Looking for the best trails around Carthage?

Explore the best rated trails in Carthage, MO, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Pittsburg East-West Connector Trail and Frisco Highline Trail . With more than 6 trails covering 62 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.

Recent Trail Reviews

Frisco Highline Trail

dog

December, 2024 by dcragen_tl

Rode out from bolivar. Out about 8 miles a dog chased me hard. On the way back same fellow. Would love to ride to springfield spend the night and ride back. But agreasive dog and no place to overnight park makes this a nogo for me

Ruby Jack Trail

Fun Trail.

October, 2024 by zapntex

Great trail to cruise on e-bike. Did the entire 16 miles. Easy ride for must of it. At one point you will have to carry your bile over some train track. The last 2 miles on the Kansas end are not maintained, tall grass and low trees but that made it fun. There is about 100 yds close to the end that you have to jump off trail and ride the street but otherwise a great trail ride….enjoy.

Frisco Highline Trail

Pleasant 2 day out and back 67 mile ride

September, 2024 by cizawood

We started in Bolivar, MO and rode south to Walnut Grove, where we rested, had some lunch and rode back to Bolivar. A very pleasant out and back, 45.5 miles roundtrip. The trail is paved in Bolivar, but once leaving town and crossing the highway, and restarting the trail just off Hwy 13, it's all gravel and some spots have been repaired so can have deep gravel and some sand. There are many bridges in this section to cross and a nice canopy so very shady. It's, the jarring on the gravel that makes it a difficult and slow going ride. Walnut Grove TH has zero amenities, so we rode the short distance into town and found a gas/food stop with potties, pizza, ice cream and nice folks to chat with. We returned to the WG TH and rode back to the very beginning of the trail in Bolivar and called it a day.

Day 2 we drove to WG TH, parked, and rode south to Willard towards Springfield. This had more open space, not as much canopy and a very nice TH in Willard with potties, food and the small town of Willard with lots of amenities. This was a 21.5 mile out and back.

We did not ride all the way into northern Springfield as we heard conflicting information of the trail not being safe with homeless and robberies. So instead of continuing past Willard on the asphalt part of the trail, we returned to WG TH and again had some lunch at the same stop as the day before in Walnut Grove. All in all, we had a nice time on the trail, saw very few other cyclists, heard and saw lots of birds and had a lovely ride. This was done over 2 days in early Sept 2024, so not a busy trail.

We would not recommend road bikes, you need good wide tires to tackle the gravel and the sand. Overall the trail is in good maintenance and a nice trail to ride.

Accordion

Frisco Highline Trail

Nice ride

June, 2024 by joglazewski

Rode the 16 mile section from Springfield to Walnut Grove on hybrid bikes. The first 8 miles on 10 ft wide asphalt in decent shape through woodlands. Adjacent to road and past light industrial areas but buffered by vegetation. Next 8 miles on packed gravel through meadows and farmland.

Ruby Jack Trail

Pleasant ride

February, 2024 by wegot2go

Nicely shaded well packed gravel trail. Parked our RV at the Carthage Trailhead in the nearby park. Parking available for cars at the trailhead. Remote trail so bring water and snacks.

Ruby Jack Trail

Nice e-bike ride

August, 2023 by randles.harris

My wife and I rode the Ruby-Jack. It was a good trail for our cruiser e-bikes. There was quite a bit of shade and the chat was packed good in most places. We enjoyed it. The trail still hasn’t been extended to the state line. Actual cleaned out and rideable miles are about thirteen which includes a railroad carryover at Carl Junction. We would recommend this trail and kudos to the the area cyclists club for this trail!!

Frisco Highline Trail

Info

July, 2023 by squeezes2606

If you are heading south on the trail from Bolivar when you pass 120 rd about a Quater mile 2 dogs will attack you. I will not ride that way again. Its safer on 13 highway

Frisco Highline Trail

A hidden gem

June, 2023 by wegot2go

Started in Springfield. Rode 12.5 miles before turning around. Well maintained trail. First 8 miles paved then gravel. Trail mostly lush and shaded. Several places to eat along the paved path.

Frisco Greenway Trail

nice ride

October, 2022 by john.kf0m

We parked at the trail head on St. Louis street which is a gravel lot with portapotty and rode south which was packed gravel with some up hill and down hill area near the creek. This area makes you feel like you are way out in the country with woods on both sides. We did see a rider on horseback and pedestrians. The trail head at the south end had a larger paved parking lot but from a quick look I am not sure how safe that neighborhood’s is. Riding north towards web city the terrain was flat and the gravel was smoother but there was a lot of housing development on both sides so not much of a country feel at most intersections cars stopped to let us cross which was nice.

Ruby Jack Trail

A successful day!

October, 2022 by satnip

All in all I think the trail is good. I enjoyed my day and had a good ride. I use a road bike with hybrid tires. Initially I tried to start in Carl Junction at the far west end of the trail which was actually Smithfield on the map. The only way you can ride on that section of it is if you have a mountain bike and there’s nowhere to park however if you go into Carl Junction right by the high school that is a good place to start. County Road 200 has a trail head and a place that you can park and you can go either direction on the trail. From Carl Junction East the trail is P gravel that is packed good with the exception of just a few spots. I saw a total of probably 10 people while I was on the trail mostly just north of Oronogo and Webb City when I was riding otherwise the trail is quite secluded. There is a lot of shade and the trail is fairly wide most of the way it narrows occasionally but you can easily pass people¿ everyone

Frisco Greenway Trail

Unexpected Fun

October, 2021 by gmsully

A friend suggested riding in Joplin so searched TrailLink to see what we could find. Took a friend, his wife and son up from NW Arkansas on October 10 to explore. The trail reminded us of the Katy Trail with the gravel surface so that started the day just right. With the notes from your site and our GPS navigation, found the trailhead pretty easily. Early morning coolness made this a fun adventure overall. The two things that my riding partners both suggested would make this easier for others would be to see about more signage around the end of the trail about 4 plus miles in as the trail just kind of stopped with out much to identify if we should keep going or turn around. Some nice pedestrians told us we were at the end and were so nice that it really helped us to finish on a positive note then turn around. There was one major street crossing that did not have any lights or devices to have traffic stop for slower riders or children. We had an 8 year old with us so that was a safety concern thta could be easily added. We may be spoiled by all the work in NW Arkansas trails for the local Greenway. Overall, a great morning start before heading over to the Ruby Jack trail.

Ruby Jack Trail

Surprising Jewel!

October, 2021 by gmsully

A friend suggested riding in Joplin so hopped on TrailLink to see what we could find. Ruby Jack sounded interesting and it did not disappoint! Put in at Carl Junction on October 10 and rode to Carthage for about a 25 mile round trip. Cool morning temps helped make this a great trail to explore. I highly recommend giving this a look and have already recommended it to several friends. Just a little over an hour from NW Arkansas so easily reached and lots of food options for post ride nutrition!!! Since I was solo, did not go much past the rough patch going west. Will explore that more in the future!

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