Waterfalls in Missouri

Missouri's waterfalls, from volcanic mountains to a Joplin chert ledge

The St. Francois Mountains in the southeast are Precambrian volcanic rock, older than the Appalachians, and they produce Missouri's two best-known waterfalls; elsewhere, spring-fed creeks over dolomite and chert account for the rest of the state's 11 named falls, one to a county from the Ozarks to the Kansas City suburbs.

Where the waterfalls are

Iron County and Reynolds County, both in the St. Francois Mountains, hold Mina Sauk Falls and Johnson's Shut-ins. To the southwest, Newton County has Grand Falls on Shoal Creek in Joplin. Shannon, Oregon, Ste. Genevieve, Perry and Webster counties each add one more Ozark waterfall, and Andrew, Clay and Jackson counties, in the state's northwest corner and Kansas City area, hold the rest.

Waterfalls worth the trip

• Mina Sauk Falls, 95 feet, is Missouri's tallest waterfall, on a 2.9-mile loop trail in Taum Sauk Mountain State Park that climbs past the state's highest point; the park's own trail sheet still describes it as dropping 132 feet over a series of ledges. It runs only in wet weather and thins to a trickle otherwise.
• Johnsons Shut-ins, 12 feet on the East Fork Black River, cuts chutes and potholes through rhyolite rock in Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park.
• Shoal Creek Falls, better known as Grand Falls, drops 8 feet over a 163-foot-wide chert ledge in Joplin, a short walk from Wildcat Park; it has no visitor facilities, and swimming is allowed.

Access

Missouri state parks, including Taum Sauk Mountain and Johnson's Shut-ins, charge no entrance or parking fee and are open sunrise to sunset year-round. Grand Falls, likewise free to visit, has no restrooms or other facilities on site.

Safety

A reservoir above Johnson's Shut-ins failed on December 14, 2005, sending a flood through the park that destroyed the campground; only the superintendent's family was on site, and they survived with injuries. The park reopened for limited day use in 2006, regained full water access in 2009, and got a new campground in 2010. At Mina Sauk Falls, the trail runs along the top of the drop past bluffs, slippery rock and grades over 10 percent, with water crossings that can be unbridged after rain.