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St. Louis Outdoor Adventures
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Dedicated to providing the best information about amazing outdoor destinations & experiences within a 4 hour drive of St. Louis.
Amazing adventures, close to home.
Had to work on some house projects yesterday but we did make it out in the afternoon for our first visit to Bee Tree County Park. Bee Tree was built by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company founder, Eugene Nims, as a weekend retreat. It overlooks the Mississippi River, has large stocked lake, and includes trails, a playground, several nice shelters, and a huge mansion built by the foremost St. Louis architectural firm back in 1929, Maritz & Young. #mississippiriver #missourioutdoors #bigmuddy #missouriphotographer
I knew I had to take advantage of today's warm weather in a special way so I decided it was finally time to get back to paddling and try out the new kayak I got for my wife. My wife, however, was unconvinced that it was warm enough. And I'm like, "it was like 65 today, it'll be great!" But, alas, I ended up heading out to Ellis Bay/Riverlands on my own. ![]()
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Turns out, Ellis Bay was still, for some crazy reason, frozen solid. Apparently a week of single digit temperatures can't be undone by a couple warmish days. ![]()
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It wasn't a complete loss, I did manage to enjoy the sunset and snap a few (230) pics. I usually try to whittle down the pics to no more than 10 but I just couldn't do it with these. Also a couple videos in the comments... ![]()
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#missouriphotographer #mississippiriver #missourioutdoors #winterexplorations #altonillinois #birdphotography
I've been very inspired by the many other St. Louis-based outdoor explorers that I've found and friended through Facebook and Instagram to get out on these cold days. They can offer even more beauty and fascination than you'll ever find during "nice weather". ![]()
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Today's explorations took us to Don Robinson State Park. A quite new park to the fabulous Missouri State Park System and it is truly a gem. I went seeking cool icicles and frozen waterfalls. It certainly delivered. We ran out of time before we got to explore the full 4 mile trail so I'm sure I missed a lot of good stuff (but then, the short-cut trail had some great stuff too).
The peaceful waterfalls and streams of Engelmann Woods Natural Area near St. Louis during a nice, sustained Winter rain.
I enjoyed Engelmann Woods so much last weekend I decided I needed to go back and see it after 10 hours of steady rain plus some snow melt. So glad I did. Spectacular. Here are a few pics from today. More pics and some videos on our website.
Loved this shot by a friend of Forest Park today in the snow. Forest Park is a key spot for my mini-adventures.
This weekend I wanted to find a brand new place to explore so I pulled out the new MDC Natural Areas guide my wife got me for Christmas and spotted a place I had never heard of, Engelmann Woods Natural Area. So we hopped in the minivan and made our way out 100 (aka Manchester Road) several miles West of Clarkson just outside of Wildwood's boundaries. ![]()
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The 1.9 mile Fiddle Creek Trail there is a beautiful, secluded trail among towering hills that border the Missouri River valley. It follows a ridgeline for just under a half mile before heading down into the Fiddle Creek valley. While Fiddle Creek was just a dry bed when we were there, it's size and the way it cuts through the valley indicate it can be quite a beast at times. Heading up out of the valley lead to some good huffing and puffing among my crew but overall, it's a fairly moderate hike. ![]()
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Definitely a great place to check out if you are looking for something new and want to get away from the more crowded areas. Link to our full write-up in the comments below.
Historic Ruins? Fort Belle Fontaine has two important historical pasts. The first being, the fort was the first U.S. military installation west of the Mississippi River. The trading fort was an important gathering place for officers and enlisted men; Native peoples; and French, Spanish and American settlers, trappers, and traders. But the majority of the structures from those days have been completely wiped out by the shifting of the Missouri river. ![]()
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Second, the site was a large project within FDR’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. The WPA built a grand staircase down from the bluff along with a number of other structures from limestone on the property. The Grand Staircase is certainly an impressive feat both in terms of scale and craftsmanship. I can appreciate the tremendous effort involved in building it. It seems like at one time, it was really nice. But, for me, it, and most other structures at this place just felt unnecessarily run-down. I found myself thinking of all the ways it could be better.![]()
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I know for some, they really like exploring the “ruins” but for me, it’s really just not that old. Europeans would giggle at us if we told them something only 90 years old was “ruins”. With a nice power-wash, some landscaping work, filling the ponds, and fixing the things that are broken, the grand staircase could still be truly spectacular, but instead, it’s all being left to rot. And that bums me out. ![]()
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Still, an interesting place to visit if you are looking for something different to do. ![]()
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See more pics and learn more in the link in the comments...
Happened to be passing close to Horseshoe Lake State Park just before sunset last night so I decided to stop and take some photos. Glad I did. #illinois #illinoisoutdoors #illinoisphotographer #stlouisoutdoors