We took a recent trip down to Elephant Rocks State Park located near Belleview, Missouri to walk our dogs on a shaded trail. It was a very hot day on this visit, and the trees created nice shade. The park is located less than 2 hours south-southwest of St. Louis and is the site of a retired rock quarry. As you can see in our pictures, the park is named for a string of enormous granite boulders which resemble a train of pink circus elephants.
There is a nice paved walking trail that is wheel chair accessible. Dogs are welcome to be walked on a 6 foot leash and bags are also available to pick up after them. Along with the paved trail, there are options to walk off the trail to explore more of the park and access for rock climbing on some of the big rocks. Keep in mind, the side trails are rugged, narrow, and not paved. Signs are posted to let you know which way to go for the wheel chair accessible path. There is also a nice picnic area where you can sit and eat lunch with the elephant rocks. This was not our first trip to visit the Elephant Rocks, and we feel it is well worth the approximately 1.5-2 hour trip from St. Louis.
