Elephant Rocks

Elephant Rocks State Park Trails Braille Trail Length - 1 Mile Time - 30 minutes The 7.5-acre Elephant Rocks Natural Area can be viewed from the Braille Trail. Designed especially for people with visual or physical disabilities, the Braille Trail is the first of its kind in Missouri state parks and is designated as a National Recreation Trail. The trail passes by a quarry pond, which now supports a variety of animal life. A short spur off of the trail takes you to the top of the granite outcrop, where they can explore the maze of giant elephant rocks. A second spur brings you to a point overlooking an old quarry site, where Missouri red granite was quarried from the 1860s through the early 1900s. The asphalt trail features interpretive signage and is accessible to persons with disabilities. This .mp3 file provides the same information as the interpretive signage. Engine House Ruins Trail Length - .40 Mile Time - 15 minutes The east entrance starts on a level, gravel 450-foot-long trail bed and leads to the ruins of an old engine house. The engine house originally was built to repair train engines and cars from the Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad in the 1890s and service Sheehan Quarry operations in what is now the state park. By 1902, 16 granite cars were being operated regularly, shipping Missouri red granite throughout the country. At the engine house or at the west entrance to the trail is a largely dirt wide path that leads you around the back side of the old quarry and over natural terrain. Although there are no real difficulties along the trail, it is not considered accessible for the physically impaired.