Get outside
Things to do
Billion-year-old granite, Missouri's highest point and tallest waterfall, a Civil War battlefield, and the yearly events worth planning around — all within the county. For places to eat and stay, see the business directory.
State Parks & Outdoors
Ancient granite, Missouri’s highest point, and a mountain built for bikes.
Elephant Rocks State Park
Giant boulders of red granite more than 1.4 billion years old, standing end to end like a train of circus elephants. The one-mile Braille Trail, the first in Missouri’s state parks designed for visitors with visual and physical disabilities, loops through the main rock area, and a side path leads to the ruins of an old railroad engine house. The area’s granite has been quarried since 1869, and stone from local quarries went into St. Louis City Hall and the piers of the Eads Bridge. Geologist John Stafford Brown donated the land, and the park opened in 1967.
Taum Sauk Mountain State Park
Home of Missouri’s highest point, 1,772 feet, reached by a paved trail. The 2.9-mile Mina Sauk Falls loop leads to the state’s tallest waterfall, which drops about 132 feet over a series of ledges; it flows strongly only after rain, so go after a wet spell. A section of the Ozark Trail runs through the park, connecting to Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park and the Bell Mountain Wilderness. The park, established in 1991, covers about 7,500 acres and has a 12-site basic campground. Check trail status before you go.
Shepherd Mountain Bike Park
A city-owned mountain bike park on about 800 acres around the peak of Shepherd Mountain, right above Ironton, with shuttle-able gravity trails dropping more than 600 feet from a top trailhead at 1,604 feet, with more cross-country trail planned. The original trails were finished in time for Ironton to host the 2021 Big Mountain Enduro. Below, 23-acre Shepherd Mountain Lake, the town’s water supply, is open to non-motorized boats and fishing for bass, catfish, crappie, and bluegill.
Pilot Knob National Wildlife Refuge
A 90-acre refuge on top of Pilot Knob Mountain, where 19th-century iron mines became winter habitat for nearly a third of the world’s endangered Indiana bats. The Pilot Knob Ore Company donated it in 1987. To protect the bats, it is closed to the public except for occasional guided hikes run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Historical Sites
A Civil War fort, an 1858 courthouse, and a 19th-century academy.
Battle of Pilot Knob State Historic Site
The earthen walls of Fort Davidson, a six-sided fort built in 1863 to guard the iron mines and railroad. On September 27, 1864, about 1,456 Union troops under Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing Jr. threw back repeated assaults by Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s much larger Confederate army, then blew up the fort’s powder magazine and slipped away that night. The losses helped turn Price away from St. Louis. The visitor center has Civil War artifacts, a film, and a diorama of the battle. Grounds are open sunrise to sunset; the visitor center is open daily 10 a.m.–4 p.m. from mid-April through November, and Wednesday–Sunday in winter. Formerly Fort Davidson State Historic Site.
Iron County Courthouse
A two-story red brick courthouse in Italianate and Greek Revival style, built in 1858, the year after the county was organized, with an 1860s sheriff’s house and jail and an 1899 gazebo on the square. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The courthouse square also hosts a farmers market and Friday-evening music in season.
Arcadia Academy
Founded in the 1840s as a Methodist school, it served as a hospital for Union soldiers during the Civil War and later became an Ursuline girls’ academy, which graduated its last class in 1971. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, the campus now houses a restaurant, bakery, ice cream parlor, chapel, antique mall, event spaces, and bed-and-breakfast rooms.
Annual Events
Music, barbecue, and Civil War history through the year.
Arcadia Valley Mountain Music Festival
Free festivals of Americana and mountain music, with crafters and food vendors, held each spring (May) and fall (October) in the Arcadia Valley. Check with the Arcadia Valley Chamber of Commerce for dates.
Battle of Pilot Knob Commemorations
Around the battle’s anniversary in late September, the historic site marks the 1864 fight. The free Ewing’s Retreat Auto Tour follows the Union army’s escape route with staff at stops along the way (2026: Saturday, September 26; registration required), and a full battle reenactment and festival is held every three years.
Arcadia Valley BBQ Battle
A barbecue competition in the Arcadia Valley each June. Check locally for this year’s date.
Courthouse Square Farmers Market
A farmers market on the courthouse square in Ironton on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, May through October, with Pickin’ on the Square music on Friday evenings.
Verify before relying on this. Compiled from Missouri State Parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, VisitMO, and each venue’s own site. Hours, fees, and regulations change — check directly before a trip, especially for hunting and fishing seasons and limits.
