Weston Bend State Park
West Ridge Trail

West Ridge Trail is a mixture of long views of the Missouri River and curved explorations along a heavily wooded valley. This is a pretty walk in the spring, and I would imagine it's incredible in the fall when the leaves are in full color.

Approach

From the intersection of I435 and Mo-45N (Tom Watson Pkwy) northwest of Kansas City, follow Mo-45N north and west for 14.2 miles to the Weston Bend park entrance road.

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Turn left into the park, and follow the park road 1.1 miles to the turnoff for the Overlook.

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Take a left onto the overlook turnoff, and go 0.15 miles to the parking lot.

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Coordinates for the hike: 39.3882170,-94.8794310

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Parking / Trailhead amenities

The parking lot is paved and smooth. Their are no restrooms or water available at the parking lot or at the trailhead.

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There is a place for trail brochures at the trailhead, but when I visited it was empty.

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Trail observations

The trail is paved for a short distance, then turns to dirt and runs along a bluff overlooking the Missouri. At the one mile mark the trail starts to drop down into a valley away from the river, and at about a mile and a half the trail joins with the paved bike path. You will be on the bike path for about 8/10's of a mile, a walk with a lot of short ascents and descents. At about 2.4 miles you will leave the bike path and start a gradual climb up a valley back to the parking lot.

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The generally peaceful quiet of the blufftop trail is sometimes interrupted when a train runs along the trail at the base of the bluff - I didn't find this especially intrusive as it seemed a part of the river tableau.

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The trail is wide enough for two people to walk side by side in most spots. It's in generally good condition with a single exception where the trail crosses a root and drops a couple feet via a very muddy incline.

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Trail statistics

The trail is 2.66 miles long. The sum of all the uphill climbs is 164 feet.

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Trail waypoints

0.00 mi	Parking	Parking lot
0.05 mi	Trailhead	Trailhead
0.10 mi	Brochures	West ridge trail and map box
0.14 mi	Go left	Branch - stay left
0.15 mi	Go left	Branch - stay left
0.40 mi	Go right	Branch - stay right
0.40 mi	West Ridge trail	Follow West Ridge Trail - blue blazes
0.86 mi	Missouri river	Ridge trail overlooking the Missouri
1.03 mi	Go right	Branch - stay right
1.06 mi	Go right	Branch - stay right
1.10 mi	Rough spot	Rough spot where trail crosses root
1.53 mi	Bench	Bench
1.53 mi	Go left	Intersection - go left
1.53 mi	Left on bike path	Junction with bike path - go left
1.73 mi	On bike path	Heading along the bike path
2.05 mi	Bench	Bench
2.33 mi	Overlook sign	At sign, take a left towards the yellow bench
2.35 mi	Bench	Bench
2.36 mi	Go right	Take a right onto the Harpst Valley Trail
2.39 mi	Valley ascent	Climbing out of the valley
2.39 mi	Wild tree	Heading under a wild tree
2.66 mi	End of trail	End of trail