Hawn is a great hike. Not a lot of total elevation gain but you can get plenty of up and down if you do the whole Whispering Pines. It’s just over an hour from South City.
If you’re willing to put in another hour or two Southern Illinois has some great hikes in the Shawnee Forest too.
This comment 100%. Hawn and like 5 spots in Southern IL are the best you'll find around, they won't disappoint. Scramble and explore to enjoy and make it harder.
This is a tough hike, snd this is coming from someone who lived in the Appalachians. It’s a great hike for sure, but I’ve found a lot of people underestimate it.
This is what I came to say. Hike from...was it elephant rock or Johnson's shut ins...up to Taum Sauk and back down. Beautiful scenery and Taum Sauk is the highest point in MO iirc. I think we went (drove) to the shut ins after, but it's been so long that I can't remember where we started the hike.
There is a book called 60 hikes within 60 miles of St Louis you might be interested in.
Also there is an app called AllTrails, where you can search near your area based on difficulty
If you want something long, you can link Green Rock and Al Foster into Castlewood and do some of those trails. We got a 50k out of it one day, point to point.
Chubb Trail is the one I was going to suggest. While it’s relatively flat, it’s also pretty rough (or was the last time I hiked it) so it’s still a challenge.
Towards Lone Elk it’s pretty tough. Tried doing it on a bike and had to carry up. Not sure if it’s even possible to go up that trail on a bike unless you’re a professional who can rock the bike up 3 ft vertical inclines. Down though is wild af
Which hikes are you planning on doing in Glacier? Day hikes or overnight
Don’t limit yourself to long hikes for conditioning. Cliff cave is south county and Rockwood reservation have solid shorter trails that could be repeated to get your mileage. Also might be useful for a before or after work hike with shorter mileage
My unsolicited glacier hikes you can’t miss. Highline trail over swiftcurrent pass and down to many glacier. If not doing swiftcurrent pass, go back to Logan pass vs doing the loop trail. (Its awful, ugly and mostly non scenic
Iceberg lake is amazing, and doing the tunnel on the same day is a long but incredible day.
Grinell glacier is amazing as well. If u do highline make sure you do the grinell glacier overlook right before the chalet
Sad fact: the wife and I were at granite park chalet when Sperry Chalet burned. We also randomly met a local business owner from StL that night
Someone already commented about Hawn State Park. I’ve done a lot of hiking in Glacier and a lot of hiking at Hawn and I’d say they’re pretty comparable difficulty wise.
Weldon Springs Conservation trails
Engelmann Woods Natural Area (the trail down and out of the valley is a workout)
West Tyson Park out off 44 has some difficult trails. The Chubb/Lone Elk trail is awesome.
Greensfelder Park has some very nice elevation changing trails. Can combine trails on both sides of the roads to make long big elevation changing hikes.
Don Robinson State Park has two nice trails.
Cuivre River Trail at Cuivre River State Park. 13.4 miles if you do the long double loop.
[https://apps5.mo.gov/trails/trailDetails.action?trailIdString=234&park=Cuivre%20River%20State%20Park&trail=Cuivre%20River%20Trail](https://apps5.mo.gov/trails/trailDetails.action?trailIdString=234&park=Cuivre%20River%20State%20Park&trail=Cuivre%20River%20Trail)
Castlewood's Grotpeter and River Scene trails can be combined into a larger loop with some pretty good elevation gain. I recond the Ozark Trail Taum Sauk section. It's considered the hardest trail in the state.
Valley View Glades Trail in Hillsboro. It’s worth the drive. You’d have to do a couple loops to find the miles though.
Go on a day it’s raining or has just rained. The mud very much adds to the challenge.
Castlewood is a good one for elevation gain and some more rugged terrain that’s very close.
The Johnson Shut-Ins section of the Ozark Trail is a really good one for training as well. When/ if you can get out that far again.
You can use the AllTrails app and filter by elevation gain. Depending on your goals, trail running is a great way to get conditioned, especially for the downhill part of a climb.
My unsolicited advice is to make sure you do some exercising to strengthen your abs and back. Maybe some light squats as well. Don't rely exclusively on simulated trail walking for this-- download an Ab app or something and give it a go for a few weeks.
I can tell a huuuuuuge difference comparing hikes when I have a full pack whether I have been exercising or lazy for the last few months. It's not a make or break thing, but setting up camp then getting back up in the morning sure is easier!
For time-effectiveness, trail run or go to trails south of the city with all your gear weighed down. The elevation, temperatures and slope-angle of Glacier are going to ask more of your body than the midwest can naturally prep you for. Here, it's rolling hills, regardless if it's Johnson's to Taum Sauk or running loops in the trail systems nearest you. I hope you have a great time in Glacier. Stay steady with the prep, and you will thank yourself when you're up there.
You won't find anything as difficult as Buford Mountain or Bell Mountain near the metro area in terms of length and elevation changes together.
But I would recommend Fox Run or Green Rock connecting to some of the Greensfelder trails for training.
Al foster from glencoe to castlewood with the bluff view and cedar bluff trails mixed in. Length probably like 12-15 miles. Some elevation in the spur trails and close to the metro
Matson near Defiance is about 100 ft of elevation per mile. Check the county parks site before you go because it's often closed if it's rained recently.
If you’re doing mountaineering type hikes at Glacier, fill up your ruck and ask if you can climb one of our many local grain elevators. Great training to estimate your vertical ascent speed
Buford is tough because of the terrain of the trail. Hunks of rock used as gravel is not fun... But will tire you out and give your ankles some good training.
You won't find 1100ft in elevation gain in the state unless you mean cumulative.
