The Ruby Jack Trail is a beautiful rails to trails course on the Ozark Plateau in Southwest Missouri. The 16 mile trail runs through the small towns of Carthage, Oronogo, and Carl Junction, Missouri to the Kansas state line. The trail is mostly tree lined, running through oak, maple, and cedar making the trail particularly beautiful in the fall. In summer, much of the trail forms a green tunnel providing shade and windbreak. Spring and summer wildflowers are abundant and the smell of honeysuckle is common. The area gets little snow, so the trail remains passable throughout the winter. Farmland and sparsely populated residential areas lie beyond the treeline. Wildlife is abundant. Sightings of deer, coyote, fox, and smaller animals are common. The trail surface is primarly crushed limestone, thicker in some places than others. The last two miles before the Kansas border is railroad rockbed and difficult running. There are five short trellis bridges along the route. There are few road crossings, none of them busy. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the trail. Just south of County Road D at about 6.5 miles there is a Casey's General Store. In Carl Junction, just north of the trail there is a community center with restrooms and water. The trail is well maintained by the Joplin Trails Coalition. https://joplin-trails-coalition.webnode.com/#! The out & back FKT route runs from the Carthage trailhead to the Kansas state line and back to Carthage, or reverse, a total of 32 miles.
