Hike to a flowing spring and walk along the clear Little Femme Osage Creek on the Lost Valley Trail at Weldon Spring Conservation Area. Parts of this trail follow along old roads so this makes it easier if you are hiking with a friend. Used heavily by mountain bikers so be aware of them as you hike although the good part of that it is…
A spooky name for the heavily wooded area in suburban St. Louis County creates the setting for a hike at Phantom Forest Conservation Area. Where Did the Name Come From? The origin of the name is not so scary. Thirteen acres were donated to the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1994 by Ray and Claire Moore. Ray More was an illustrator and co-creator of The…
Hiking through an upland forest, by an oxbow lake, and being spooked on the trail was part of my time at Robertsville State Park. I hiked the 2.8-mile Lost Hill Trail which has 292 feet of elevation gain on a natural surface that can be rocky at times with some up and down. Lost Trail Name “Lost Hill” received its name from the upland hill…
Driving about 45 minutes south of St. Louis you can check out two remains of low-water dams and mills in Cedar Hill and Morse Mill. Just in time for Halloween, Morse Mill also has a spooky past. CEDAR HILL PARK I stopped at the seven-acre Cedar Hill Park and explored the grounds walking down to the Big River. Here I walked along the shoreline with…
Find remains of a mill and take a walk along Big River at Byrnes Mill City Park south of Fenton, Mo. just off of Missouri Highway 30. Arriving at the Park A playground faces a parking lot at the center of Byrnes Mill along Byrnes Mill Road. I checked out this park with my son who of course first wanted to do the playground. A…
A tall narrow cave in limestone is at the end of a two-mile out-and-back hike at Sandy Creek Natural Tunnel Conservation Area. (Sadly, this land is no longer available for hiking and no longer open to the public) Created when a stream branch took a shortcut to Sandy Creek creating a natural tunnel. The tunnel is 12 feet wide, and 16 feet high inside a…
Two mighty rivers, the Mississippi and Missouri, come together at the Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones- Confluence Point State Park. The park is located east of West Alton, Mo., in St. Charles County, Mo. You can see this point after a short .6-mile out and back hike with only 20 feet of elevation gain. The trail surface is a mix of paved and unpaved sections…
Hiking along Big Creek and exploring prairie fields and wooded hills is a day at Indian Camp Creek Park north of Wentzville, Mo. It is St. Charles County’s largest park at 603 acres and has more than ten miles of trails. At the Parking Lot at Indian Camp Creek Park I parked in the first lot after the equestrian parking. Near parking are a playground,…
Hiking around a crystal-clear lake and finding myself alone at a huge sandy beach was my day at Council Bluff Lake.
Lower Meramec Park is a walk-through flat bottomland forest with Meramec River views with a trailhead just off of Interstate 55.
