Via the Katy Trail, St. Charles to Machens is 12.6 miles. Heading east, the Missouri River emerges from its bluff-shrouded valley into the expansive bottomland of the Illinois, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers, and the bluffs around St. Charles disappear into these flatlands. At milepost 34.5 is the lowest point in Katy Trail State Park, 436 feet above sea level. The extended river bottoms provide rich farmland where corn, wheat, and soybeans are grown, and in the distance the bluffs of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers appear as shadowy forms. There were three main stops on the Katy Railroad between St. Charles and Machens: Cul de Sac at milepost 34.5, named after one of St. Charles' common fields; Marais Croche at milepost 32.3, where a simple shelter stood beside the Crooked Marsh; and Black Walnut at milepost 30.0, named for a small grove of walnut trees. Musick Ferry Road led from Black Walnut to a ferry operated by Revolutionary War veteran David Musik. Machens, at milepost 26.9, is the eastern end of Katy Trail State Park. A quarter mile south of Machens, Texas Junction, named after the last state in the Katy's name, was where the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad connected, allowing Katy trains to enter St. Louis via the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy.
