Day Trip - Ruins, Rocks, Woods, and a Spring.

Yesterday was probably the last really nice day of the year in my neck of the woods, so I took a little afternoon trip over to a state park called Ha Ha Tonka, right outside of Camdenton, Missouri.

It's basically the remains of a secluded woodland estate begun by a wealthy businessman over a century ago, sitting atop a sheer bluff overlooking a spring-cut gorge, right on the edge of what is today the Niangua arm of Lake of the Ozarks. The state purchased it in 1978 and turned it into a hiking and recreation area.

The Missouri Parks website has information about its history, but I found a more detailed version here... [source]

Ha Ha Tonka

(An Osage Indian phrase meaning “Laughing Spirit”)

In 1903 Robert McClure Snyder who was a wealthy business man from Kansas City, Missouri first visited the area around Ha Ha Tonka. He worked in the wholesale grocery business in St. Louis and later in Kansas City. He began to speculate in real estate, banking and utilities, eventually amassing a fortune. He was so impressed with the area that he eventually purchased some 2,500 acres envisioning a private retreat for his family. This is what he said “Here I will spend my leisure, secure from the worries of business and the excitement of city life. I will fish and loaf and explore the caves of these hills, with no fear of intrusion.”

In 1904 Snyder purchased the property from Robert G. Scott. Mr. Scott had surveyed the property as a possible railroad route in the early 1890’s but then thought that this idea was not feasible. He was taken by the scenic beauty, high bluffs, caves and natural springs. He had changed the settlement from the name “Gunter Springs” to “Ha Ha Tonka” in 1895. Mr. Snyder immediately began to make extensive improvements. He envisioned a European style castle with a center atrium rising three and one half stories to a skylight, nine greenhouses, a carriage house, and an 89 foot private water tower.

In 1905 construction began on the mansion. He utilized stonemasons from Scotland and they quarried stone and timber from the immediate area as a European supervisor managed every step of the construction. The three and a half story masterpiece was designed by Kansas City architect, Adrian Van Brunt, and included a central hallway that rose the entire height of the building, as well as a stone carriage house.

In 1906 Robert M. Snyder was killed in an automobile accident on Independence Boulevard in Kansas City. It was one of the state's first automobile accidents. The building of his mansion came to a halt at Ha Ha Tonka. The castle remained unfinished for sixteen years.

In 1922 Snyder’s sons Robert, Jr., Leroy, and Kenneth continued the work. The interior and upper floors were finally completed. The pace was slow and not nearly as elaborate as the original plans. The son Robert, Jr. lived in the castle.

In 1937 Robert Snyder, Jr. died. By this time the castle was finally complete. While he lived in the castle he was plagued by health problems. He cultivated an interest in local and regional history. He collected every book on the subject that he could get his hands on. He had a collection of over a thousand volumes. The family businesses began to decline and the depression and the court litigations (fighting the construction of Bagnell Dam) had depleted the family fortune and the surviving brothers were forced to take other financial steps with the mansion. They leased the building to a woman who operated the building as a hotel for the next several years.

In 1942 tragedy struck the castle when sparks from one of its many fireplaces ignited the roof. Within hours the mansion was gutted as well as the nearby carriage house. All that was left were the devastated outside walls of the mansion and the nearby water tower. Again the mansion was abandoned for the next 36 years.

In 1976 vandals torched the water tower and only the ruins of the castle remained. The water tower has since been restored to its original state.

In 1978 the State of Missouri purchased the estate and opened it to the public as a State Park.

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Hitting the road!

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Scenery along State Highway 5.

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Almost there.

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Going down U.S. 54, a mile or so outside of Camdenton. Ha Ha Tonka is just ahead and on the left.

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There now and looking down into the spring-cut gorge from the parking area below the ruins. The sun was really bright, and the late afternoon angle (low in the sky and to my front) made some of my shots turn out hazy like this one. Still worth showing, though.

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Zooming in on the spring-fed creek at the bottom while making my way up the trail from the parking area. That dead and weathered tree was just begging to be photographed. Couldn't pass it up.

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On the right are the ruins of the stable and carriage house.

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Another view.

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One more, from the side.

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There were some information graphics nearby.

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This one's about the mansion, which the park calls a "castle" for some reason. I find that rather annoying, but oh well.

