Looking for hiking trails around Kansas City? This Girl Scout has a resource for you
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What should you do while the weather is nice and the sun is shining?
Local high schooler Lizzie Place has one suggestion: take a hike.
The fourth-generation Girl Scout and junior at Blue Valley North High School is the founder of Take A Hike, KC, which highlights free hiking trails in the Kansas City region.
Place created the list as part of a Girl Scout Gold Award project, which is the most prestigious award you can earn as a Girl Scout for making a lasting change in your community.
With the hiking list, Place said she wanted to make something that was helpful to people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was staying home so much during COVID, I was doing online school and I think hiking is just so good for your mental health, as well as your physical health,” Place said. “It really gave me a break during the midst of COVID when I wasn’t seeing my friends as much.”
Place said she loves hiking, but until now, she couldn’t find a compiled list of Kansas City’s hiking trails. She wanted to make the activity that is so important to her more accessible to everyone.
You can see the full list of trails here, including where they’re located and how long each trail is. She also made a downloadable list of 50 of her favorite free trails.
Place regularly posts updates about Take A Hike KC on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you know a trail in Kansas City that’s not on her list, you can submit it to her website.
“You can go hike for 30 minutes or 20 minutes — it doesn’t have to be a five-hour thing, and once you’re outside and you’re together with people that you really enjoy, it becomes much more fun and people very quickly fall in love with it,” Place said.
Here are a few of Place’s favorite spots, with descriptions in her own words:
Blue River Parkway Trails: “These incredible trails inside the city range from very easy to very challenging. Basement is one of my favorite trails, but I am nervous every time!”
Burr Oak Woods: Bethany Falls Trail: “Bethany Falls has something for everyone, above the creek, through the woods and ending with the unbelievable limestone outcroppings that give it its name.”
Fleming Park: Rocky Ledges Trails: “Park at Shelter 14 and hike either the gorgeous trails on the upper or lower ledge, amazing lake views. Plus, bison!”
Gary L. Haller Trail: “Great long paved trail that runs north and south through Johnson County. At the north end, you can hike out to the Kansas River and see eagles in winter. The Mill Creek loop inside Shawnee Mission Park is so pretty in the fall.”
Hidden Valley Park: Natural Area Trail: “Such a surprising trail in KCMO that more people should hike. I feel like I am in Jurassic Park when I hike this trail in the summer. Better than Worlds of Fun, which is right there too.”
Lexington Lake Park: Indigo Loop Trail: “A newer park in JoCo with a lot of trail miles. I love Indigo Loop especially, with its long stacked stone wall and climbs down to a creek and up to some rocky bluffs.”
Olathe Prairie Center Trails: “Prairie Center is almost never busy, so quiet and peaceful. I feel like many people do not know it is there. Great wildflowers in summer.”
Parkville Nature Sanctuary Trails: “So much wildlife, lots of boardwalks, a waterfall, and you can hike up into the conservation area. Also, there is a cool Girl Scout shelter!”
Stocksdale Park/Walnut Woods Trails: “The only access to Walnut Woods is through the park. Drive to the furthest point and park to access trails that are more challenging closer to Rush Creek.”
Swope Park’s Rocky Point Glade Trail: “Best-kept secret trail in KCMO. The glade trail is hikers-only, with a small hidden gate off Rancho D’Lux trail, behind the old stone shelter at the top of Oakwood Drive.”
This is also the trail Place recommended that every Kansas Citian hike at least once in their lives.
Tomahawk Creek Trail: “A real get-away-from-it-all trail through Leawood and Overland Park. Walk the trail south from the parking lot at Tomahawk Creek Park in Leawood, to find a single hidden picnic table beside the creek.”
Wyandotte County Lake Park Bridle Trail: “Feels like a state park, and I think it is the most beautiful park of all in the fall. The short bit of trail starting at Shelter 6 and heading to Schlagle Library is breathtaking when the leaves turn.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
