The Missouri High Point is Taum Sauk Mountain, located at 37° 34' 13" N, 90 ° 43' 40" W in Iron County. Its elevation is 1772 feet above sea level. Mark, Tammy, Krystyn, Matthew, Faith, Mark II, Shads and Zeke visited there on Saturday, December 20, 2003, the first in a series of family events during our 10-day trip. We got there about 8:30 and stayed for about 15 minutes.
We followed the MapQuest instructions, starting at our home in the Twin Cities about 6 PM on Friday, driving all night, after exiting I-55 South onto US 67 South, we turned right onto Missouri State Highway W, then left onto SH V, then left onto SH 21. As it turns out, we should have taken a right, and we then spent 20 minutes looking around for it. Finally I realized the mistake and found the County Road CC exit and turned right, following it for 3 miles. CC like V, were both narrow and virtually without shoulders. After the road turned to gravel, we came to this sign:
From looking at the Topozone map, I figured the HP was past the lookout tower, so we headed off that way, but it was a dead end. We then took the route to the State Park. At the end of the driveway is a circle, featuring the Trail Head, a 30+ car parking lot and a list of trails.
Then we vowed not to blindly follow MapQuest anymore.
While we were getting the kids ready to walk, another group drove around the circle and parked near us. They got started as soon as they arrived and we talked with them at the top and exchanged group photos.
There is just one trail, a paved, essentially flat path, that curves around behind the trail head board. Our stroller had no problem with it.
Just into the trail are the outdoor bathrooms.
There is this plaque in the ground, and a couple of benches near it.
Matthew walked the whole way, though Faith was carried the whole way.
The Geological marker is past the HP on the southern end of the 1760 foot contour, but I didn't see it, and after 3 minutes of looking around, went back to the van.
I didn't see a Registration book.
Easy return plan, this time Matthew led Zeke -- or maybe the other way around:
Once we got to the end of County Road CC, we turned right because we were on our way southwest to the Arkansas State High Point.
| Family Member | Count |
|---|---|
| Mark | 6 |
| Tammy | 4 |
| Krystyn | 4 |
| Matthew | 4 |
| Faith | 4 |
| Mark II | 3 |
| Shads | 4 |
| Zeke | 3 |
| File Name: | |
| Written by: | Mark Ness |
| Last Revised by: | Mark Ness |
| on: |