I've lived in this area all my life and this is definitely my favorite hiking spot, it has great…read moreviews. And for me, great memories. It doesn't have anything too monumental or special about it, but it doesn't have too to be a great spot! once you get to the end of the trail there's a stream/waterfall that's a great place to sit and enjoy the nature. And climb around on some cliffs as you can see in the pictures. Once you're to this spot you can walk to Johnston shut-inns from there, (11 miles) if you're looking for an all day hike that ends with swimming. Maybe have someone bring a car there first so you don't have to walk all the way back Directions to Taum Sauk can be confusing for someone who has never been, assuming you'll be heading south through Arcadia/ironton, you'll keep going south after those towns for a few miles. Then make a right on CC hwy, it's on a turn and a hill so don't be afraid to pass it up and turn around somewhere, rather than lock em up and cause a scene. After you're on CC hwy eventually there will be a Y in the road, to the left is a tower you can climb. To the right is a gravel road, follow that and it leads to the trail. There's a nice lookout on that road on the way to the trail as well. I hope this review helped, and don't forget to respect the land. Happy trails

Great place to hike with amazing views. The waterfall will only be flowing if you come during or…read moreafter heavy rain, though.

Recently family who have a camper & they were staying at St Francois State Park. It was my first…read morevisit there and it was nice with some notes for people considering it. There were campground hosts and state employee very present at the campground. It seemed well organized and executed. They pointed out the area where bluebells were and were helpful with various other things. There were two campgrounds, 1 for tents or others who do not need an electric hook up. There were some that had really nice decking, etc. there was a great area and few sites were used over the weekend. We we on the other side in the area where electric hookups are available. There were lots of campsites here with electric but this is the first time we have found a camp that offers electric but does NOT have water at each of the sites. With a water tank we could fill it wasn't a problem but it is unusual. They are building more sites it seems in the park and that would be awesome. The campgrounds have one toilet in each campground and the larger bathhouse/shower facility. This is pretty consistent compared to most parks but it is a bit unique that there is a major trailhead and lots of day use folks coming in a place that includes showers for campers. The park has great trails that were really well marked. We enjoyed checking them out and noticed a lot of others doing it as well.

Nothing very special, but nice…read more (I wouldn't drive far, to see it). There are prettier parks in St. Louis.

This was was going to be a spot where we would recreate for a while because it's a camp ground,…read morefull hook up Rv park, picnic spot with grills, rest rooms, boating with fishing and just a nice place to spend some time. Wrong because they had some serious rain before I came down and the spillway which never spilled in like 70 years spilled big time and took out the valley and everything was flooded with roads closed etc. the whole area all over every where we drove and I mean 25 miles had flooding everywhere. The usual clear water was dirty brown so I don't know you begin to catch fish. The grounds and ramps were under water so I don't know why you would want to launch a boat since you don't know what your motor will get snagged on. Overall this was a nice place so I'm adding them to Yelp so everyone can see how beautiful the place is and a web link to check out. This is a really nice place when it's not all messed up and would make a beautiful camp/Rv spot, my timing was just bad.

Stopped here during a weekend trip near Lake of the Ozarks. Missouri has so many caves and I'd been…read morewanting to do one, so glad we picked this one. You can grab tickets online or in person, and they have a really cute gift shop with fun little trinkets worth browsing before or after your tour. Our tour guide Lee was so amazing! He's been there for years and years and you can just tell. Great stories, super personable, the kind of guide that makes the whole experience way more memorable. We even spotted a bat hibernating which was such a cool unexpected moment! The cave itself is fascinating and I loved that it was great for all ages. Our group ranged from little kids to people in their 70s and everyone was into it with no problems. A few spots can get slightly slippery so just watch your step, but there are handrails throughout so nothing felt unsafe. Also found out they host events here too like a black light event and even concerts inside the cave which sounds incredibly cool. Definitely want to come back for one of those. Overall I was really impressed and would highly recommend adding this to your Missouri road trip list.

What was nice about these caverns is that they are almost entirely wheelchair/stroller accessible…read moreand we were able to take our one-year old daughter on the tour in our stroller. That's pretty rare with cave tours. This was the only cave tour we did during our week-long family summer vacation in Missouri and we enjoyed it. Our guide, Maddie, was wonderful and very enthusiastic. The tour was an hour and we had a smaller group who were wonderful and I enjoyed learning about the cave, the history of the cave, and walking all around. It was fun and well done. If you are nearby, this is something I think you should do. They have plenty of parking, nice grounds, a penny press souvenir machine, a nice gift shop and are great with kids with some other interactive things to do before or after the tour.

