Old Trails Road Scenic Byway
Missouri
The Old Trails Road Scenic Byway is short; it’s only 15 miles along Missouri Highway 224 from Lexington to Napoleon, running (mostly) parallel to the Missouri River. But western Missouri, especially the city of Independence, played a pivotal role in the westward expansion of America, hence the byway’s name.
“That area of the state is often seen as the jumping-off point for the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails,” said Stephen Foutes, communications manager for the Missouri Division of Tourism.
The byway may be short, but it showcases several small, tree-lined towns along the way, including Wellington and Waterloo, as well as river bottom countryside, farm and agriculture land, huge bluffs and lookout points.
The byway starts (or ends) in Lexington, a 5,000-person city with a historic downtown, and the Lafayette County Courthouse, where visitors can see a cannonball from the 1861 Battle of Lexington embedded in one of the courthouse columns.
The Battle of Lexington State Historic Site is where one of the largest Western engagements of the Civil War took place. There, guests can tour the visitor center or walk around the battlefield, which is now covered with orchards and gardens. Guides lead visitors through the Oliver Anderson House, which became the center of the three-day battle. The two-story brick antebellum home still bears cannonball scars and wears bullet holes in its walls.
