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Elephant Rocks State Park, Belleview, MO

Photo: Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sport & OutdoorFreeOutdoor AdventureFamily Favorite

Elephant Rocks State Park

7406 Highway 21 · Belleview, MO

Why you should go…

Elephant Rocks State Park protects an outcrop of 1.5-billion-year-old granite in the St. Francois Mountains, where huge rounded boulders stand end to end like a train of circus elephants. A one-mile Braille Trail, the first in Missouri state parks designed for visitors with visual and physical disabilities, winds through the formations. You can also scramble through spots like Fat Man's Squeeze, picnic under the trees and visit the ruins of an old railroad engine house.

  • #state park
  • #granite boulders
  • #braille trail
  • #bouldering
  • #picnic area

Good to know

General sport & outdoor guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Weather calls the shots

    Check the forecast the morning of and keep an indoor backup in your pocket for the day it turns.

  • Shoes, water, sun cover

    The three things that decide whether you last the whole outing or cut it short after an hour.

  • Parking and launches fill early

    On a nice weekend, lots and trailheads are often full by mid-morning.

  • Daylight shrinks in shoulder season

    Spring and fall visits need an earlier start than the same trip in July.

What's around here?

The closest stops to Elephant Rocks State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Outdoor Adventure

    Valor Bluffs

    Under $25

    A nine-hole par-3 golf course with two bars, casual food and a Fallen Heroes Memorial on 40 rolling acres outside Bonne Terre, Missouri.

    24 mi awayMore like this

  • Shopping
    Local Gem

    ASL Pewter

    Free

    Working pewter studio and shop hand-casting heirloom pieces with colonial-era tools and techniques.

    32 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Ste. Genevieve

    Free

    Missouri's oldest permanent European settlement, with French colonial homes you can still tour.

    33 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Perryville

    Free

    Southeast Missouri county seat known for its German and French Catholic heritage.

    46 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Local Gem

    Laumeier Sculpture Park

    Free

    60 monumental sculptures scattered across 105 wooded acres, anchored by a 65-foot scarlet steel giant. Free, open daily from 7 a.m. to past sunset.

    64 mi awayMore like this

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Date Night

    Missouri Botanical Garden

    Under $25

    79 acres of horticultural bliss, a grand Victorian glasshouse, a serene Japanese garden and blooms in every season.

    70 mi awayMore like this