High Ridge Trail is a beautiful trail along one of the highest ridge lines of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park in Columbia, Missouri. The trail winds through native grasslands offering scenic views of the surrounding hills.

I set out on one of the coldest winter days of the year to hike Rocky Falls to Klepzig Mill. Unfortunately I didn't complete the hike. I did however experience a frozen Rocky Falls, one of the best waterfalls in Missouri.

Devil’s Icebox and Sinkhole Trail leads hikers through the park's most prominent features: Devil’s Icebox, Connor’s Cave, the many sinkholes that dot the park, and ultimately the namesake Rock Bridge. It’s not often a trail features two subterranean sections, but this trail does.

I'm still at Mark Twain State Park in Missouri, but this time I'm hiking Post Oak Trail and White Oak Trail which is a 2.7 mile loop trail that runs along the shoreline of Mark Twain Lake.

The Dogwood Trail is a roughly 2.5 mile lolli-pop loop hiking trail that runs along the banks of Mark Twain Lake and through the mature oak-hickory woodland of Mark Twain State Park in Missouri.

I head to Ha Ha Tonka State Park in Central Missouri to hike to the ruins of a 20th century Castle and get treated to classic Missouri glades and a beautiful bluff view of the Lake of the Ozarks on the Castle and Quarry Loop Trail.

Hike to Missouri’s tallest mountain, Missouri’s tallest waterfall, and the Devil’s Toll Gate all in one 5 mile hike. If there was one hike to showcase all the beauty the Missouri outdoors has to offer, Mina Sauk Falls to Devil’s Toll Gate is probably it.

The fun, but tongue-twisty task of speaking “Cuivre River” won’t be the only enjoyment on this 7.4 mile hike as the Cuivre River South Loop Trail offers unobstructed bluff views and a rugged Ozark mountain feel that’s rare in the predominantly agricultural landscape of northern Missouri.

This week I head to Sam A. Baker State Park in Missouri to hike the Shut-Ins Trail to the top of Mudlick Mountain (1,313 feet). It’s the end of October and the Missouri fall colors were in full effect on this midwest hiking trail. Along the trail there is one beautiful Missouri bluff view, three historic stone camping shelters, and an active fire tower atop Mudlick Mountain.