A hike to a waterfall on Missouri’s tallest mountain.
Branson, Missouri and northern Arkansas are usually what comes to mind when someone says, “the Ozarks.” But did you know that the Ozark Plateau covers about half of Missouri? I didn’t either until I started looking into the area of Missouri I would be relocating to.
The Ozarks are much bigger than most people think. They even go into Oklahoma and Kansas.
The Ozark Plateau has two mountain ranges, the Boston Mountains of Arkansas and the St. Francois Mountains of Missouri. I currently don’t live too far from the St. Francois Mountain range, which is where you can find Taum Sauk.
The Ozarks of Missouri are full of limestone, which means caves! A whole of them. Over 7,300 recorded caves have been found in Missouri alone. There are also a ton of natural springs and underground streams. But that is not what I’m covering here. So back to the St. Francois Mountains.
The St. Francois Mountains are very old volcanoes. At 1.485 billion years old, these mountains have some of the oldest exposed igneous rock, even older than the Appalachians and the Rockies. Since the St. Francois Mountains are so old, they are not that very tall, but they are filled with state parks and other protected lands.
Taum Sauk is the tallest mountain of the St. Francois Mountains and the tallest in Missouri, reaching a grand total of 1,772 ft (540 m). Yeah, not that tall. The mountain is now park of Taum Sauk State Park. You don’t even have to hike to get to the top. It’s just a short walk from the parking lot to the marker. There may have been once a view from here but not anymore.
Jana Irving The only view reachable by car is on the entrance road.
Jana Irving Not very exciting.
The marker is not the highlight of Taum Sauk. The true highlight is Mina Sauk, a gorgeous waterfall. Mina Sauk is reached by a 3 mi round trip trail that can be soggy from rain. But that’s the best time to go, because Mina Sauk only flows gorgeously from heavy rains. So, watch the weather report and pick a day after a heavy rain. Spring is super wet in Missouri and is the perfect time to go find Mina Sauk.
The trail to Mina Sauk was interesting; there has been some resent washouts; part of the trail was basically a marsh from all the rain; and it confusingly doesn’t match any map. Just follow the trail blazes and you will be fine.
Jana Irving It was a cool and cloudy early Spring Day.
Jana Irving There were a lot of these little rocky meadows.
Jana Irving One of the few views from Taum Sauk.
Jana Irving Mina Sauk is a series a little waterfalls and rapids. It was impossible to get it into one picture.
Jana Irving Many little waterfalls.
Jana Irving Mina Sauk has a series of little pools and waterfalls.
Jana Irving Weird but still a beautiful waterfall.
Jana Irving Eventually the waterfall leads to a big drop off.
Jana Irving Very pretty.
Jana Irving It drops below to another pool and then goes somewhere unseen.
Jana Irving A cloudy day view from Mina Sauk.
Mina Sauk was an interesting hike. I was not expecting the mountain marshes and the non-matching map trail, but it worked. Mina Sauk was a cool, but impossible waterfall to photograph. It was a fun journey.
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