Mark Twain National Forest · Missouri

Cedar Creek - South

19 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 03-015A · trail class 3 · typical grade 10-12% · tread 24-36 inches wide · hiking, horse, bike

Trailhead Paris Chapel Trailhead Drive there

Paris Chapel Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up

season January to December

The Paris Chapel Trailhead leads to the main Cedar Creek Trail to the south. The Cedar Creek Trail provides a 22-mile system with an excellent opportunity to view the restored lands of 16,500 acres in the Cedar Creek area.

Before 1940 the land was heavily developed for farming, then, in the mid-1940s, the Soil Conservation Service began rebuilding both the soil and the forested lands by replanting trees and seeding grasslands. Now managed by the U.S. Forest Service, it provides recreational opportunities in the transition zone between oak-hickory forests and native prairies. Additionally, travelling north on the trail will lead to the Smith Loop.

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Mark Twain National Forest

All 294 trails in Mark Twain National ForestFind a trailForest on fs.usda.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.