Betty

Greenville Trail to Town

Sign for Greenville Bike Trail with map and history of the trail.

One of the best things about Greenville Recreation Area is the Greenville Bike Trail. This trail starts at the campground and makes its way into the town of Greenville.

The campground’s trailhead for the bike trail is located right next to campsite 102.

That information alone is worth the price of this blog post.

For you see, there are several trails and roads in the campground. One trail goes along the river. One starts at the opposite end of the campground. One goes to Bettis Ford. One goes up and over a bridge to a scenic lookout.

Dan sitting on a bench along the Greenville bike trail.

Which is all fine and dandy if you are on a bike. However, it was on the chilly side when we were there, so we elected not to bring our e-bikes. Instead, we chose to walk the trails. We wanted to be sure that when we started off for the town, we were headed in the right direction.

Our goal of the day was to walk the Greenville Trail into the town and have lunch. The walk into town took us about an hour and 10 minutes. The trail goes under Highway 67 via a lighted tunnel. Eventually, the trail comes out at U.S. Business Highway 67. Most of the town’s businesses are across the business highway from the trailhead; however, crossing the business highway at that point was easy, even for a worry wart, like me. Traffic was light, and there is a crosswalk right there, too.

Greenville, Missouri

There is a small parking lot at the Greenville Trailhead for those who start at that end of the trail. After easily crossing the highway, we walked about a tenth of a mile (right near the gas station) to the Trail’s End Coffee and Cafe. Here we found a delightful and charming cafe owned and operated by Jason and Jordan, a husband and wife team.

I had the chicken salad on a croissant, and it was absolutely delicious. Perhaps it tasted better because of our long walk into town, but I don’t think so. Dan had a French Dip, and he said it was excellent. And if there wasn’t enough beef on the sandwich, Dan wouldn’t hesitate to let me know. Both our sandwiches came with chips.

Inside of the Trail's End Coffee and Cafe.
Trail’s End Coffee and Cafe
Jordan and Jason at the counter inside the Trail's End Coffee and Cafe.
Jordan and Jason
The Delightful Owners

We enjoyed it so much, we talked about coming back for breakfast. However, the cafe is closed on Sunday and Mondays, so our schedule did not allow for us to return during this trip. But we will go back! If you go, check their Facebook page as they currently close at 2 pm. By the way, nobody paid for my lunch except Dan, so this recommendation is freely given.

Statue of Liberty on a tall pedestal outside the courthouse.

Right across from the Trail’s End Coffee and Cafe is the Wayne County Courthouse. Perched high on a pedestal outside the courthouse is a Statue of Liberty replica. This statue once stood in front of the courthouse in Old Greenville – which would have been located right next to our campsite.

According to the bronze plaque on the base, this statue was “Erected A.D. 1920 by the citizens of Wayne County in honor of our boys who entered their country’s service. Dedicated to those who gave their lives in the defense of liberty in the World War, 1917-1918.” When the town moved, the statue was moved, too.

Banner on a roof which says, "Midway Cook Shack."
The sign says, “Tomorrow we can eat broccoli, but today is for ICE CREAM!”

Jordan recommended Mid-Way Drive In for ice cream which was right next door. She recommended the blizzards. So, just to keep Jordan happy, we walked over to Mid-Way. While I wanted the blizzard, I settled for a small soft-serve chocolate ice cream cone. It was delicious. Sometimes, soft serve can taste a little watery, but not this one.

After enjoying our ice cream, we walked back toward the trailhead, but we stopped in a flea market that just happened to be right there. I don’t really need to acquire more stuff, but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see what was there.

Greenville Flea Market

At the flea market, I saw a 29 piece set of Fire King Peach Lustre dishes for sale. I happened to already have all the pieces except for the three mixing bowls. These dishes belonged to the seller’s mother, and she did not want to break up the set. I don’t blame her. I did find a cute little candle holder for $2.

Dan and one of the flea market sellers.

We asked the lady to wrap our treasure, so we could carry it back to the campground as we had walked to town on the trail. The woman’s eyes grew big, and she asked, “You walked the whole way?” “Yes, we did.” She then said, “Well, you might want that.” And she pointed to …

A walker with wheel and a seat.
A Walker.

