DigitalRoadtrip: RE: Missouri, Day 3...Ha Ha Tonka State Park

Day 3

Tuesday April 23, 2019

When I went to bed the night before, the weather guesses were calling for a wet day. When I awoke, I could hear the rain. By the time I was ready to pack up the car, it had stopped, and I now had a window before the next bout of rain. With that in mind, I grabbed a coffee from the breakfast buffet and hit the road.
My plan for the day was an easy half hour drive down Hwy 54, Hwy 5 and then Hwy D. Ha Ha Tonka State Park had come highly recommended. It had almost everything. Between the castle ruins, the natural bridge and one of the biggest springs in Missouri, it was an easy decision to come here. I arrived around 8:30A and ditched the car in the parking lot by the ruins. Best guess, I had about six hours until the rain was due. On a nice day, I could have spent a whole day here.
First up for the day was the Red Rim Trail. This brings you past the water tower. Access to the tower is gated over sadly.

This connected me with a loop trail down to a natural bridge. It wasn't the largest of the trip. While I could stand underneath it, it was a tight fit.

This would connect with another loop through the Devil's Kitchen. Why the name? I have no idea. But, the trail does bring you to this gash in the ground, then around to its base.

This in turn brings you to an overlook and a set of stairs. The stairway down to the Spring Trail warns of 316 stairs and a drop of two hundred feet. Yeah, well worth it.

The base of the stairway ends at mouth of Ha Ha Tonka Spring. Average daily flow from the spring is fifty-eight million gallons at a constant temperature of fifty-six degrees. And yet, it's only the twelfth largest in Missouri.

The group on the walkway gives guided hiking tours. Their season is about to begin. They were inspecting the trail and walkway, as well as the flora. I left then to their task and climbed back up those 316 stairs and back around to the rim trail. The lighting was much better this time.

Robert Snyder bought this land in 1905 with the dreams of building a European style castle overlooking his private lake. Construction began a year later. Snyder didn't live to see it through. In 1907 he was killed in one of Missouri's first auto accidents. In 1920, his sons completed the castle and moved in. Not being the business men their father was, the money started drying up. So, they turned the castle into a hotel and lodge until it burned down in 1942. Missouri bought the property in 1970, eventually turning it into the park. As for the name, Ha Ha Tonka comes from the Osage term for "laughing waters."

From the castle, I could have made the five minute walk back to the car, or the two mile looping Quarry Trail. Looking at the sky, I rolled the dice and took the long way around. It's a fairly level trail and I could do it at a brisk pace.

There was one more trail I had been considering. With a name like Balancing Rock, how could I pass it up. With the connecting trail, it would be a moderate two miles. Still no rain. So, after moving the car, off I went. I found the trail up and around this rock outcropping. But, I didn't see anything that looked like a balancing rock. How I missed this, I do not know.

It was a nice enough walk though and the extra two miles felt good.

With the sky slowly becoming more and more leaden, it was time to go. I left the park around 2P. On the drive back through Camdenton, I decided to pass on Ozarkland. As for the rain, it was steady for about five minutes, then stopped altogether.

From here, the plan was simply to pick up Route 66 and take it east to the motel. Passing through Lebanon, I passed this covered bridge. It's on private property, so I just shot this from the end of the driveway.

When I eventually picked up Route 66 again, it was just before the Welcome to Lebanon sign I passed the day before. Sure, I was covering some of the same ground, at least for the first ten miles or so. What surprised me is what I somehow missed.

On the lawn of the local high school. Their team, The Rockets.

From here, Route 66 is mostly highway access roads, some of which were barricaded or construction. I couldn't access Hazelgreen from the west, but backtracked from the next exit. We stopped into this abandoned service station the last time. It's in a lot worse shape now.

My home for the night was the Libery Lodge in St. Robert. Since I had left the park earlier than expected, I had some time to explore the area a bit. After ditching my stuff n the room, I drove east a mile or two to an odd tourist trap. It's not an actual incorporated town, but they've billed this block of stores as the town of Uranus.

But, where else would one see the World's Biggest Belt Buckle.

A little further east is an earlier alignment of Route 66. For some reason they named the segment the Devils Elbow. The one restaurant in Uranus wasn't open for another half hour, so I stopped into Judy's Place.

I asked about food. They had pizza(probably frozen) or potato chips. So, dinner was a bag of Sour Cream and Cheddar chips and a Coffee Stout Ale. Both were quite good, but not exactly the most nutritional dinner. The place wasn't exactly crowded, but the conversation lively. I had a second stout, said my good-byes and headed back out.