2008 Woodie Awards
More than the Arch
By: Kim Nolan
Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: Lifestyle
- Page 1 of 1
|
Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park, 800 Guy Park Drive, Wildwood, is ideal for a full day of hiking. Thirteen miles of diversified trails are a hearty segue to the reward - an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Open to the public, the pool serves as a priceless motivator to finish a hike on a miserably muggy afternoon. Entry to the pool varies between $2 and $3.
Hawn State Park, 12096 Park Drive, St. Genevieve, stands alone in eastern Missouri. A legendary reputation befalls the park for solitary hikes among pine and oak forests. The Whispering Pine Trail remains a 15-mile favorite among hikers. Sandstone bluffs and canyons parallel sand-bottom streams. This 4,953 acre park transforms the rocky terrain of the Ozarks into a sublime hiking and camping weekend getaway.
Steep climbs and rocky descents define Greensfelder County Park, 4515 Henken Road, Pacific, as a more intermediate park for hiking and mountain biking. The 25 miles of trails are notorious for being a brutal trek when muddy. Only the DeClue and Dogwood Trails are open for mountain biking, the rest are hiker and equestrian friendly. Depending on the trail, hikers can hear shrieks from roller coaster riders at nearby Six Flags.
Greensfelder is adjacent to Rockwoods Reservation, together they form 5,000 acres of semi-wild public land. Oak-hickory forest, bluffs, open glades and caves are characteristics of the park.
Hot magma once flowed through Fort Davidson in Pilot Knob. Once cooled the magma formed crystalline red granite boulders now known as Elephant Rocks State Park. The red granite was commercially quarried in the late 1880s, primarily used to build the St. Louis levee and the downtown streets. Today it's used mainly for monuments.
The open expanse of the park lends itself to bouldering in the sunshine. Elephant Rocks is a common destination for beginning rock climbers, daring to get out of the indoor gym, and also for advanced technicians wanting to hone their skills. The Braille Trail, a one-mile handicap accessible trail, surrounds the giant boulders.
Castlewood State Park, 1401 Kiefer Creek Road, stretches for 1,802 acres straddling both sides of the Meramec River. The 13 miles of trails are divided into four loops, two to three miles each. The River Scene Trail winds atop limestone bluffs and descends 250 feet below to the riverbank - home to native floodplain forest trees. Bluegill, largemouth bass and catfish roam the river below and the Wabash, Frisco and Pacific Steam Railway cars rattle overhead.
Don't dismiss the chartered territory of Louis and Clark. St. Louis is no Boulder, Colorado or Burlington, Vermont but it can be home to the outdoor enthusiast.