This is without a doubt one of the top parks that my kids have ever been to. When you step into the…read morepark you see sculptures of wizards, knights, dragons, and fantastical creatures. It is like stepping into a Dungeons & Dragons story. The highlight thought is without a doubt the castle. There are ramparts, hidden armories, gargoyles, coats of arms, statues and a whole menagerie of fantastical creatures. I had to tear my 5 and 3 year old away from it. It could have kept them busy for hours. There is also a touching backstory to the park. It was founding in memory of Jeremy "Boo" Rochman who died in a car crash nearby. He loved fantasy and his family set up the park in his honor. The park is privately funded, and can accept donations through its website. So if you do stop in and enjoy it, please make sure to support the park.

Best park in the state. This place will keep you busy for hours. The dungeons and dragon theme tops…read moreit off.

Best Nature Park Ever! Well managed and clean. So pure and natural. Great Music, Food Trucks, and…read moreStocked-Pond Trout fishing.

My partner and I drove out here from Ballwin, about 1.5 hours away, with our dog when it was nice…read moreoutside one day. I wasn't expecting much, but wow, was it worth the drive! The water in the sanctuary area is soooo blue. I couldn't believe my eyes. We walked along that part first, then walked past the hatchery. It was so cool to see the trout in different stages of life. Dogs aren't allowed to swim in the sanctuary or hatchery, and since we have a lab who's obsessed with the water, we kept walking to reach a spot where she could at least touch it. Lots of people were fishing, so we kept walking until we found a spot where she could splash around. As you can see from the photo, she had a wonderful time. We kept her leash on and I'd recommend others do the same. We didn't want her to get caught on a fishing line or scare any fish away that people were trying to catch. We paid $5 to get into the park as we were driving in, and we were able to pay with a credit card. There was plenty of parking even though it was the weekend. Definitely recommend for a day trip from the STL area!

This is one of my favorite places to go in the summertime! It's handicap accessible, and a pretty…read moreeasy trail to walk. Although it's easy, there are tons of huge and beautiful rocks the kids love climbing on. It's just a really peaceful place. The trail is approximately 1 mile long.

A really cool place to spend a day or afternoon. About 2 hours from STL. I did not climb the rocks…read moreor swim in the lake, but simply I walked on the trail. The trail was about a mile long. You can also go off course and check out a historical part of the park, which is the old train station(?) - that being close to a skeleton. You can also go all the way to the top and check out the elephant rocks, while getting a somewhat great view. I say "somewhat" because the trees block a great view some of us are missing. I'm guessing it would be different visiting during the wintertime when there are no leaves on the trees.

Although short, I had a great time exploring the park. The trail that I really wanted to see was…read moreinaccessible because of construction. The visitors center is also wonderful and I highly recommend exploring this park especially in spring or Fall. There are several accessible trails.

Beautiful rocks and park! Here is some info that maybe helpful before your visit:…read more - Internet connection is not good at some spots in the park. - Fat Man's Squeeze has no signage on it, or around the park. It only says "Nature Trail" on the rock. It is a very tight giant crack. You will not miss it. - Also there is no sign that indicates Venomous Copperheads hibernate in between those rocks. I heard stories about it, but we only saw warning signage about ticks and some bugs. - The visitor center is nice. It has bunch of valuable info about the park and taxidermy. Also 1 live tortoise and a black snake live in the tanks inside. There are picnic tables around. The area is so peaceful. - Alcohol is banned between September & May

Beautiful historical mill. Very well maintained in a pristine setting. Pictures don't accurately…read morecapture the calming beauty. A must visit in Missouri. Enjoy the drive too. (Spike, Speedwell) Part of the National Park Service and Ozark national Scenic Riverways Missouri From the National Park Service: "A mill was vital to community life, where grain was ground to provide the daily bread. The present building was constructed during 1893-1894 by George Washington McCaskill as a merchant mill. It was larger than most mills in the Jacks Fork area and replaced an earlier mill on this same site that was built by 1868" (Alley Mill is located six miles west of Eminence, Mo on State Route 106)

This was the last of three trails that we hiked today. Parking spots were so limited but we were…read moreglad that we went around 2pm and were able to find a parking spots for our group. We hiked the western loop today. This trail was only 1 mile total. It has quite some interesting rock formations. There were more falling leaves on this trail than the other two trails we hiked today. The sleep downwardness of this trail was of a great challenge.

This is a great little hike if you want something not too large. It's great as they have two…read moredifferent entrances from either side of the road. The one we chose the waterfall has two different trails. I would say we spent about an hour exploring, but it was also very wet so we took our time. We had children with us and they very much enjoyed it and thought it was a lot of fun exploring There's a lot of beauty and the waterfalls are great, but only Really have the waterfalls when there has been a lot of rain Highly recommend checking it out. It's only about an hour from the St. Louis area.