pattimagee wrote:@brianadler6545 since you know a bit about silica mines... can you add some context on how that mining process is conducted? are there typically environmental issues with silica mining? etc? (sincerely/honestly asking, just in case that came across weird, hah)
Haha, I think I said I know “little”. So, nope! Also interested too and not a weird question at all.
pattimagee wrote:@brianadler6545 since you know a bit about silica mines... can you add some context on how that mining process is conducted? are there typically environmental issues with silica mining? etc? (sincerely/honestly asking, just in case that came across weird, hah)
Haha, I think I said I know “little”. So, nope! Also interested too and not a weird question at all.
I spent the past two days hiking and exploring the St. Francois Mountains and decided to share some pictures here. If you haven't visited and like to hike, I highly recommend it. The terrain is very rugged, but it's worth it. I also recommend going when there aren't any leaves on the trees. I'll label all of the places I went in the pictures below. I tried to avoid some of the more popular locations like Elephant Rock and Johnson Shut-Ins, but I highly recommend those places as well.
Black Mountain Falls.
View of a creek at Black Mountain before falling down over 450 feet of cascades for 0.5 miles.
St. Francis River valley at Black Mountain Falls.
Overlook at Taum Sauk Mountain State Park.
+5
Looking south (I think) from the Taum Sauk Mountain lookout tower.
Mina Sauk Falls at Taum Sauk Mountain. It's really hard to get a picture of the full waterfall. It's the tallest in the state at a height of 132 feet.
View of Black Mountain from the 300+ foot tall Lee Bluff. There isn't much of a trail but this is my favorite overlook in Missouri.
Castor River Shut-Ins, just east of Fredericktown.
My partner and I are planning on taking advantage of the record warmth on Christmas Day by walking a new trail. For those of you who have walked both Pickle Springs and Hawn, which do prefer and why?
^I think technically Pickle Creek Trailhead is in Hawn State Park (not sure which Hawn trail specifically you are looking at)... a lot of the trails are amazing there, tough to choose because they are pretty different as the non-pickle creek are more into the hills/hollers/etc. and Pickle Creek goes next to the creek for the most part if I remember correctly. If you do have a windy day, try to get on the whispering pines trail because its audibly fun to hear the wind whipping through pines like the namesake.
Correct that Pickle Springs is technically in Hawn State Park, but it does have a dedicated parking lot/entrance. IMO It's a must-visit if you've not been - it's a very memorable hike!
^ & ^^ thanks! From what I've seen, the trail at Pickle Springs Natural Area does have a separate entrance/parking lot from Hawn and the trail is only 2 miles long. We were considering that trail and the Pickle Creek and Whispering Pines trails inside Hawn.
I love Hawn state park the trails in that park are beautiful I’ve done both the 6 mile trail and the 10 mile trail. Going up the peaks of the hills you can get some pretty incredible views of the entire surrounding landscape.
We really enjoyed Hawn State Park yesterday, perfect weather and it wasn't too crowded. We took the Pickle Creek trail to what I think was the Whispering Pine trail which took us up on this ridge overlooking Pickle Creek. Beautiful terrain and flora, we heard the pines whispering in the wind, and a lot a variety in a compact walk.
