Walking and Biking Trails in Kirksville: Choose the Right Route

Walking and biking around Kirksville is easier to plan if you separate paved urban paths from natural-surface park trails.

Not every trail allows the same activities, and a line on a planning map is not necessarily a completed trail.

Short paved options in town

The City lists a 0.15-mile sidewalk loop around Memorial Park.

Visit Kirksville also describes an approximately two-mile paved walking path around the Kirksville public-school campus. That route has pet-waste stations and is useful for walking, strollers and ordinary paved-surface exercise.

Spainhower Field has a paved running track that tourism information says is open to the public when school teams are not practicing. Pets are not allowed on that track, and users are expected to wear proper footwear.

FLATS and the City trail network

Kirksville's Parks page says designated trails run throughout the city for hikers and bikers and directs users to the Kirksville Area Mobility Plan for completed and proposed routes.

That distinction matters. A proposed connector should not be treated as an open trail.

The FLATS Trailhead at 105 N. Osteopathy St. has an ADA-accessible trail that the City says is suitable for walking, jogging and biking. Visit Kirksville describes the Forest Lake Area Trail System as a volunteer organization working on walking and biking connections between Kirksville and Thousand Hills State Park.

Use the City's current trail map before trying to stitch separate segments into one route.

Thousand Hills has both hiking and biking, but not on every trail

Missouri State Parks lists four designated trails at Thousand Hills State Park and explicitly warns that permitted activities vary by trail.

The Thousand Hills Trail is the major multiuse option. In April 2026, Missouri State Parks opened a 5.5-mile extension that turned it into a 16-mile loop around Forest Lake. The state describes that loop for hiking, biking and backpacking.

Other trails are not automatically bicycle routes. Red Bud Trail, for example, is listed as a rugged natural-surface hiking trail.

Check the current State Parks trail listing before bringing a bike onto a specific trail.

Choose by surface and purpose

A practical way to decide:

• for a short paved loop, use an in-town walking path;
• for a longer paved or multiuse route, consult the current City trail map and FLATS resources;
• for natural-surface hiking or mountain biking, use the current Thousand Hills trail descriptions;
• for running on a track, check Spainhower Field practice status first.

The important part is not finding the word "trail." It is confirming the surface, permitted activity and current connection before you go.

For the broader recreation picture, see A Practical Guide to Kirksville’s City Parks.