Favorite Running Route
TRWS GURU’s Favorite Running Route
Meet Will, The Running Well Store Guru from our Mission location, and learn more about where he loves to run and why?
Line Creek Trail!!!
My personal favorite running route is Line Creek Trail. It is a North/South trail in the heart of Platte County. There are a variety of trailheads that you can begin on, but the two most popular are in the center: 1) Waukomis by Line Creek Community Center and 2) N Gower. The trail runs through 2 cities and has connections to many other trails, neighborhoods, streets, and cities. The surface is paved concrete throughout, approximately 10 feet wide and 8.4 miles in length from end-to-end. This is an extremely bike friendly trail with a service station in the center that offers tools and air to tinker with your bike. They also offer trail mile markers at each mile to give the trail user an idea of their location and how far they’ve gone.
Why this route is a favorite!
I personally love this route because of nostalgia as it’s a trail close to my childhood home. We used to go on walks, runs and bike rides as kids on this trail. It was started as an effort to give Platte County residents an escape from more developed areas. It was also where I did most of my summer training in high school to escape the sun. Roughly 90% of the trail is covered by trees and makes you feel secluded from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding cities. It has incredible scenery with an abundance of wildlife, waterfalls, birdhouses and native flowers. The trail has a slight incline running northward. I personally enjoy parking my car at the north end and running south to get a bit of a boost running downhill and then run home and pick my car up later. If I’m feeling up for a challenge, I’ll park at the south side and see how fast I can run uphill. We take our dogs on walks there and ride bikes occasionally. I’ve easily put over a thousand miles on foot on the various parts of Line Creek Trail.
Nowadays I run on it about once a week as part of a long run loop. One of my reasons for loving it so much is the variety you get. On the north end of Line Creek you can branch off and run on the 152 Trail that runs east or west. On the south end you can run down past Argosy Casino and connect to the Riverfront trail and eventually English Landing Park’s (Our Barry Road Guru, Greg Goertzen’s fav running route) trail system headed west. In the center of the trail, you have the Southern Platte Pass that runs from I-29 all the way out to I-435. Each of the aforementioned trails also connect to other trails throughout the county so it’s very easy to get variety. The county is planning on building more trails and expanding others over the next two decades so even more options will be available further down. A variety of races have been held on the trail as well. One upcoming run is the Fall Finish 5k/10k that starts on the southern portion of Line Creek. The old Northland Half Marathon was also held here.
Locate The Route
Check out Will’s Line Creek Trail favorite running route: Enjoy and Run Well!
I’m a local runner from Kansas City currently living in Parkville. Running has been a big part of my life since I joined my high school cross country team 11 years ago. I ran collegiately at Park University and post-collegiately with Kansas City Smoke for two years. I currently run competitively for First City Track Club based out of Leavenworth, KS. I’ve been a part of the Running Well Store family since 2015 as a fit guru, starting at the Barry Road location, and now as a product purchaser, at our Mission location.
About TRWS
The Running Well Store is the premier running specialty store in Kansas City/Lee’s Summit, Missouri and Mission, Kansas! We are a locally owned business that has been in operation since 2006. You can shop in store or online. Our tagline is THE PLACE FOR EVERY PACE as we want all walkers, runners, newbies, veterans, and people who work on their feet all day to feel welcome. We know that there are a lot of options for footwear on the market and deciding what model is the right one for your needs is not easy. We are here for you! You can come into one of our three locations (Lee’s Summit, Northland, and Mission, KS) for a free stride analysis. No appointment necessary, but if you would like to schedule an appointment, click here. We take in-person and virtual fittings. Want to do research online? We have a find my fit tool that will help narrow down footwear options. We hope to hear from you soon!