Kearney, Missouri is located in Clay County about 15 minutes north of Kansas City and has a population of 8,381. Each September, the city hosts an annual festival celebrating its distinction as the birthplace of outlaw Jesse James. The James farm with the original house and Jesse James’s burial site are a popular tourist attraction. The Kearney School District serves about 3,500 families in Kearney and northern Clay County.
Kearney has come a long way in the last 10 or so years to becoming a walker friendly city. Currently, there are over eight and a half miles of walking trails that people can enjoy, and just recently the city connected two of their park trails together with a beautiful bridge over a scenic creek bed.Jesse James Park & Mack Porter Park both had nice trails to walk individually, but unless you wanted to hike through a field there was no connecting of the two. The city has now connected the two parks with a bridge using one of the old historical rail road buttresses. They had hoped to use both, but one was not structurally sound enough, so they used what they could.On the bridge even during the winter, you can enjoy a scenic view of the creek with all the trees. If it is quiet enough you can use your imagination and close your eyes and almost hear the old steam train go up the tracks that you can see the old bed for. Don't wait until spring or summer to take a nice walk and enjoy the scenery, take a drive to Kearney and just north of town to the park. You won't be disappointed.