5.5-Mile Trail Extension Opens at Thousand Hills State Park
Summary
Missouri Department of Natural Resources announces the opening of a 5.5-mile trail extension at Thousand Hills State Park on April 18, 2026. The extension creates a 16-mile loop trail around the lake, developed in partnership with the Missouri Department of Conservation and Forest Lake Area Trail System.
What changed
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announces the opening of a new 5.5-mile trail extension at Thousand Hills State Park on April 18, 2026. The extension transforms the existing 10.5-mile one-way trail into a 16-mile loop following the lake's east side, developed through a cooperative effort with the Missouri Department of Conservation and Forest Lake Area Trail System.
This announcement concerns state park visitors and local communities near Kirksville, Missouri. No regulatory compliance obligations are created by this announcement. The public may attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. on April 18 at the Campground 1 trailhead.
What to do next
- No compliance actions required
Archived snapshot
Apr 10, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Thursday, April 9, 2026
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, APRIL 9, 2026 – Thousand Hills State Park team members invite the public to join them at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 18, for the ribbon cutting of Thousand Hills Trail’s new 5.5-mile extension. The event will take place at the trailhead at the front of Campground 1 following the park’s Earth Day event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Originally, the trail was 10.5 miles in one direction, but it will now offer a 16-mile loop through the park. This extension follows the lake’s east side, connecting a biking, hiking and backpacking trail around the lake. This new extension is a cooperative effort between the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Forest Lake Area Trail System. FLATS volunteers provided most of the labor to build the extension and also are committed to helping maintain the trail.
The trail extension will offer parking options within the park at Campground 1 Trailhead, the park office and Thousand Hills Trail trailhead on Big Loop Road, as well as in Kirksville at Michigan Street and Rainbow Basin.
Thousand Hills State Park is located at 20431 State Highway 157 in Kirksville.
For more information on Missouri state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Contact Information
Tisha Holden
Division Information Officer Missouri State Parks
P.O. Box 176
Jefferson City, MO 65102
United States
Office 573-751-6510 Toll-free 800-334-6946 tisha.holden@dnr.mo.gov
Related changes
Get daily alerts for MO DNR Environmental Newsroom
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from MO DNR.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when MO DNR Environmental Newsroom publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.