Back to Stop #5: Elephant Rocks Web PagePerhaps one of the most curious geological formations in Missouri is found in Elephant Rocks State Park. Billion-year-old giant granite rocks stand end-to-end like a train of circus elephants.
The formation of the extraordinary herd began during the Precambrian era, more than a billion years ago, when molten rock, called magma, was pushed to the surface from below. For millions of years the magma cooled slowly, forming the solid granite. As it cooled, nearly vertical cracks, called "joints", developed. These joints were accentuated during the period of upward thrust or pressure that formed the Ozark Mountains.
The jointing of the granite produced huge, oblong blocks that eventually were laid bare by surface erosion. Natural weathering of the granite blocks rounded off their corners, giving the boulders their present shape. The trees and shrubs growing in the cracks and joints also have aided the weathering process. As the roots and stems continue to grow, the enlarge the existing fractures and wear away the rock surface.
Chemical weathering on the crest of the large boulders and on the barren granite outcroppings has produced small depressions, called "tinahitas". The short-lived, or "ephemeral", pools of water, which form in the depressions, provide a home for grasses and mosses. Although the rocks are continually decomposing as time goes by, more stone elephants are in the making between the cracks and joints of the granite hillside in the park.
Since no official census of the herd has ever been taken, the exact number of elephants inhabiting the park is unknown. Some specific information, however, has been gathered on Dumbo, the pink granite patriarch of Elephant Rocks. Dumbo stands 27 feet tall, 35 feet long, and 17 feet wide. At a weight of 162 pounds per cubic foot, Dumbo tips the scales at a hefty 680 tons.
Just outside the park is the oldest recorded granite in the state. This quarry, opened in 1869, furnished stone for the Eads Bridge piers and cobbles for St. Louis buildings and for the turned columns on the front porch of the Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City.
Elephant Rocks State Park is the first park in Missouri to have a trail designed especially for people with visual and physical disabilities. Signs along the trail, written in Braille and in regular text, describe the origin of the elephant rocks and guide visitors along a paved one-mile path that is ideal for disabled as well as elderly park visitors. Most of the trail is wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, but also includes several alternate loops for visitors not using wheelchairs.
Thirty picnic sites are scattered near the giant brown granite boulders, providing ample opportunities for family picnicking and exploration of the elephant rocks.
Camping is not allowed in Elephant Rocks State Park. Several nearby state parks within an hour's drive of Elephant Rocks over overnight camping. Washington, St. Francois, Hawn, Sam A. Baker, and Johnson's Shut-Ins state parks all contain basic and improved campsites with modern restrooms, hot showers, and coin-operated laundry facilitites.
An area of seven acres encircled by the Braille Trail has been designated as a Missouri Natural Area. Although there are other locations in the St. Francois Mountains where ancient granite has been exposed, Elephant Rocks is the only place where the huge, brown granite boulders can be found. The natural area is recognized for its outstanding geologic value and will be protected from further development. Elephant Rocks Natural Area can be viewed from the Braille Trail.
Taum Sauk Mountain, with an elevation of 1,772 feet, is the highest point in Missouri. It is located in Taum Sauk Mountain State Park about 15 miles south of Elephant Rocks. A road to the top provides an outstanding panorama of the southeast Missouri countryside.
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