Platte Landing Park — Attraction in Parkville

There is a lovely, spacious dog park here with great structures and features. There's also a well kept, bike-friendly trail that runs along the river and then loops around a floodplain field full of native grasses and flowers. The trail is pea gravel with a couple of boardwalks across marshy areas, and (being in the floodplain) it's very level. If you continue east along the river (next to the baseball diamond) you can link up to the already substantial English Landing Park trail, and get in quite a few miles.

Be aware - the dog park has no shade at all, and much of the trail is the same way. Plan for the sun exposure! There is a water source for the doggies inside the park, and there's a water pump along the trail - next to the boat ramp.

If you have kids with you, make sure to tell them there's a surprise among the trees bordering the river - some kind, romantic soul installed a handmade fairy door in one of the trees that actually opens. My children love to bring along little trinkets to...

Platte Landing is a great place to walk, run, bike, or walk your dog. It's also a great place to exercise your dog, as it has an off-leash dog park, with separate areas for small and large dogs. We see everything from leftover tennis balls to quadcopters in the dog park, and my dog loves it. The people and dogs are well behaved, and everyone on the trail is always friendly. We see everything from baby carriages to bicyclists. People come here from outside of Parkville because of the quaint setting with the river in the background. Watch out for the guy in the wheelchair with the boxer-esque dog, though - he is extremely aggressive and shelters his dog; probably just a victim and certainly not from Parkville. When I see him at the dog park, I just walk my dog around the 2.5 miles of trails...

I'm visiting my son at Kansas City, I tried to find trail for hiking and pick the Platte Landing and English Landing Loop from Alltrails. It was a relaxing walk in the Friday afternoon. This is a flat paved road along the Missouri River. The scenery may be better in a few weeks. Most people's activities are dog walking, riding bicycles, family and group walking, and taking photos. The Missouri River looks very similar to the Chattahoochee River. It is calm. Steamboat used to navigate through it, but now there are not even fishermen around: clumps of dandelions grow on the roadside, and the umbrella-shaped crowns are ready to float in the wind at any time, making me want to travel; Amtrak trains pass by in the distance. The sunset view...