Missouri State Park Voted One Of America’s Favorite Natural Landmarks

When it comes to the Show Me State, we have a lot to offer to our residents of the state, and to visitors who like to visit or vacation here.  We also have 92 state parks, and one of them has just been voted one of the top 3 Natural landmarks in the country, finishing behind only Great Smokey Mountains State Park and Niagara Falls.  Congratulations to Elephant Rocks State Park!

Aqua Expeditions polled 3,113 United States residents on which local natural landmarks they would most like to visit.  Finishing 3rd to those two isn't a bad thing.  You can learn more about their cultural history HERE.  This park will allow you to hike, camp, swim, fish, and take an historic tour.  Visit their website HERE.

It turns out that Elephant Rocks may have been an ancient quarry site.  A pioneer named Theodore Pease grew up in the area in the 1840s and recorded that the site was known as "the quarry even though there wasn't any quarry business yet".

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"It is one place in the United States where you can see land that became North America that goes back to 3 billion years ago," Brick Autry said. Brick is an interpreter for Elephant Rocks. "Our area is a little special area where ancient land was preserved and then pushed up along with the rest of the Ozarks, so that it's sort of like a little viewing area for early history of the Earth."

You can check out Elephant Rocks unofficial Facebook page HERE to get more photos and information about the park.  It is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Geologically, Elephant Rocks State Park consists of a pile of residual boulders of weathered Graniteville Granite. It is a medium- to coarse-grained, muscovite-biotite alkali granite that, on the average, consists of 55 percent alkali feldspar, 40 percent quartz, and less than 5 percent mafic minerals.

Get more info on this acknowledgement by clicking HERE and maybe plan on making a visit to this amazing State park.