After all the walking we had done and how much we still had before us, the idea of sitting down on this and having Dan push me back to our campsite was pretty darn tempting. Instead, we laughed out loud, and Dan said, “Don’t give her any ideas.” I had to admire not only this lady’s Fire King dishes, but also her quick wit.

We made it back to our campsite, but not before seeing – what we thought looked liked Sasquatch climbing a tree.

Picture of lots of trees with one of them having a large growth on the trunk.

I don’t know. I do know we were getting tired. Maybe we were seeing things. In any case, it was a really fun day, and we’d do it again in a heart beat. But next time, I think I’ll get the blizzard.

Betty and Dan standing in front of the Trail's End logo painted on the wall inside the cafe.

35 comments

    • Well, now you have inspired me. I did get a full picture of the building, but it was from the side as I was focused on taking a good picture of the statue. Back at our campsite, I tried to figure out where the statue once stood. But there were no hints. This campground is located near our dealer, and we go there twice a year. So, we will return to Greenville – God willing. It’s a challenge to me when we return to a place we have visited previously to write a “fresh” post. This idea of writing about the courthouse will be filed in my mind for our next trip there. I will get a better photo and more of the scoop, and I may even look up stories in newspapers from long ago. The only caveat is you’ll probably have to wait about a year to read what I’m sure will be quite a fascinating post. Hope you don’t unsubscribe as you’ll miss it! 🙂

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      • A whole year…but..but..but I don’t wanna wait that long! Just kidding; I have been “fixing to” drive the 24 miles to Holly Springs for a long-delayed photo/essay at least since May of 2024. I can wait. Unsubscribe? And never see Dan taller than the bottom of the light fixture? (Always make me think of Dad and smile.) Or the interesting people you engage with from all ends of the cradle to grave spectrum? I am so excited that your Corinth stay is coming up soon as you journey back through Mississippi.

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        • A year goes by fast. And sometimes posts roll around in my head for quite a while – all the while being refined. Or at least that’s what I tell myself. We are looking forward to Corinth, too. We’ll be there for three nights. We have some exploring to do. We will also be in Hattiesburg for 3 nights, too. I better stop there before – as they say here in the Midwest – I let any more cows out of the barn!

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    • I totally agree. We are just so tired of being cold, we didn’t want to be cold riding our bikes. We will go again, and hopefully the weather will be better for biking. We did see another couple riding on recumbent e-bikes, and they said they were cold. Next time!!

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    • We do love to walk. It is the magic elixir for good health. The couple who own/operate the Trail’s End Coffee and Cafe were so friendly and so cute. We like to patronize the locally owned businesses. It was a good day. Hope you enjoy the weekend, too.

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    • Oh believe me, I was tempted!! But the small chocolate soft serve was delicious and satisfying, too. I only have so much willpower, so next time it may very well be the blizzard!

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  7. The walk back—on a full tummy—would have been hardest for me. It’s great that young entrepreneurs are still out their running great businesses. The Flea Market looked fun. But carrying back whatever you buy requires some forethought.😀

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    • Well, had we found a large treasure that we just couldn’t pass up, we could have come back later with the car. But the chance of that is about as small as me passing up a blizzard twice. 🙂

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  11. Oh my gosh!! What a great depiction of our little town, we so enjoyed getting to visit with you both and look forward to seeing you all again. Until then keep adventuring, we love to see it!!
    Jason and Jordan

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    • We loved your little town! Our dealer is Middleton (now Legacy) in Festus, so we will probably be seeing you guys at least once a year. Good luck with the cafe! It is really a treasure!

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  12. What a delightful walk and day for you.If you keep fit and walking like that you will not need that ‘walker’ from the fleamarket. It looks all so lovely with the cafe too. You made this a very enjoyable day and read! Thank you for taking us with you!

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    • I didn’t skip the goodies completely. I did have the cone. 🙂 I kind of felt like I didn’t want to wipe out all the good I did with all that walking. But definitely, I’m going for the blizzzard the next time!

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