down the hill onto the Centennial Greenway Trail system.
Take the Centennial Greenway Trail for 2 miles straight south until it dead-ends at Shaw Park.
Work your way through Shaw Park past the tennis courts and past the swimming pool.
Cross Brentwood Boulevard at Carondolet Avenue and stay straight on Carondolet for 1/2 mile (you ride on a nice wide street and cut through the County Courthouse area that has wide walkways).
Carondolet Avenue dead-ends at Carondolet Plaza, but go right around the plaza roundabout and you will see a bike/ped bridge over Forest Park Parkway.
Once you cross the ped bridge, stay to the left and ride down Edgewood Drive where you will turn left onto Wydown Boulevard.
Wydown Boulevard has great bike lanes and nice tree lined streets as it leads you eastward towards Forest Park.
Once at Forest Park, I recommend taking their bike trails to the left clockwise around the park.
Once around the park, I recommend taking Pine Street through several nice neighborhoods where eventually you will run right into the St. Louis University campus.
Go through the SLU campus for about 1 mile until you reach the baseball and softball fields, then turn left and join the bike lanes along Olive Boulevard (again).
Take the Olive bike lanes eastward for about 2 miles until you reach 20th Street where you will turn right.
Go two short blocks to Chestnut Street and turn left. Enjoy the new parking protected bike lanes along Chestnut past Union Station all the way to 4th Street where you will see the Old Courthouse and the Arch.
Until the Arch construction has been c

 
Mark from Lee's Summit, MO on 10/23/2015 7:35:24 PM:
Until the Arch construction has been completed, I had to take Broadway (5th Street) south to Chouteau Avenue and then down to the riverfront.

 
Mark from Lee's Summit, MO on 10/23/2015 7:40:15 PM:
One correction --- When you cross I-170 while riding eastward along Old Bonhomme, you need to turn immediately RIGHT in order to get on the Centennial Greenway bike trail.

 
Newsh from St. Charles on 10/24/2015 7:33:11 AM:
Wow, how did you figure that one out? I've often wondered a good way to get to downtown from the trail. How long did that take you? Any idea how many miles that is? I ride a recumbant and am handicapped, were you riding in traffic much of the time? Thanks for taking the time to provide the detail. I bet it was a site riding into the cards/cubs crowd.

Newsh

 
KC from Austin on 10/24/2015 7:44:38 AM:
This is great info for locals and experienced road cyclists. If you are a newbie like me, riding in traffic after days on the Katy is a serious buzz kill. I didn't realize just how peaceful the trail was till I got home and rode on my regular streets. So loud! Cars so close to me!

 
Dale from Lorena on 5/23/2016 5:22:01 AM:
Rode this route last week. Rear view mirror and assertive riding skills were helpful on Olive between the two exchanges. The rest of this route actuall made it a highlight of the trip. Piece o cake to the arch and Amtrak. Thanks for laying out this route Mark!

 
Mark from Lee's Summit on 5/17/2018 8:31:13 PM:
Not much has changed since the fall of 2015 when I recommended what I think is the best route from the Katy Trail to Downtown St. Louis. It is nice to see the Chouteau Greenway moving forward, but that project will take quite a long time to build. The short busy stretches that I recommend along Olive are still probably your best bet in West County because there are so few alternate routes. All of the cul-de-sacs, dead-end roads, and gated communities in West County really limit your options, but if you absolutely can't stand the busy stretch of Olive between I-270 and east of Lindbergh, then you have to go down to Ladue and take that continuous sidewalk to Warson Road and then back north into Olivette.

 
ron4cubs from Plano, TX on 5/18/2018 6:44:50 AM:
Interesting route but it doesn't go to the end (Machens). I'm planning a trip in the next few weeks and my route goes to Alton, IL down the Confluence Trail to the Chain of Rocks bridge. Then the riverfront trail downtown..One night at City Center Hotel and then Amtrak back west. I'm not familiar with the area but that is the current plan.