Missouri State Parks: Johnson's Shut-Ins

Located in Lesterville, MO, Johnson's Shut-Ins is probably one of the top 5 most popular State Parks in Missouri. Do not quote me on that, I am completely making that up, but I really would be shocked if it weren't one of the most popular in Missouri. Here's why:

1) It is completely new and updated. Back in Dec 2005, the Taum Sauk Reservoir had a major failure which resulted in over a billion gallons of water from The Black River flooding the entire park. Read about the flood and how the park changed here. The campground was totally destroyed and had been located near the river in the floor plains. It is now across the highway in a new area. And it is nice. These campgrounds opened up 4 years after the flood.

2) It is nature's own water park! How can that not draw a humongous crowd?! Playing in rivers is fun. Playing in a river full of boulders creating waterfalls, pools, and awesome rapids? Amazing. Dangerous if you aren't careful, sure, but amazing. 

3) Location. It is not a far drive from Saint Louis (2 hours) so it can easily be a day trip if you are not wanting to camp. If you are "day camping" here, though, be warned. It gets crowed fast in the summer months so come early to stake out your spot. The Shut-ins parking lot only allows for 100 cars so plan accordingly. If camping, it is close to Elephant Rock State Park and near Taum Sauk State Park. Elephant Rock SP does not have camping, but the hiking there is amazing. Taum Sauk also has some of the prettiest hiking in Missouri, plus you get to be on the highest peak in Missouri. 

Gotta catch 'em all! 

My sister (R), her husband (M) and the baby (PX) and I just went here this past weekend to camp. This is where I wanted to camp for my birthday weekend campout, so I am glad I got to go there before the camping season ended! This was PX's first EVER camping trip! He is not even 2 years old yet, but he is quite the adventurer. He loves being outside and playing in the dirt and running around, so this weekend was perfect for him. 

We opted to camp in the "walk-in sites" which are located in loop 5 within the park. We did these because by the time my sister went online to reserve the campsite, these were all that were left for the weekend. I was shocked since I would have thought the school year starting would make camping on weekends easier. However, this ended up being the best thing ever, and I would recommend these walk-in spots to anyone who needs a basic campsite (no electricity, no water, no sewer hook-up). 

We got to our part of loop 5 and the showerhouse was right across from the parking area. The facilities consisted of 2 shower stalls and 2 bathroom stalls. Not the best for the 8 campsites the bathroom was for, but not too bad either. The only issue was this was also for the special use area, which happened to have 20+ Boy Scouts between the ages of 11 and 16 and their parents. Oh, well. We never had to wait in line all too long. We purposely chose the closest campsite to the parking lot that we could, number 513. The only closer one was the handicap site, 514. The walk to the bathroom was about 250 yards. Not bad. 

We saw a push cart in the parking lot. It was like a giant wheel barrow with bike wheels on it. This thing was genius and kudos to you, Johnson's Shut-ins for providing such an amazing tool for your campers. We loaded it up and wheeled it to our campsite. The entire walk to our site my sister and I oohed and awed over how beautiful the area was.

Most helpful thing and a happy surprise!

Then we saw our campsite, dear 513. The thing was HUGE! And secluded! And, well, just look. Click on the picture below to make it bigger. 

and

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We couldn't see any of the other campsites from our campsite. We had tons of space to spread out within the campsite plus they put in wooden deck areas for the tents to go on since the terrain is uneven and rocky. My biggest suggestion to people camping in these campsites would be to bring an air mattress. We only had camping pads and we all had ache and pains from sleeping on a wooden surface. However, the platform was really nice for other reasons. It was awesome not having mud right outside the tent. It gave us a designated area for the tent so we didn't have to search for the most level, best area for the tent. I have camped in the normal basic campground here before and it was nice, but like every other popular state park in MO, you are pretty much on top of each other. This felt so isolated and I will be coming back. 

The visitor center is located in the part of the park where the shut-ins are and it is very nice. It was built after the flood and has all kinds of information on the park, the history, the flood and more. I wish there had been better information on hiking, but for all I know the people working in there had maps behind the front desk. I just never asked. It is a bummer that you are no longer able to walk easily from the campground to the river since it is on the other side of the county highway, but at the same time I appreciate not being in a flood plain. 

We went down to the river and despite not being much above 75 degrees it was crowded! I cannot even imagine how crowded it must be during the hot summer days. Since it wasn't very warm, none of us besides PX had swimsuits on so we more so waded in the water as he played with his bucket and shovel and threw rocks. He loves throwing rocks. 

One complaint: There is a sign as you take the hike from the parking lot to the river and it states No coolers, yada yada yada, and no dogs. In fact, it is a rule for all of the state parks that no dogs can be in state park/historic site buildings, beaches and swim areas. There were so many dogs by the river! Not sure why this bugged me so much, but it did. Oh, well. 

