Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Missouri Iron Township Elephant Rocks State Park

Elephant Rocks State Park

Giant granite rocks standing end-to-end like a train of circus elephants.

Iron Township, Missouri

Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Dumbo off in the distance   lissalou66 / CC BY-ND 2.0
  Nikonian Novice / CC BY-ND 2.0
  Nikonian Novice / CC BY-ND 2.0
Entering the elephants.   winddancer424 / Atlas Obscura User
Boulders   Noella T / Atlas Obscura User
At the top.   winddancer424 / Atlas Obscura User
  Libbye Tellor, www.illusionsofgrandeurphotography.com
  rachelbaker1982 / Atlas Obscura User
  ck0256226 / Atlas Obscura User
  KayakCaye / Atlas Obscura User
  rachelbaker1982 / Atlas Obscura User
Shaped Like a Molar   Lurkerlaine / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

About 1.5 billion years ago, hot magma cooled forming coarsely crystalline red granite, which later weathered into huge, rounded boulders. Standing atop a granite outcrop, one of the largest elephant rocks, Dumbo, tops the scales at a unreal 680 tons.

Visitors to Elephant Rocks State Park can easily view the granite boulders from the one-mile Braille Trail, designed to accommodate people with visual or physical disabilities. The trail passes by a quarry pond, which now supports a variety of animal life. A short spur off of the trail takes visitors to the top of the granite outcrop, where they can explore the maze of giant elephant rocks.

A second spur brings visitors to a point overlooking an old quarry site. This red granite, first commercially quarried in the late 1800s, has been used as building material and as paving blocks for the St. Louis levee and downtown streets. Today, "Missouri Red" granite is cut and polished mainly for use as monuments. Picnic sites allow visitors to rest and have a cool drink among the stone pachyderms.

Related Tags

State Parks Rocks Martian Landscapes Geological Oddities Ecosystems Geology

Know Before You Go

From St. Louis Take I-55 south out of St. Louis to U.S. Hwy. 67, just south of the Festus (Route A) exit. Turn right (Exit 174) onto southbound U.S. Hwy. 67 and drive past Bonne Terre, Park Hills, Leadington and into Farmington. On the south side of Farmington is the State Road 221 overpass. Exit onto State Road 221 and travel for 9 miles. When you reach the intersection with Route NN, go straight onto Route NN. Continue for 8 miles to a flashing stoplight at a three-way stop. Turn right onto northbound Hwy. 21 and travel two miles. The park entrance is on right side of road. The trip is about one and one half hours long.

Community Contributors

Edited By

dacubsrule, howiegilson4, bluceleste87, ltellor42...

  • dacubsrule
  • howiegilson4
  • bluceleste87
  • ltellor42
  • Lurkerlaine
  • winddancer424
  • ck0256226
  • Noella T
  • rachelbaker1982
  • KayakCaye

Published

May 5, 2010

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Elephant Rocks State Park
County Rd 53
c/o Fort Davidson State Historic Site
Iron Township, Missouri, 63650
United States
37.654597, -90.688557
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Taum Sauk Mountain

Ironton, Missouri

miles away

Devil's Honeycomb

Irondale, Missouri

miles away

Johnson's Shut-Ins

Lesterville, Missouri

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Missouri

Missouri

United States

Places 178
Stories 6

Nearby Places

Taum Sauk Mountain

Ironton, Missouri

miles away

Devil's Honeycomb

Irondale, Missouri

miles away

Johnson's Shut-Ins

Lesterville, Missouri

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Missouri

Missouri

United States

Places 178
Stories 6

Related Stories and Lists

Get Thee to Totality: Chicago

List

By Atlas Obscura

Related Places

  • Red Rock Coulee

    Orion, Alberta

    Red Rock Coulee

    Huge spherical rocks in the middle of the prairie.

  • Goblin Valley

    Green River, Utah

    Goblin Valley State Park

    Bizarre lunar-like landscape with thousands of large stone "hoodoos."

  • Rock City and its spherical stones.

    Minneapolis, Kansas

    Rock City

    A landscape of massive spherical boulders are the main attraction in this Kansas State Park.

  • A medium gray rock on the desert floor, with a trail in the dirt behind it showing how the rock has moved.

    Inyo County, California

    Sailing Stones of Racetrack Playa

    The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

  • Lake Powell, Utah

    Cathedral in the Desert

    The damming of the Colorado River buried an iconic geologic formation before record-breaking drought brought it back.

  • Looking Glass Rock seen from the Looking Glass Rock Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

    Brevard, North Carolina

    Looking Glass Rock

    This granite rock face is named for the magnificent reflection that occurs when the sun hits it just right.

  • Columnar basalt along the Kanaio Coast.

    Wailea-Makena, Hawaii

    Kanaio Coast

    A cooled lava flow from the Haleakalā volcano formed these surreal-looking columnar basalt structures.

  • The limestone landscape.

    Borgholm N, Sweden

    Neptuni Åkrar

    An otherworldly, fossil-rich cobble beach holds Viking graves, cairns, and other remains.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.