Another Early Season RV Weekend- Johnson Shut-In's State Park

We were out in the RV again this past weekend. This was also a park we have never visited with the RV as I thought it was only an Equestrian Park as I had only seen the first loop when I parked here to hike either the Goggin's Mountain Loop Trail or the Ozark Trail. 

This park is much bigger than I imagined with 5 loops, a store, playground and lots of amenities. It has a single loop with full hookups of Electric, Water and Sewer. 

P.S.A. the water is not turned on at most Missouri campgrounds to between March 31 and April 15 and you will not find this information printed on any Missouri Park website or the main reservation page! However the parks to keep one or two frost proof water spigots on to fill up your internal tank should you arrive with no water on board. This was also true last week at Echo Bluff. 

I had planned to show Vicky the Shut Ins as she has never seen them, I am not sure how that is possible given how many times I have been down here, but she hasn't. Unfortunately it had been raining hard down here for about a week and when the water is flowing faster than 75 cfs (Cubic Feet per Second) they close the actual Shut In park which contains the visitors center. This is because the water from the Black River, where the shut ins are located does flood the parking area a bit. The water was running at 1500 cfs this weekend! 

This does not effect the RV campground which is down the road. So we set up in the RV park. The weather was supposed to stay rainy all weekend, but we had a nice day to arrive and relax 

The flag signals that the water is high and fast 

We took a stroll through the campground trail and enjoyed the quiet. The campground only had about a half dozen RV's in the entire park this weekend 

Cabins for rent around one of the ponds 

Cannelloni made into bit sized deep fried pieces and salad, one of our favorite dinners 

The next day the rain held off as well, so we went for a walk, so I could show Vicky the Scour. 

Things are starting to "green up" in the woods 

The Scour, the actual remnants of the damage caused by the water escaping the failed dam in 2005

You can see this area (above and below) is recovering but looks a lot different from the surrounding forest, as everything in the path of the water was wiped clean 

Storm clouds brewing, but not yet! 

With the weather holding and the recent rains, I knew that Mina Sauk Falls would be raging, so I took Vicky up to the highest point in Missouri, Taum Sauk mountain, 1772 feet, and then we decided to walk down to Mina Sauk Falls. 

There is a new trail marked "Mina Sauk Falls" don't take it! LOL it is a poorly designed and cut trail over very steep and slippery (in the rain) rocks. The normal Ozark Trail to the Falls is by far the better option. 

Trail? 

Granted a couple of nice views 

Panorama view 

But this is the trail! 

and this! 

We made it to the Falls and it was flowing very well. the Falls don't always last year round and will dry up in the summer months.

You can scramble all over the Falls to get the best vantage point.  Mina Sauk Falls is the tallest Falls in Missouri at 132 feet

Some great views. the cloud cover made for good lighting

The hike back out was much better on the Ozark Trail

The next morning on our way home we stopped at Elephant Rocks State Park. This is part of an old quarry that mined the granite rock. For many years Missouri was the best supplier of Granite for buildings and street cobble stones. 

The park is filled with giant boulders and slabs of granite as big as Elephants or bigger! 

The views of the surround Mark Twain National Forest are very nice from high up on the granite mounds 

you get an idea of scale with Vicky 

You still see the markings were the rock was drilled and broken apart into more manageable sizes 

"Fat Man's Squeeze" around the path in the park 

One of the small quarries, now filled with water to a depth of 80-100 feet deep 

It was a great weekend despite some bleak weather but for the most part it held off for us and we enjoyed exploring this part of Central Missouri. The RV park is definitely a must for a great weekend and during the some months when it is hot the river and shut ins are a great place to play in the water.