Elephant Rocks State Park

Worth every minute of driving and every painstaking mile from Kansas City to visit! I spent a weekend down here doing some hiking with my precious husky and I’m pretty sure she had more fun than me exploring through these massive boulders. It’s completely wonderful to explore such a natural treasure that I’m so proud Missouri has to offer! SHOW ME STATE GOES HARD, Y’ALL. There are a couple different trails to also choose from in addition to the elephant rocks. The braille trail is accessible for people with visual/​physical disabilities and is about a mile long.

Ah I L-​O-​V-​E love this place! Such a cool spot to go exploring and hiking. I was skeptical about coming here just thinking ‘oh, its just a bunch of rocks’ but actually really cool rocks. This is a good spot for beginner hikers (like me). They also have a little jungle gym for the kiddos, a swing set, and some picnic tables. I think next time I want to have a picnic here, such a cool spot. Missouri is pretty beautiful, and is always pleasantly surprising me.

This Elephant Rocks stuff is what dreams are made of, especially if you live near this geologic treasure — ‘Cuz there ain’t much else happening around these parts, unless you’re into NASCAR, Toby Keith and flying the Confederate Flag.
Basically what you get here are some pink granite rock formations. You can climb, jump, wiggle, duck, and howl here. And you don’t pay for squat.
This place isn’t big, but you can kind of get lost in the cracks and talus that make this place such a great park. Squeeze through a gap in the rocks and discover a little boxed in dealio for your lonesome. Look for lizards. Scamper through that spur trail and take a nap on the warm stone. Take the Braille Trail and find a spot to jump up on the stone and walk up to the top. Don’t forget to check out the old railway building that trucked the granite out. Crack your head on the rock when you misjudge the distance over a large gap in the granite. That kind of sucks.
This place sort of/​kind of reminded me of Joshua Tree in places. I got there early one morning and took a nap on the toppermost of the poppermost, and then took some pics of the pools of water that collect in the impressions atop the stony fortress. And kids will have fun looking at all the vandalism the 19^th-​Century taggers left behind, carved by their own hands.
And fuck me, I also spent about ten minutes collecting bottles and cans that some dipshits tossed into the crevasses. Now what kind of piece of dogshit would litter at a special place like this? This I do not know. I’m going to be positive and say that it must be someone with brain damage, and they do not realize what they are doing in real time. But the red pill in me realizes that it’s just someone with no respect at all… for anything. So when you tell your husband how clean it is, thank good olé’ PT for taking care of business.
There is a picnic area and a playground for the kids, which is really stupid since this place is basically a playground. Whatever. Just watch out for the wild cats that hover around the pic-​a-​nic tables.
I came here 3 times during my trip, twice in the wee hours and once to check out a lovely sunset over the Ozarks. If you drive by this place and keep going, then you are missing out on something very special. So put it in reverse and park it. You’ll enjoy yourself… I promise.

Old rocks are interesting.
These rounded boulders remind me of being a kid & how to be a kid.
Climb, hide & imagine