More explorations of the Ozarks of Missouri!
Since moving to Missouri over a year ago now, I have explored a lot of the eastern Ozarks, some of which I have documented (the other Ozark posts). I haven’t yet shared any Ozark exploration from this year yet. So, here’s a bunch of what I found wandering about Missouri’s Ozarks since this spring.
Sam A. Baker State Park is in Southeastern Missouri. I chose the Shut-ins Trail/Mudlick Trail loop.
Jana Irving It was still early spring and butterflies were all over the place.
Jana Irving A Zebra Swallowtail.
Jana Irving Spring also means that the rain fed waterfalls of the Ozarks are flowing.
Jana Irving Falcate Orangetip, a vibrant tiny little butterfly.
Jana Irving This cascade was one of the larger ones.
Mining has a very long history in Missouri. The French started mining lead in the Ozarks in 1720. Most of the old mines are now abandoned. Missouri Mines State Historic Site features the ruins of a mine closed in the 1970s. St. Joe State Park next door was founded on the mine’s tailings.
Jana Irving Giant complex that you can partially explore the exterior of.
Jana Irving The historic site has a small museum. I only explored the exterior, mostly to play with my new camera.
Jana Irving Very rusty.
I visited St. Francois State Park last year. I decided to go back and hike the Swimming Deer Trail. It was a good choice. There were wildflowers all over the place.
Jana Irving Blue phlox (I think) were everywhere.
Jana Irving Wild Hyacinth.
Jana Irving Wildflowers along some stairs.
Jana Irving So many little wildflowers.
Jana Irving Flowering dogwood, a common spring flower.
Jana Irving View of the Big River.
Jana Irving Pipevine Swallowtail on some blue phlox.
Next up is Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park. This is a super popular swimming place in the Summer. I went in spring before it got crazy.
Jana Irving A “shut-in” is a narrow constriction, or gorge, in a stream.
Jana Irving The East Fork of the Black River gets really rough in this area.
Jana Irving The river goes through a maze of hard volcanic rock.
Jana Irving One of the taller cascades.
Jana Irving The cascades end in a very aqua pool. The color comes from the minerals in the local rock. Super clear water.
Jana Irving I ended up doing the entire Shut-ins Trail loop and found this little guy.
Now for the Amidon Memorial Conservation Area. I may have completely wiped out on the rocks here and not completed the trail. Ooops. At least the pictures turned out nice.
Jana Irving I ran out of the house early that morning because it had rained, and the sky was cloudy. Perfect hiking weather.
Jana Irving A very pink shut-ins. This was after my first slip on the rocks. I didn’t learn my lesson.
Jana Irving Gorgeous.
Jana Irving I slipped on some rocks getting to this spot. I continued on for a bit after falling. I didn’t realize that my arm was swelling under my jacket.
Jana Irving Don’t worry, my arm wasn’t broken, just some hopefully temporary nerve damage. (2024 update, mostly better. Still have a bruise though.)
Jana Irving I did turn around after this though. The trail was supposed to be a loop, but I lost the trail. I backtracked back to my car and took off my jacket. Two giant goose eggs on arm. I, at least, went to urgent care after that.
Somehow August in Missouri was a bit more tolerable than normal, and I was able to do some hiking. I headed out to Washington State Park to do a bit of hiking. I ended up only doing the shorter 1000 Steps Trail. At least, it wasn’t 1000 steps straight up.
Jana Irving The 1000 Steps Trail was built in the 1930s by the CCC.
Jana Irving I’m not sure if all 1000 of the steps are still there.
Jana Irving It was a wonderfully cloudy day.
Jana Irving Giant swallowtail.
Jana Irving Some sort of Amanita mushroom. It’s probably one of the deadly ones.
Jana Irving Found this guy on the trail. A kind of Box turtle, maybe?
Jana Irving Another highlight of this park is the park’s petroglyphs. They could be as old as 2,000 years.
Jana Irving Most are hard to see due to erosion.
Missouri’s Ozarks are chock full of parks for exploration. I even haven’t seen them all yet.
Check out my next update where I explore more of St. Louis and its suburbs!
or
Check out all these other posts on the Ozarks!
