Cape LaCroix is the city's paved trail corridor

Work on Cape LaCroix Recreation Trail began in 1993, and the last piece of the original plan was finished in 2000. The paved corridor now runs 6.03 miles from Shawnee Park through Cape Girardeau to Osage Park.

The city’s distance list reads almost like a set of local directions: Conservation Center property to the Route W/Kingshighway bridge, then Cape Woods, Hopper Road, Rodney Street, Independence Street, William Street, Bloomfield Road, Brink Street, and Shawnee Park. White stripes mark tenths of a mile. Yellow stripes mark quarter miles.

Arena Park gained a shaded Fit Zone beside the trail in 2014. Eight pieces of outdoor strength equipment made that stretch more than a pass-through.

Cape LaCroix is more than a loop inside one park. It is a paved thread through streets, parks, bridges, and low crossings across the city. The bridge names and colored distance marks turn those 6.03 miles into a cross-section of Cape Girardeau at ground level.