We also spent part of the day at Elephant Rock State Park, but as this post is already getting really long, I will talk about that in another post. 

In conclusion, some things I learned:

1) If camping with kiddos, know that they will get dirty. There is nothing you can do about this. It is just dirt (or fire pit ash for PX) and it will wash out. Just let them get dirty.

2) Walk-in campsites are not as scary as they sound, and now I am super excited to go check out other walk-in sites elsewhere. 

3) If the weather says the weather will have highs of mid 70s and lows in mid 40s, do not stupidly only pack one light jacket. A long sleeve shirt or two would be useful. Maybe a heavier sweatshirt.The nights got really, really cold. I normally hate wearing socks to bed but I was grateful I had packed my wool socks. Those multiple pairs of shorts I brought were a waste and weren't worn at all. 

4) I am ready to put up a fight if necessary. We are all mostly asleep Saturday night when suddenly we heard (human) footsteps stop in front of our campsite. Then turn and go into our area. We then heard rustling. I grab my glasses and my flashlight and jump out of the tent to confront who was in our area (my adrenaline was pumping, I do not normally confront people) because it sounded like they were going through our stuff. But they were no longer there and we concluded they were just grabbing sticks around our space.  

5) Overhearing the conversations of young Boy Scouts is hilarious. "I've got my underwear!" or "You will lift the toilet seats up when you pee." Thank you, Scoutmaster for the sound advice. The rest of us sharing that bathroom with you all really appreciated it. 

Missouri State Parks: Meramec

Today my sister, the baby and I took a rather spur of the moment day trip to Meramec State Park. This has always been one of my favorite state parks, but I realize not everyone has been there as often as I have. For those of you who don't know, Meramec is down 44 from St. Louis in Sullivan, MO. We camped here A LOT when we were younger. It was also the last big family event before my dad passing away when I was 15. I have camped there with friends and family a lot and I am rather emotionally attached to this place.

We decided we needed to get away for the day and my sister suggested here. We packed up the car with supplies and food and hit the road. We stopped in the visitor center first to get maps and info (and the all important potty break). PX (the baby) was very excited about all the fish they have in aquariums there. He kept running back to that area to watch them more. 

We then moved on to the day use area to get ready for hanging out at the river. My sister got PX all changed into his swim gear while I changed into my suit in the vault toilet. I was a bit nervous going into the bathroom because, well, let's face it sometimes those things are straight up nasty. This one wasn't so bad. It obviously wasn't completely pleasant smelling but I could tell that they keep it clean. We could have parked on the other end of the day use area and used the actual bathrooms, but oh well. As we were getting ready a big ol' family pulled up in multiple cars and motorcycles to head down to the river. I am the type of person that if I am hanging out in an area, I would much rather there not be tons of people around, but it wasn't so bad. They set up their area in the only shaded area, which would have been nice if we had, but they got there first. 

We set our stuff down and started playing in the water. It was cold at first but we quickly got used to it and it felt wonderful. Today was about 90 degrees, so the water felt great. PX did not want to venture into the river with us but he had a blast sitting on the shore of the river where he could splash and throw rocks. We stayed there playing for a couple hours before finally leaving and went back to the day use area. We sat in the shade on a picnic blanket and dried off, got PX changed into clothes and had a snack. It was nice not being in the sun for awhile. The weather was totally perfect.

We then went to the store in the state park to see if there was anything that PX just had to have (there wasn't...which was probably a good thing) however the store is nice. Lots of toys and random touristy stuff but also food items, drinks, and camping supplies that you may have forgotten at home. It is nice you can get it there and not have to drive out of the park to run to the local Wal-Mart. We sat at a picnic table outside and had our delicious lunch.

The hike we went on was kind of intense. Okay, really, it was not that bad, but we were not prepared for the difficulty of it so it came as a surprise. It was called the Bluff hike or something, which we assumed meant we would be along the river. Well, we could see the river every so often, but more so we were walking up and down the river bluffs which can get steep. It was mostly in the shade which was nice. However, parts of the trail required waling through a lot of brush and plants and I am shocked we did not have any ticks on us.

A note to anyone wanting to camp at Meramec. The campgrounds are very nice and a bit on the large side. They offer night programs on the weekends which I always loved going to. Right by the campground is where the entrance to Fischer Cave, my favorite cave I have toured. Unfortunately the cave is closed to the public for the whole season due to white nose syndrome. I am very saddened by this news but I want the best for the bats of Missouri. There are still cave tours available at 2 other state parks, but I would suggest checking with their websites to make sure they are open. 

All in all, it was a very exhausting day but amazing. I may be a bit red on my shoulders and my sister totally burned her legs, but I think we both were very happy with how we spent our time. I would highly suggest going here to anyone.