Blue River Parkway Trails

Extremely underrated trail system(I prefer it over swope shhhh don't tell anybody) Blue River has everything Missouri has to offer from,down hill jumps,Rock gardens, punchy climbs and great XC .

I really loved this series of trails! One of the best group of trails I have encountered in Missouri. We rode bridger, badger, and stonewall in loops. Great variety of terrain, roots, chunky rocks, drops, and flow. What struck me about these trails is the amazing flow, lack of killer climbs and/or huge downhills. This can be great for miles of smiles. A brief warning...we did find areas on the west side of the road on bridger where we encountered broken glass on the trail. Unfortunate, but not enough to change my overall opinion.

Love this river trail

None of the Kansas City Area trails are open when muddy. Please check the status before you go out. kctrailsstatus.com

Scott Cotter's review summarizes things really well. The only thing I would add is where to park. I like to park at the corner of Blue River Parkway and Blue Ridge Boulevard. From there, you can go west (the creek side of the road) to the River Trail or Wagon Wheel. Alternatively, go across the street east (away from the creek) to hop on Highline, Basement, etc.

Good variety wedged into suburbia. There are some really entertaining sections of trail and some that provide genuine technical challenge. Along with Swope Park, south KC has some very good riding.

I started riding Blue River when it was just a rogue 4 X 4 trail. In two decades it has bloomed into a very nice trail system and continues to grow thanks to a great group of volunteers.

Right now there are roughly 13ish miles if you include the connector trail on the North end. That will eventually connect to Swope and create an urban singletrack system in the area of 50 some odd miles.

The Blue River trail offers something for everyone. The trails down near the river are non-technical and flat. A good place to get your sea legs if you're a beginner. The East Side of Blue River road and the Wagon Wheel trails are intermediate to advanced, offering up shorty, punchy climbs, choppy rock and root sections, small drops and some tight turns/switchbacks. Trails like highline will test the technical abilities of really good riders and certain spots on Wagon Wheel will do the same. Because the trail (at speed anyway) can be unrelenting, your cardio will get pinged too. But in a good way.

I have ridden this hundreds of times and still love it. Flows really well (most places) but doesn't allow you to simply sit back and pedal. There's always a challenge, a super chunky rocky section, crazy tangle of roots to navigate, step ups, tight turns, trees to thread. Good stuff.

Fun trails.

A little something for everyone. Serengeti and the River trail are flat fast trails along the flood plan of the river. Ox Bow Run kicks it up a notch with a little more flow and curve to the trail. Basement and Bo Ho Ca start out nice enough but both start to get a little tough and technical with some big rocks and tight sections. the more technical sections of Bo Ho Ca probably reflects Wagon Wheel and Bager. High Line is a tough advanced line. The High Line express has some big drops, nice double jumps and is not for the faint of heart. Overall a great trail system.

great views of the river area. River side ride is
fast and just flows. Cross under the tunnel and this provides fun challenges.

Giving Blue River (aka Minor) a 5 to offset the others. Minor has a great deal to offer. This is a large wooded area and there are lots of trails that don't really have anything to do with the mountain bike trail system. If you didn't see signs for High Line, Basement Trail, Bo Ha Cha ... you were probably on the wrong side of the river, Blue River that is. High Line offers the most technical riding. I believe a few one way "downhill" lines were also added for those looking for drops. If you'd like a tour guide, find me on Twitter @JoeTierney

That was my experience as well. The response to my review below suggests that this is no longer case, but I haven't been willing to gamble my time on this trail again.

When did you last ride this trail system?

I wasn't able to do the whole trail because I got lost and the rising temperature was making the frozen tread soft. What I did ride was fun, fast and flowing near the creek, rocky and technical up on the hillside. Signage would help a lot because I think I got on a little used horse trail for a while. I will definitely be back to ride some more here in the future.

To be fair I haven't done the whole thing, just a few miles around the main trailhead. What I saw I would rate as mostly beginner. There's a few really sharp declines, a few roots, but mostly it's pretty easy. It's a fine trail, but there's no reason you should be here if you have the time to get to Swope or Landahl. Both parks have much more to offer for all skill levels, and are not infested with a horde of hyper aggressive ticks. If you come, bring your DEET. I've gotten more ticks in the hour and a half I've been on this trail than all the other trails I've been on together, combined. Times two. Amazing number of ticks.

First of all that picture can be very misleading. First time on the trail and I had a blast but it was much more technical then I thought it would be, had to walk a few areas. Only got to do half the trail due to time constraints (stupid job) but would love to have more time on this trail. From out of town bit next time I'm in the area this trail is definately worth a revisit.

Decent trail for KC. Took my family here. I must have missed the technical stuff the other reviewers mentioned.* Review edited 4/10/2012

Blue River has something for all levels. The majority of the trails run east and west of Blue River Rd. The trails to the west are the River Trails. These are mostly flat and fast. The one exception is a section called "Little Moab". Its about a 100 yd section of rock that runs over-looking the river. The trails to the east run north and south parallel to the road. The lowest is The Basement (easiest), then Bo Ha Ca, (harder) and High Line (most difficult). Ox Bow is a connector from Blue Ridge Blvd. To the south is
Serengeti, flat and fast with a creek crossing and Wagon Wheel (more difficult) but I haven't spent much time over there (it always seems to be wet). The River trials tend to hold water while Basement, Bo Ha Ca and High Line will dry out a little quicker. These 3 trails are the best that BuRP has to offer; climbs, technical, creek crossing etc. Easy access for the metro area and soon (?) will be connected to Swope Park by the great folks at Earth Riders (bless them)* Review edited 3/2/2010

Ba Ho Ca and the Basement trail are a blast. High line is a real challenge. The first time I rode it I walked the majority of the way.

There are three degrees of difficulty here. There's the lower trails which I would rate as "green." They're pretty quick paced and for the mos part follow the Blue River. Gotta look out for mud pits though since these are located in the river's flood plain.

On the other side of Blue River Rd are the harder trails. These are actually marked with names. The "High Line" is marked as "black diamond." The "Bo Ho Ca," and "Basement" trails are marked as blue squares. All three of which have pretty rocky terrain with rocky climbs and fast downhills.

I really like going here for an afternoon ride. Warm up on the easy trails and then have fun with the rocks on the Bo Ho Ca or Basement. Lots of fun!