Ha Ha Tonka State Park
In an effort to find beautiful places to see in Missouri, I came
across this state park in Camdenton, MO. I had never heard of
Ha Ha Tonka before or been to Lake of the Ozarks so I was
excited to check it out especially since it is said to be
the best state park in all of Missouri!
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Let’s Start With the Basics
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Admission into the park is free (which was music to my deal
seeking ears) and surprisingly it was actually
a very well maintained park.
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It is pet and kid friendly! While we were there we saw a LOT of
families and also quite a few dogs out enjoying the fresh air with their owners.
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You can spend a whole day or just a few hours at this park, really
it is all up to you and how much you want to hike. I recommend
getting there in the morning, checking out the castle ruins and
then hiking the Spring Trail before picking out a spot
by the water for a picnic lunch!
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Now on to our visit!
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Parking in the upper castle parking lot near Natural Bridge
we walked through a wooded area before reaching the paved
0.8 mile (round trip) Castle Trail. It was here at the junction between
our woodland path and the paved one that we spotted our first ruins!
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I think these ruins are the remnants of the carriage house/stable.
This is where the estate caretakers stayed along with 100 horses
and 30 cars. It suffered a grand amount of damage after embers
from the castle fire caught the roof on fire.
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Castle Ruins
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From the junction we continued on down to one of the most
popular features in the park (and one of the main reasons why I
chose to put this park on my to-visit list), the castle ruins!
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So what’s the significance of the castle? Near the beginning of the
1900s a man by the name of Robert McClure Snyder bought over
5,000 acres of land (which is the equivalent to 3,781.25 football fields with endzones)
and began building his dream mansion aka castle. Unfortunately, one
year after beginning construction Snyder was killed in one of the
state’s first car accidents so he never got to actually enjoy his castle
and it remained unfinished for 16 years after his death. Then, on
October 21st, 1942, while being used as a hotel, the castle and
stable were destroyed when a chimney caught the building on fire
and the ruins you see today are all that remains of Snyder’s dream
home. Unfortunately you can’t go up inside the castle and have to
admire it from behind the fence, but so much of it has fallen away over
the years that you have a pretty decent view inside.
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These are pictures of what the castle looked like in all it's finished glory.
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Water Tower and Dell Rim Trail
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After the castle ruins we walked out to the water tower on the Dell
Rim Trail. This 80 foot water tower provided water to the mansion
and housed employees of the estate in it’s base. The water tower
was able to escape damage from the fire that took out both the castle
and carriage house, however, it was burned by vandals in 1976.
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Spring Trail
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After our visit to the water tower we continued on the Dell Rim
trail until we reached a junction for the Spring Trail (1.4 mile round trip).
This trail took us through the woods and along the shores of the
Ha Ha Tonka spring (Missouri’s 12th largest spring) and the Lake
of the Ozarks. We got to traverse along beautiful wooden boardwalks
while looking at the entrancing clear blue water that flowed next
to us and even ran into some critters along the way. (There
are some steep sections and a LOT of stairs on this trail.)
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After we finished the Spring Trail we moved on to the Island Trail.
This is a short loop hike (0.8 miles) that follows the spring and
takes you past Ha Ha Tonka’s own balanced rock (which we didn’t
actually find so no pictures of that) as well as to a small gated
permit entry cave called Island Cave*. Overall, I wasn’t very impressed
with the Island Trail and it certainly wasn’t a trail I think you have to do when you go.
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*Not going to lie...we made it down to Island Cave and it definitely
smelled like we were not the only ones that had been there recently.
Mary Jane must have been there not long before us with her friends! Lol
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And that was our trip to Ha Ha Tonka State Park! I do wish I would have been there a little later in the season to have been able to see when all the leaves had changed colors (I was there about mid September) because that would have really been quite the sight to see at all the overlooks, but it was still a pretty park. The springs inside the park were surprisingly clear and there were even certain parts where the water was such a deep blue it was like looking out into the ocean. It would be a great place to go enjoy some time with the family. Have you been to Ha Ha Tonka before? What is your favorite state park?
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