Weldon Springs Conservation Area

Missouri River

Weldon Spring Conservation Area

On the Saturday of Memorial weekend, May 28, 2022, I took a drive out to the Weldon Spring Conservation Area located in St Charles Missouri.  It was a perfect weather day for a hike.  There were 2 main trail options for the parking area I chose.  First was the shorter Clark Trail at 5.3 miles and the other trailer was the longest one called the Lewis Trail at 8.2 miles. 

Interestingly enough the trails start out together, hence, the Lewis and Clark Trail.  Roughly 2.5 miles into the trail you have a choice to continue on with the shorter Clark Trail or veer hard right and take the longer Lewis Trail that runs deeper into the Conservation Area.  I chose the Clark Trail.

The trail itself was muddy in a number of places given the heavy rain 2 days earlier.  No big deal as I just created my own route around the muddy spots.  While the trail was not crowded, I did see a number of people enjoying the day.  For the most part the trail was hard packed dirt with some rocks and gravel in spots.  Going out you are walking on top of a ridge line then, about 1.5 miles into the hike the trail takes you down into the valley and through a dry creek bed.  Posted pictures of both in the picture gallery at the bottom of this post.

There were some truly fantastic views of the Missouri River.  You need to veer slightly off the combined Lewis and Clark trail to see the view.  Basically, you move slowly toward the river on the cliffs so you can see between the heavy tree foliage.  That vantage point (there are a number of them) is excellent for pictures and to see the full beauty of the Missouri River.  I was super careful on the bluffs as it was a straight drop down (guessing 500 feet or more).

The dry creek bed was cool to see and walk across.  The Clark Trail took me across the dry creek bed a bunch of times before the steep hike to the top of the adjoining ridge line.  There was one neat foot bridge to cross and I took a couple of pictures of that as well.  I did see my first snake while hiking.  Looked like a black snake and I was way more interested in him than he was in me.  He went on his way and was quickly out of site.

This was a super hike for a Missouri Park with good views of the River, some elevation challenges, on the route which make me feel like I was hiking and not just taking a walk.  Definitely recommend the Lewis and Clark Trail.  Had a lot of fun.