Trail system transforming St. Joseph into emerging biking hub

By Cameron Montemayor

Within the rapidly growing community of trail enthusiasts and mountain bikers in the region, a new moniker for St. Joseph has grown as the River Bluff Trails Park ramps up.

Known largely as the birthplace of the Pony Express and late home for revered outlaw Jesse James, the emergence of “St. Flow, MO” and what it represents is taking on a life of its own now.

It’s more than a catchy nickname, with nearly 18 miles of gravel and dirt trails going through the bluffs of northern St. Joseph. And with more trails being worked on by the day, the nickname is a testament to the enthusiasm and community that has flourished for one of St. Joseph’s growing attractions and landscapes.

“I didn’t know it was all up here. Every time I come up here it’s something new,” 63-year-old St. Joseph resident David Brown said while sitting among the River Bluff Trails at Huston-Wyeth Park. “It’s unbelievable … It’s great for family picnics, bike riding, walks, trails. I mean, everything’s up here and free. We’ve got such a great landscape.”

Brown remembers going to the area with his friends as a young teenager to mushroom hunt. Now four decades later, the avid nature-lover is blown away by the vast number of trails that offer stunning views of the Missouri River, the bluffs and a vantage point west that stretches for dozens of miles.

“You’re on top of the world up here. It’s like you’re in a different place. Peaceful, away from everybody pretty much. I love it up here,” Brown said.

The latest extension to the $3.7 million trail system, courtesy of Nomad Trails Development, was completed in late February and features a new 1.3-mile all-weather/emergency access mountain biking loop. The company initially was contracted to build about 9 miles of trail, but it’s been efficient enough to stretch that to nearly 18 miles with some of the latest work completed in 2024.

The River Bluff Trails system features more than 35 different paths with five categories of difficulty to accommodate riders and hikers of all skill sets. Park trailheads are located at 4101 Huntoon Road near the water tower and at 1502 McArthur Drive by the Remington Nature Center.

“It’s probably one of the most important projects that St. Joseph has done since it created the park system back in the 1910s and ‘20s. It’s one of the biggest moments,” said Chuck Kempf, director of St. Joseph Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities.

The approval of $400,000 for a new skills biking track and enhancements to existing paths at Huston-Wyeth Park in February by the St. Joseph City Council represents another major investment on the horizon that serves to enhance the park system even more.

The scale of the trail system and its scenic terrain isn’t only igniting and growing a passionate community of local bikers and trail enthusiasts. It’s also boosting tourism and bringing people in from across the country who hear stories about a hidden gem among trail systems in the U.S.

“It’s one of the biggest mountain bike projects,” said Brett Shoffner, owner and operator of Nomad Trails. “It’s undeniable that it’s attracting hundreds of people a week, thousands of people a month. Locals are using it and lots of people from out of town.”

Shoffner, a St. Joseph resident and longtime mountain biker, isn’t just building trails nearly every day with a team of eight experts, who include his brothers, Dylan and Josh, he’s rooted himself in the community since arriving five years ago to embark on the large project.

In addition to building mountain biking trails, he’s regularly organizing biking events like the 2024 Winter Downhill Series. The event spanned three weekends from late February to early March and brought in dozens of young and adult riders from cities across the Midwest including Omaha, Topeka and Des Moines, to race the trails and bring more exposure to the park system.

“We’ve had lots and lots of states visit here and they’re slowly getting the national reputation that this is a place that needs to be ridden for mountain biking or explored on foot,” Shoffner said.

The Kansas native has traveled the country for years building artistic and ecologically sensitive trails on terrains in Arkansas, California, Wyoming and Colorado. In his view, St. Joseph’s topography has provided a foundation for a system that rivals the top mountain biking and trail running systems in the country now. He knows at least three people who have gone as far as buying and renovating property in the area to be closer to the trails.

With interest in the River Bluff Trails system at an all-time high across the region and expanding, Shoffner has high hopes for St. Joseph to potentially become a hub for large state and national events that would bring in thousands of kids and adults over a weekend. The economic benefits could potentially be sizable.

“Each one of those races is anywhere between $375,000 and $800,000 in direct economic impact … So, I mean, if you can build a trail system … and in the first year, have a race that makes you $500,000 and tax revenue … that’s a pretty sizable return immediately on a public project.”

Kempf, Shoffner and other officials and trail supporters are turning their attention now to expanding and enhancing this fall’s River Bluff Trails Festival in the hopes of attracting an even wider audience, especially trail runners, hikers and people who have never explored the system before. The St. Joseph Sports Commission is involved in planning discussions with the city for the first time this year to help take the event to another level.

The parks department and builders like Nomad Trails also have the added support of groups like the St. Joseph Trail Alliance, a local nonprofit organization that focuses on maintaining, improving and promoting trails in St. Joseph. Between the three, a strong network of people are constantly working together to make the trail system a defining attraction of the city.

Interest in the River Bluff Trail system is spreading beyond the U.S. as well. Kempf recalled a recent and telling story he heard from officials with the 139th Airlift Wing where during a training exercise at Rosecrans, a number of service members arriving more than 4,500 miles away from Sweden showed up with more than just their military gear.

“Several of them walked off the plane with their mountain bikes because they had heard about the new River Bluff Trail system. And they wanted to be able to come over here and ride that,” Kempf said. “We don’t always get that with our park amenities … but when you can create something for the local folks and also draw people in to enhance tourism, that’s really a win-win.”