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Robert McClure Snyder, the owner and builder.

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An old photo of the water tower and stable/carriage house, presumably photographed from the "castle."

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The "castle" as it was.

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The unfortunate conflagration in 1942. In color, too. No idea if it's an original or a B&W that was colorized later on.

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Walking up the trail and zooming in on the start of the Niangua branch of Lake of the Ozarks.

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Scenery on the other side of the trail.

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The ruined mansion.

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The position of the sun made some of my scenery shots difficult, but it turned out to be awesome for the mansion shots.

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The sun actually made the window openings seem to glow from this perspective.

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Walking around to the other side. No glow from this angle.

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The west side of the ruin.

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Another view.

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Another view.

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And one more, with the water tower visible in the distance.

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There was an observation platform right on the edge of the bluff.

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Looking back from the observation platform, in the direction of the water tower.

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The lake in the other direction.

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This was near the ruin. There was also a trail going down to the quarry, but the marker said it was a mile-long hike, so I skipped it.

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Going back down the trail to the parking area, on my way to the water tower.

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Looking back on the ruin. A bit hard to see, but it's in the upper right.

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The graphic at the start of the trail to the water tower.

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Looking back at the lake again, from a boardwalk on the water tower trail.

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Stairs going up to the water tower.

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Oblique perspective.

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Right under it.

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There was a gate keeping people out, but I stuck the camera through the bars and took a few shots.

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Looking out across the gorge from the water tower.

Next stop, the rock bridge.

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I hiked back and then drove over to a different parking area. This is the graphic at the start of the rock bridge trail.

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Hiking down to it.

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Looking out from under it. The air was noticeably cooler down here.

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Looking back at it from the trail on the other side.

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Continuing on down the trail a ways.

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The trail winds along one side of a bowl-shaped gorge called "the Colosseum." Here's where I stopped and turned back because I wanted to make my way around to the spring before I lost the light, and I needed to drive over to yet another parking area on the other side of the spring gorge.

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Going back under the rock bridge.

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The stairs back up to the parking area.

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This is a zoomed shot of the mansion from the other side of the gorge, after driving around to the parking area by the old post office, which I apparently forgot to take a picture of. As you can see, the evening light was coming on, and I still had to hike all the way down to the spring, which turned out to be a much longer hike than I expected.

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The spring trail had two directions at the start. I chose this one and it took me down the side of the gorge to the west (the wrong direction), ending at the bottom by a picnic area and the lake.

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From there the trail turned back east toward the spring. That's lake water on the left, not the spring creek.

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Scenery on the hillside to the right of the trail.

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More scenery, a bit further along.

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A zoomed shot of the bluff with the barely visible ruin at the top.

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Zoomed out a bit to show the spring creek, which the trail had just pulled up alongside. The shots have different exposures because I somehow managed to accidentally turn the bracketing camera setting on.

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The spring creek water.

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The spring, visible in the distance now, coming out from under the rock.

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Right about here the trail cuts through some rocks at the bottom of the gorge.

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Looking back at them.

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A graphic alongside the trail.

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Zoomed text.

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The pump on display nearby. 

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Arriving at the spring.

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According to Wikipedia it's the 14th largest spring in the Ozarks, with an average discharge of 74.3 cubic feet per second.

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Looking downstream from the observation platform.

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Looking down at the observation platform from the stairs that I would have discovered if I had chosen the other direction at the start of the trail.

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Looking downstream from about 80 feet up the hillside, with the mansion ruin slightly visible on top of the bluff.

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One thing about this side of the trail, though... lots and lots of stairs.

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And you're practically hanging off the side of a cliff in some places.

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You also have to go back down for a bit before you reach the top. That was depressing.

Scenic views, though, right?

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Finally at the top, looking down at the spring creek.

I wasn't prepared for that. If I'd known how long and steep those stairs were I probably would have just gone back the way I came.

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Directly across the gorge from the water tower.

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One last shot down towards the lake, and losing the light fast.

That was it. I had to hurry just to make it back to the parking area before it got completely dark on me.

I wasn't expecting the spring trail to be such a workout, but all in all I had a good time. It was a fun little outing on what was likely the last warm and sunny day of the year (it was actually in the mid-to-upper 70s, which is unseasonably warm). The forecast has it turning cooler and then cold from here on out.

Thanks for coming along with me.