Taum Sauk Mountain

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Taum Sauk Mountain
Taum Sauk Mountain is part of a large parks-and-wilderness area.
Elevation	1,772 feet (540 metres)
Location	Iron County, Missouri, USA
Range	Saint Francois Mountains
Coordinates	37°34′13″N, 90°43′40″W
Topo map	USGS Ironton
Easiest route	hike

Taum Sauk Mountain in the Saint Francois Mountains is the highest point in the U.S. state of Missouri, 1,772 feet (540 m) above mean sea level. The topography of Taum Sauk is that of a somewhat flat ridge rather than a peak.

While not as impressive at 1,772 feet as other peaks, Taum Sauk and the St. Francois range are true mountains, being the result of a volcanic orogeny. Whereas vertical relief in the rest of the Ozarks region is the result of erosion of sedimentary strata, the St. Francois are an ancient Precambrian igneous uplift several times older than the Appalachians. Geologists believe that Taum Sauk and its neighbors may be among the few areas in the US never to have been submerged in ancient seas. The peaks of the St. Francois range existed as islands in the shallow seaway throughout most of the Paleozoic Era as the sandstones, limestones, and shales typical of the Ozarks were deposited. Weathering and erosion of these ancient peaks provided the clastic sediments of the surrounding rock layers.

Missouri has created a 7,448 acre (30 km²) state park on the mountain which has a rustic campground, a paved trail to the highpoint, and a lookout tower from which a good view can be had; the dense forest on the mountain obscures the view from most other vantage points. Taum Sauk State Park is in a common jurisdiction with Johnson's Shut-ins State Park, and together they comprise the second largest state park in Missouri. These parks and the adjacent Bell Mountain Wilderness Area make up part of a large wilderness area that is very popular with hikers and backpackers. The Taum Sauk section of the Ozark Trail is considered by many to be the most scenic and appealing.

Mina Sauk Falls, the highest waterfall in Missouri, is on Taum Sauk and can be visited by hiking a rugged trail that makes a three-mile loop from the highpoint parking area. These falls normally have water cascading over them only during times of wet weather. At other times they are reduced to a trickle or less.

The Taum Sauk pumped storage plant, which failed on December 14, 2005 sending a flash flood 20 feet deep down the Black River, is not actually on Taum Sauk Mountain. It is on Proffit Mountain, about five miles southwest.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Unklesbay, A.G; & Vineyard, Jerry D. (1992). Missouri Geology — Three Billion Years of Volcanoes, Seas, Sediments, and Erosion. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 0-8262-0836-3.

U.S. State Highest Points [ v • d • e ]