Order of Visit: High Point #30
Date Visited: March 25, 2021
Route Taken: Taum Sauk Trail from the high point parking area – 0.3 miles (round-trip)
Type of Terrain: Paved sidewalk (ADA-accessible) from the parking lot to the high point marker
Elevation: 1,772 feet
Ancestral Lands: Kickapoo, Kaskaskia, Osage, O-ga-xpa
What’s in a name?
Taum Sauk Mountain sits inside a 7,500-acre state park nestled in the St. Francois Mountains of the Ozarks.
Interestingly, the word ‘Ozark’ is an adaptation of the French term Aux Arc, a shortened version of aux Arcansas meaning “of/at/to the Arkansas” to refer to the 1700’s trading post located in the Arkansas Delta just above the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers.
The name of Missouri’s high point isn’t another adaptation of a French word, though. Instead, it is believed to be named after a Pianskeshaw chief named Sauk-Ton-Qua, and the sorrowful tale that resembles a Native American version of Romeo and Juliet.
According to the legend, the chief’s daughter Mina-Sauk was captured by the Osage people, who were the fierce rivals of Piankeshaw. While in captivity, Mina-Sauk became the bride for one of the Osage warriors, and subsequently fell in love with her captor.
Mina-Sauk was later rescued by warriors of her father’s tribe and brought back home to her village. Yet much to her parent’s dismay, she was incredibly unhappy, as she was still deeply in love with her beau.
When Mina-Sauk was spotted at a stream secretly meeting with the young Osage man, her father sent his warriors out to capture him. The young man was brought back to the Piankashaw village with his hands bound, and after a rudimentary trial, a medicine man announced the Osage warrior should be thrown from the top of a mountain ledge to his death.
Despite Mina-Sauk’s pleading that the young warrior’s life be spared, the death sentence was carried out. Mina-Sauk was so struck with grief that she ran to the precipice of the cliff and followed her murdered lover over the edge.
These tragic events angered the Great Spirit, who summoned a lightning bolt that struck the ground and caused a waterfall to magically appear and wipe away the blood of the star-crossed lovers. Today the falls are known as Mina Sauk Falls, the tallest waterfall in Missouri, which cascades 132 feet over a series of rock ledges into Taum Sauk Creek.
TRIP SUMMARY
Our family visit to Taum Sauk Mountain was the first of six new high points acquired on our 2021 spring break road trip from Kansas City, Missouri, to New Jersey. We were heading through St. Louis on our way east, so Keith and I decided to detour off Interstate 70 and head south to visit Missouri’s high point.
Although we’ve spend a good bit of time in Missouri for our military service, most of that time was up in the Kansas City region (at Ft. Leavenworth) or in the center of Missouri near the Lake of the Ozarks (at Ft. Leonard Wood). Neither of us had ever visited the southeast corner of the state before.
As with most of our highpointing adventures, I was extremely curious to see what the surrounding area looked like. I didn’t want to merely park in the lot and take the brief walk to the summit of Taum Sauk Mountain. I wanted to hike down to the Mina Sauk Falls too.
Unfortunately, the weather had other plans for us. Rain started to pound the car shortly after we turned south from St. Louis. And the further south we drove, the heavier it seemed to come down around us. This was going to be my wettest state high point, for sure!
Just before arriving at our destination, we drove through the tiny town of Pilot Knob, Missouri. It appeared to be just one more small rural town in the middle of nowhere, but it has some historic significance worth noting in this trip report.
Most people know that Missouri was a ‘slave state’ in the years prior to the U.S. Civil War (thanks to the Missouri Compromise). However, few Americans are aware that Missouri did not actually secede from the Union and join the Confederacy during the war.
The Governor and nearly half the state legislature voted to secede, while the remainder of the state legislature rejected this proposition. This friction led to Missouri effectively having two state governments for the remainder of the Civil War, and it remained a hotly-contested border state (like Tennessee), populated by sympathizers from both sides.
In 1863, the Union Army built a small fort in the southern portion of the state near Pilot Knob, and named it Ft. Davidson. However, Missouri’s real strategic significance was in the Mississippi River to the east. Once Grant’s Army took control of the Mississippi River in the spring of 1863, the state of Missouri would only have limited strategic value.
