Pickle Springs Natural Area - Trail Through Time - Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 37° 48.090 W 090° 18.033
15S E 737663 N 4187224
Self guided nature trail through the Pickle Springs Natural Area which is listed as a National Natural Landmark.
Waymark Code: WM5J41
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 01/11/2009
Views: 10
"The forces of time have created Pickle Springs Natural Area. the foundation was laid 500 million years ago as the sandy beaches of an ancient sea were whipped by waves and frozen in time as Lamotte Sandstone. Eons passed, burying the sandstone under layers of deposits, until erosion exposed it nearly one million years ago. Further erosion exposed it nearly one million years ago. Further erosion sculpted tunnels, arches, cliffs, waterfalls and the giant sandstone boulders called hoodoos.
More recently (300,000 to 10,000 years ago) Mammoths wandered through these canyons grazing on the lush boreal vegatation pushed south by the great glaciers.
Today we walk in the Mammoths footprints among plants left behind by the ice age, and gaze at the slices of time preserved in the sandstone walls of Pickle Springs Natural Area" - sign at trailhead
The trail is about 2 miles long and will take an hour or more depending on the amount of time one spends at the waterfalls, rock formations and plant life. Be sure to pick up a brochure at the trail head which will explain the plant life and geological formation you will encounter along the walk. The significant geological formations have signs which correspond with the entries in the brochure.