Elephant Rock & Devil’s Honeycomb
As the weather continues to get better, we are drawn into the woods to explore what Missouri has to offer. We have a list of hikes and MO adventures that we would like to do. Elephant Rocks is on that list and is close by, which made for a great and simple weekend activity. What we didn’t know, is that we would also find another trail to hike called Devil’s Honeycomb.
Mile: 9,028
Quote of the Blog: “You don’t need to fly to the other side of the world to find wilderness and beauty.” - Alastair Humphreys
Song of the Blog: “I want to Rock” - Twisted Sister
Elephant Rocks State Park is an hour and a half hour drive away from our home in St. James. Deep into the Mark Twain National Forest, this spot is one of those hidden Missouri gems. Massive granite boulders are the main feature of this area. They jet up out the ground, and are stacked upon each other. The sheer size is what gives them their name, “Elephant Rocks”. We started along a trail that was wrapping around the perimeter of the rock garden. As we made our way closer to the rocks, we found ourselves pushing up onto the rocks and climbing around. The largest was around 30 feet tall and 50 feet long. They formed by quickly cooling magma 1.5 billion years ago.
Time has taken its toll on this area. At one time, this was a granite quarry. A short walk away from the main rock garden put us at some stone ruins of the main quarry factory and some old train rails coming out from it. It was really fun goofing off in the ruins, trying to get a photo in which we showed up in each of the windows. Ultimately it was unsuccessful, though a funny memory!
After making our way back to the rock garden, we decided that we had to move on to the next hike for the day. This hike was a trailhead we noticed on our way to Elephant Rocks. It is called Devil’s Honeycomb. After a quick online search, Amity’s favorite website Atlas Obscura had this area designated on it. With our “Why Not” mentality, we decided to add the short hike to our day. An added bonus of the hike was that it led to the top of Hughes Mountain. Yes!! Missouri does have mountains. They do use the word slightly more liberal than what I am used to, but Hughes Mountain is a peak and did have some great views! We crushed the 387 feet of vert from the car to the top!
At the top of the peak, we found ourselves looking down as much as we were looking at the views. This is where the “Devil’s Honeycombs” jet up from the dirt. These are rock formations that formed intricate hexagonal columns. Once again, this was done by the amazing forces of magma and is thought to be around 1.5 billion years old. This is the only place in the United States where this geological formation exists. We were pleasantly surprised by how cool they were!
Looking around it is obvious to us that the “endless fall” was over, and spring was here! The Ozark Mountains have a special look to them. Rolling hills (or mountains) textured with deciduous trees. Fluffy white clouds rolled along. It made for a great spot to hang out and enjoy the afternoon. We quickly made our decent down to our car and a quick trip back to St. James to begin planning out next big adventure.