In September 1864, as the Confederacy was nearing defeat, they made a last-ditch effort to attack the Union forces in Missouri in hopes of creating a popular uprising that would distract the Army. However, this aspiration didn’t come to fruition.
The 8,000 Confederate forces were successfully repelled during each of their attempts to take Fort Davidson. Then the Union troops blew up the fort’s magazine and used the diversion to slip past the Confederate troops and retreat back to St. Louis undetected.
The state of Missouri has since turned Pilot Knob’s historic battle site into part of their state park system. And each September, on the battle’s anniversary, Civil War hobbyists descend upon the park to reenact the scene.
We didn’t get to stop to take in this historical site at Pilot Knob during our visit. The park was temporarily closed due to the pandemic, and the rain was a good deterrent to any local exploring. So, we continued straight through to the high point instead.
The drive to the entrance Taum Sauk Park was relatively easy rural highway driving. Before long, a brightly-colored sign announced our final turn onto the 1.5-mile dirt road that led to the summit.
There were only two other cars parked up at the top of the mountain on this chilly, wet March afternoon. We sat inside the parked car for a solid 10 minutes after our arrival to allow the heavy downpour to recede to a steady shower. Then we made a run for it.
Luckily, the 0.2-mile path to the summit was a flat, paved sidewalk. Shortly after we got into the trees, we crossed paths with the Mina Sauk Falls Trail, which looked like a sloppy mess by comparison. We wouldn’t be taking that detour on this visit.
I hoped we might catch some spring blooms on the trees. But we were too early in the season even for that minor delight. All the trees were still bare and brown. The only color around us was the orange and blown leaves left on the forest floor after the winter.
The paved sidewalk wound back and forth through the trees and then finally came to a dead end near a bench and a small boulder. Just in front of the rock, there was a rust-colored stone plaque announcing our destination. I tried to get a good photo of the plaque, but it was nearly fully submerged in a giant puddle.
We took a few quick photos to celebrate my 30th high point. The only downside to the achievement is the realization that I’m still one high point shy of earning my 30 state pin from the Highpointers Club. In addition to summiting 30 state high points, you must also have completed five states from each region of the country. Alas, I’ve only only four states from the western region (AZ, NM, UT, and ID), so I still need one more!
With our photos complete, we dashed back to the car to get dry again. We wouldn’t be able to wait out the rain for more exploring, and we still needed to drive back up toward St. Louis where we had a hotel reservation for the night.
Tomorrow, we plan to head farther east toward Indiana and Ohio’s high points as part of our six-state spring break highpointing extravaganza. If we’re successful, all three of us (Keith, Finn, and I) will reach the 25-state threshold in just a few days!
DETAILS
When to Visit: This hike is open year-round, but late spring and fall are considered the peak times to visit. In the spring, many of the trees are in bloom and Mina Sauk Falls is flowing well. Meanwhile autumn brings the fall colors to the surrounding St. Francois Mountains.
Getting There: Taum Sauk Mountain State Park is located about 100 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri, and just east of the Mark Twain National Forest.
Entrance Fees: None.
Parking: A compacted dirt parking lot, large enough for 40 or more cars, sits atop Taum Sauk Mountain. There area also pit toilets about 25 yards from the trailhead and a small picnic area.
Accessibility: Easy for all abilities. This state high point has a paved ADA-accessible trail from the parking area to the high point.
Bonus: If you have additional time, consider continuing the additional 1.2 miles down the Mina Sauk Falls Trail toward Mina Sauk Falls. This 132-foot waterfall holds the title of the tallest waterfall in the state. Springtime is the most impressive time of year to see the falls – as the river feeding the waterfall reaches peak flow. Once at Mina Sauk Falls, you can return to the trailhead via the same route or loop back to the trailhead on the Ozark Trail, one of America’s National Recreation Trails (which ultimately stretches 390 miles beyond the park). Both routes are similar in distance, but the Ozark Trail route has a gentler grade on your return to the trailhead.
Resources:
- An Overview of Taum Sauk Mountain (Summit Post)
- Taum Sauk Mountain State Park (Missouri State Parks)
- Trail Map for Taum Sauk Mountain Park (Missouri State Parks)
- Mina Sauk Falls Trail (AllTrails)