Stuff to do at Mount Taum Sek...Help Please (St. Louis: estimated, parking)

[ajf131]

Hi there. As somebody from St. Louis, you would expect me to have a better knowledge of the heart of the Ozarks, being only about 100 miles due north of it, but I wanted to know what kind of things there are to do at Mount Taum Sek in January. I have a friend coming to visit from Ithaca, New York. We are both 21 years old. I guess I wanted to know what kind of stuff would be fit for people our age at Mount Taum Sauk. Just list all the attractions and stuff there is to do if you could. Thanks...would appreciate the input.

[northbayeric]

I just love that area! Check out these links for Taum Sauk Mtn and nearby Elephant Rocks State Parks:

http://www.mostateparks.com/taumsauk.htm
http://www.mostateparks.com/elephantrock.htm

For each link, be sure to click on the "State Park Features" pull-down menu near the upper right corner of the screen. Don't miss the photo galleries! At Taum Sauk, there's a lettered highway (I want to say Hwy C) that turns from Highway 21 in the Arcadia Valley and goes up to the top. Just before you reach the main parking area, there's a large deck off to the right that gives you a superb vista of the St. Francois Mountains. At the main parking area there's a very short paved path (surprisingly flat!) that will lead you to the Taum Sauk Mtn "Highest Point in Missouri" marker in the middle of a wooded area.

This time of the year, it might be too treacherous and muddy to try to attempt hiking down to Mina Sauk Falls. My wife and I tried going down this very rocky trail in 2004 and we had to turn back as we were both wearing tennis shoes and getting mud all over ourselves.

Elephant Rocks offers a great and rather easy paved loop trail that gives you great views of the surrounding hillsides and lets you climb on these gigantic granite boulders that are estimated to be many millions of years old.

Finally, if you and your friend are at all interested in Civil War history, you have to visit Ft. Davidson State Historic Site in nearby Pilot Knob. http://www.mostateparks.com/ftdavidson.htm This part of Missouri is gorgeous, with green, tree-covered mountains. It has an indoor museum with fascinating Civil War artifacts and a topographical diagram of how the Union and Confederate armies came down the mountainsides to fight the Battle of Pilot Knob. It's such a quiet and peaceful area now, and really something to imagine the strife that roiled this area less than 150 years ago.

Well, Happy 2008, and I hope the two of you have a great time traveling to these Missouri treasures!

[ShadowCaver]

Great post from Eric. Some additional info: http://www.visitmo.com/blackriver (broken link)

[Inoxkeeper]

While in that area you might want to check out Rock Pile Mt. CA and Lee's Bluff which is close by. I think Lee's is about 300 to 400 high overlooking the river. Good hiking...and beautiful!

[MoNative34]

Royal Gorge on 21 just south of Taum Sauk and north of Glover.

[ShadowCaver]

Another thought/recommendation... ajf, read the suggestions, keep them in your mind, and then go get lost, taking a map with yas, as you take various different roads, and discover some 'new' places of your own.

[northbayeric]

Add some serendipity to your trip, you might say! Actually, Johnson's Shut-Ins is pretty close to that area too, and has hopefully come a pretty long way since the reservoir dam disaster of late 2005. No, it looks like it still has a ways to go before it's back to 100 percent. Drat. Here's a Missouri State Parks recovery update bulletin for Johnson's Shut-Ins from this past late October: http://www.mostateparks.com/jshutins/recovery.htm (broken link)

[ajf131]

Thanks for all the help! Sounds like a great place to be! It's too bad this is not a more talked about place (damn Appalachian and Rocky Mts.!) My friend and I have concluded that it might be too cold to do it this time of year plus he claims not to be in the mood for it, but maybe I'll make it up there with another friend one of these days. In terms of how tall a mountain can get before I won't climb it, i simply press play on the stereo and you hear the song that goes "Ain't no mountain high enough." Simply put, have to visit Mount Taum Sauk. Being as close as it is to me and now learning of how awesome it is, this is something i must explore.

[ajf131]

Originally Posted by ShadowCaver

Another thought/recommendation... ajf, read the suggestions, keep them in your mind, and then go get lost, taking a map with yas, as you take various different roads, and discover some 'new' places of your own.

hehe, very good thought shadowcaver. with this newfound info so generously supplied by my fellow Missourians, and hopefully with even more suggestions to come, I could afford to get lost I guess...I'll just be sure to bring my laptop and post to you all that I'm lost, my map got blown away, my phone is dead, and I have no trail of bread crumbs to follow to get back to my car While the probabilities of all this happening are extremely low, you can't be too careful, especially in the event when Mother Taum Sauk, I mean Mother Nature, so easy to get those two mixed up, comes a 'knockin at your door with a vengeance

[Inoxkeeper]

You know it's going to be in the 70's this weekend...get off that couch and go take some pix for us. I am planning to do just that!