Taum Sauk State Park

We have seen quite a few of the more popular tourist attractions in & around St Louis (The Gateway Arch, AB Brewery Tour, Zoo, Grant's Farm, etc) so we thought that we would try & see some of the areas that you only really get to see when you actually live somewhere. We decided to make the 2 hour drive south from St Louis towards Pilot Knob (!) to visit the Taum Sauk Mountain State Park (located within the St Francois Mountains), & see the Taum Sauk Mountain (which is the highest point in Missouri with an elevation of 1,772 feet).

The St Francois Mountains were formed almost 1.5 billion years ago when a series of volcanic eruptions spewed dust, ash, & hot gases into the sky. Fine-grained Rhyolite formed at the surface, with coarser-grained granite forming below. Erosion over hundreds of thousands of years has left just the roots of the mountains behind & so Taum Sauk isn't really that high compared to some of the other mountains in the US, & is really more like a hill. There is a really good view of the surrounding 'mountains' from the constructed overlook, but the actual highpoint is in the middle of a wooded area! As we left the park we noticed that there was an observation tower. There were no signs to indicate that we couldn't climb it, but as we reached the top we noticed that the access hatch to the platform was padlocked shut; however, we still managed to get just above the treeline to see some of the surrounding area from a higher vantage point.