Brush Creek Trail

Ok. So, I've been awfully busy lately with another project that not only has kept me away from this blog, but also away from a lot of the activities I like to do. However, over the summer I saw that the city had been working on some portions of the Eastern part of the Brush Creek trail, so, last week I dusted off my bike and went for a ride along the newly finished part of the trail.

And I have to say, kudos to Kansas City for finishing this part of the trail and for doing a great job on it.

For those that don't know, the trail along Brush Creek starts around the plaza area -- and then runs out past the Kaufmann Gardens area. At that point, until recently, there were parts of the trail that existed, and parts that didn't. But at the Kaufmann gardens, you can take the trail across the Troost bridge to the South of the creek, then follow Volker for a few hundred yards, and then go back down to the creek, cross a foot bridge over the creek, and then continue east for several miles now along the North side of Brush Creek.

The trail follows the creek and goes under the major intersection bridges, Paseo, Prospect, 71 Highway, Cleveland, etc, -- but is a very pleasant ride/run. They've put in some nice wildlife areas along the creek, and even a huge, nice waterfall and an ampitheater. Honestly, I greatly enjoyed the ride and in places the trail actually resembles many of the great urban biking trails in this country. Seriously, it's that good.

The trail now functions as a continuous trail along the creek until it peters out just past Elmwood (there is an overlook that overlooks another waterfall area there) -- although you can cross Clever IV Boulevard and continue on the trail along Clever for several more miles (to about 35th street or so).

I snapped a few photos along the bike route -- they were taken with my iPhone, so I'm not going to win any awards for the photography, but I think it will give you a feel for parts of the trail.

Now, while the city and the parks department deserve some kudos for their work on this, there are still a few issues with the trail. Brush creek still has a LOT of trash in it -- which definitely hurts the feel of the ride. If the city can ever figure out a way to clean up Brush Creek, it will certainly impact how nice the trail is.

But I do recommend people use the trail -- it really is nice, and is much prettier and easier to navigate than the very popular Trolly Track trail.

Comments

[Kevin]

the amphitheater is from when they upgraded brush creek back in the 90s. I'm assuming you mean the one at Theis Park

[Brent]

Kevin, there is another one further east than Theis Park -- near the interestion at Benton/Cleveland area. There is a chance that it has been there for awhile, but if so, I've never noticed it from the road.