Missouri State Parks: Graham Cave

Had to grab a picture as we left the park

Today I was bumming a bit, so my sister said we should go on a day trip. We decided on Graham Cave State Park because it is only an hour west on 70 from St. Charles and we had never been before. So she packed up the baby and headed over to my neck of the woods and we were off!

Now, unlike this past weekend when it was 50-60 degrees outside today was a nice 35. Brr! We had on hats and gloves and the baby had on his little bear suit (seriously the cutest winter outfit ever) and after we chatted with a lovely woman at the park office and gathered a trail map (along with with pamphlets) we started on the hike. 

All I can say is thank goodness for hiking boots with gore-tex. A few weeks ago Graham Cave (along with lots of Missouri) was hit with over 12 inches of snow. That is all gone now, but that means the trail was mostly sludgy mud and the springs were flowing. Despite most plants still being dead, the hike was lots of fun. We did several loops that ended up equalling 3 miles total...which was plenty with the not so pleasant weather. We first hiked to the cave. Really, the word cave is misleading. It is more of an overhang so do not be disappointed if you are expecting an actual cave to go through. If you want to go cave exploring then check out that link for the 3 Missouri state parks that offer excellent cave tours (more on that some other day- I love caves and bats!). 

Oh, that's me! Posing in front of Graham Cave. 

The "cave" from afar

From there we kept on hiking. I cannot wait to come back when it is actually Spring or Summer when things are alive. Despite the trees being still rather bare the hike was still lovely. I am pretty in love with the wilderness of Missouri, though. Constantly I am shocked by how beautiful this state is and I feel it does not get the attention it deserves! 

The trails were rather diverse. We had to cross little springs, hiking up and down some steep hills, cross bridges, walk next to steep drop offs, and saw water falls. We could see part of the Loutre River and walked next to swampy areas. I love it when hikes aren't the same ol' same ol' the whole time. 

Walking down some stairs!

We looked at the campsite to see if it would be a place we would want to camp this summer, and I am not so sure. The campsites are really close to each other, and that sort of seems to be a trend in a lot of Missouri camp grounds (and probably lots of camps all over). I am sure I will camp there some time even if it is just to say that I have, and I am sure camping during the week would make it better than being there on a crowded weekend. Anyone have any opinions of whether or not it is a good place to camp?

Today we walked the first 3 miles of our 500 mile goal. More on that later!