Dan Burkhardt has lived near the Katy Railroad and the Missouri River since he attended high school in Jefferson City, Missouri. He worked with the "Father of the Katy Trail" Ted Jones and shared a love of the Missouri countryside with Ted and his wife Pat. Dan and Ted traveled the United States together on business during the 1980s when Ted was working to build the Katy Trail. Today Dan and Connie Burkhardt (from St. Louis) are advocates for the Katy and Rock Island Trails--and for the countryside of Missouri.

Magnificent Missouri is a 501(c)(3) organization that collaborates with Missouri State Parks and others to conserve, protect, and improve the corridors that the Katy and Rock Island traverse across rural Missouri. These trails connect visitors to Missouri and Missourians to each other.