Landon Trail Segment Opens
The Overbrook-Michigan Valley section of the Landon Trail is now complete. Now, trail users can bike, hike, run or horseback-ride on a 6.8-mile continuous stretch of trail. Now, volunteers will work on extending the trail south to the Flint Hills Trail at Quenemo. Kanza directors and the Overbrook Friends of the Trail developed this section using funds from Sunflower Foundation. This will bring the trail only two miles from Pomona Lake. The extension of the Landon Trail will increase the range of trail users and provide them with a greater opportunity to exercise for health and fun.
Redbud Trail Update
From the new Prairie Travelers newsletter: Redbud Trail Extension Update. “Imagine waking up and riding to Augusta for breakfast! That may soon become a reality following several “work sessions” this fall with the Augusta City Council which voted in favor of extending the Redbud Trail from US 400 into Augusta. The goal now is to have Butler County transfer the NITU (Notice of Interim Trail Use) directly to the City of Augusta with Andover Augusta Rail Trail Initiative (AARTI) committing to help build the limestone section and the City of Augusta working with KDOT and grants to install the two bridges we would need to cross over Kellogg and the Whitewater River.”
In 2021, Augusta completed the Redbud Trail section from the Frisco Depot to behind Walmart (adjacent to the Whitewater River) with the support of a matching grant from Sunflower Foundation. With this section’s completion, we have just four miles more to go! Then there will be a continuous 10-mile trail from west Andover to central Augusta. AARTI and Prairie Travelers are spearheading this project. Some day a cyclist will be able to ride 22 miles from Augusta all the way to central Wichita on the trail.
Section of Landon Trail in Clinton Wildlife Area to Open Soon
Another section of the Landon Trail is projected to open by Spring 2022 and essentially completes the Landon Trail within the Clinton Wildlife Area from one mile east of Ratner Rd. east and south to the Shadden Road Bridge near the ghost town of Richland. The two-mile section will pass by wetlands teaming with waterfowl and traverse the 238-foot-long Wakarusa River Bridge, the longest bridge on the trail. Finally, it is expected that the trail will be extended two miles from the Shadden Road Bridge to the Shawnee Heights Rd. Bridge in either 2022 or 2023.
Rock Island Trail in Missouri Moves Forward
Ameren and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources signed the final agreement transferring the 144 miles of Rock Island corridor between Windsor and Beaufort, Missouri, to Missouri State Parks to become Rock Island Trail State Park. The trail corridor connects with the famous Katy Trail forming a 444-mile rail-trail network. Now, we need to connect the Flint Hills Trail State Park with these trails.
Published by Sunflower Rail-Trails Conservancy
Clark H. Coan, Editor
785-842-3458