• Please support our journalism through affiliate links. Affiliate Disclosure
  • Written by our human editors, structured with the help of AI.

Review & FAQ:

Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park can be found at the center of Mark Twain National Forest, surrounded by the St Francois Mountains. The highlight of the park is the natural water park, or shut-in, that forms when the river spills over and around the smoothly-worn igneous rocks. In 2005, the nearby reservoir breached, sending 1.3 billion gallons of water down the mountain and through the nearly unoccupied park destroying the campground and scouring the landscape and leaving behind a field of boulders from the mountains. Today visitors can enjoy all of the outdoor amenities like picnicking, camping, and hiking the rugged terrain of southeast Missouri.

148 Taum Sauk Trail, Lesterville, MO 63656, Phone: 573-546-2450

Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, Missouri
© Sharon Day/stock.adobe.com

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Kentucky Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virginia Boston Harbor Islands State Park, Massachusetts Chimney Rock State Park, North Carolina Custer State Park, South Dakota Devil’s Lake State Park, Wisconsin Ecola State Park, Oregon Elephant Butte Lake State Park, New Mexico Fort De Soto Park, Florida Fort Yargo, Georgia Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, Missouri Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, California Kachemak Bay State Park, Alaska Kartchner Caverns State Park, Arizona Lake Tahoe State Park, Nevada Laughing Whitefish Falls State Park, Michigan Makoshika State Park, Montana Akaka Falls State Park, Hawaii Niagara Falls State Park, New York Reid State Park, Maine Starved Rock State Park, Illinois State Forest State Park, Colorado

Explore more: The USA > State Parks in the United States

Plan Your Trip

Get Ready to Go!

Need some more help?


Go to travel reservations.