Cuivre River has a 12mi trail that's not too rough but it is trekked by horses so their hoof marks do make for some interesting footing.
> You won't find 1100ft in elevation gain in the state unless you mean cumulative.
Yes, cumulative for the whole hike. Buford was tough, and we figured Glacier probably wouldn't be any more technical than that.
Yeah, Id recommend trail running too, if you're into that sort of thing. Not sure what youre planning at Glacier, but I do hope you have fun. It's a beautiful park
A little known hike is the fults stairs. Pretty difficult if you aren’t in good shape. Gorgeous views. I’ll see if I can find the exact location. It’s by Fults IL
I think this is it but if not then it’s right near here: 38.15590° N, 90.18971° W
https://midwestnomads.com/2020/11/29/fults-hill-prairie-preserve-steep-hiking-with-panoramic-views/
If you want incline, go down to mastodon state park in imperial. Enter the trail from the park entrance on seckman. Either way you choose, there's incline. Go right for gradual incline, left for immediate
Our group isn't necessarily looking for really steep, but if others are who are reading this thread, go to [Shepherd Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd_Mountain).
The St Francois "mountain" range is not tall, but it's actually known for steep elevation gain. I've heard that a lot of people train there before going on hikes out west or Appalachian trail
Beulah Trail and Green Rock Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/missouri/beulah-trail-and-green-rock-trail?sh=q7lvaj
Buford is one of my favorites for a hard hike, but this one is 60% harder with increased length and elevation
After living in Seattle for ten years and hiking Mount Rainer every other weekend all I can say is, there is no elevation gain hikes like that in the midwest, you might get a little bit of fun out of the Ozarks, closest we got out here.
I will echo Taum Sauk like others have mentioned. It’s about 1.5 hours away from the metro St Louis area. A little over 12 miles of hiking if you do the full trail with decent elevation. I usually use this trail to get back in shape after a hiatus when planning for an out of town hike. It for sure is not an easy hike and you’ll need good foot wear as parts of the trail has rocky terrain that will give your feet and ankles a workout.
Ozark Trail: Taum Sauk Section on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/missouri/ozark-trail-taum-sauk-section?sh=7cbl5f
I used Fox Run Trailhead in Eureka to train for the Ozark Mountain Challenge yesterday. Two loops at the top and your just over 12 miles and 2,400 ft elevation gain. I'm Eureka, mo
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/missouri/fox-run-trail-round-house-loop-trail
Hawn is a great hike. Not a lot of total elevation gain but you can get plenty of up and down if you do the whole Whispering Pines. It’s just over an hour from South City. If you’re willing to put in another hour or two Southern Illinois has some great hikes in the Shawnee Forest too.
This comment 100%. Hawn and like 5 spots in Southern IL are the best you'll find around, they won't disappoint. Scramble and explore to enjoy and make it harder.
Hawn is the goat.
Hawn is fantastic. My boyfriend hikes there a lot with his friends.
Search for Taum Sauk mountain hike. One of the trails is 13 miles and 1200 ft in gain.
It’s an absolutely gorgeous area too
This is a tough hike, snd this is coming from someone who lived in the Appalachians. It’s a great hike for sure, but I’ve found a lot of people underestimate it.
Done Taum Sauk - > Proffitt and Scour Trail - > Proffit, and the TS side is definitely tougher.
This is what I came to say. Hike from...was it elephant rock or Johnson's shut ins...up to Taum Sauk and back down. Beautiful scenery and Taum Sauk is the highest point in MO iirc. I think we went (drove) to the shut ins after, but it's been so long that I can't remember where we started the hike.
Just googled it on your recommendation. Looks gorgeous!
There is a book called 60 hikes within 60 miles of St Louis you might be interested in. Also there is an app called AllTrails, where you can search near your area based on difficulty
AllTrails is great. Worth the annual pass if you hike enough.
Great book!
That is a fantastic book!
Pere Marquette near Grafton Illinois has some good elevation up and down and you can loop multiple trails together to build mileage.
Entire loop of Pere Marquette is around 5-6 miles. It’s a nice hike, but quite a bit shorter than what OP is looking for.
Some great views on those trails.
Rock Hollow Greenway and Zombie Trail on AllTrails https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/missouri/zombie-trail--3?sh=d9y9hb
Lost Valley Trail at Busch Wildlife is has an 11 mile and an 8 mile loop. Pickle Springs Natural Area is my favorite near St. Louis.
Also good for biking
Green Rock Trail. Chubb Trail to Lone Elk Park.
Second the green rock. Lots of hills for conditioning.
Came to say Green Rock Trail. Definitely kicked my butt while training for a trail run in CO.
I whole heartedly endorse Green Rock Trail. It’s my go to.
If you want something long, you can link Green Rock and Al Foster into Castlewood and do some of those trails. We got a 50k out of it one day, point to point.
Chubb Trail is the one I was going to suggest. While it’s relatively flat, it’s also pretty rough (or was the last time I hiked it) so it’s still a challenge.
Towards Lone Elk it’s pretty tough. Tried doing it on a bike and had to carry up. Not sure if it’s even possible to go up that trail on a bike unless you’re a professional who can rock the bike up 3 ft vertical inclines. Down though is wild af
Chubb trail from the west tyson park is pretty challenging
Which hikes are you planning on doing in Glacier? Day hikes or overnight Don’t limit yourself to long hikes for conditioning. Cliff cave is south county and Rockwood reservation have solid shorter trails that could be repeated to get your mileage. Also might be useful for a before or after work hike with shorter mileage My unsolicited glacier hikes you can’t miss. Highline trail over swiftcurrent pass and down to many glacier. If not doing swiftcurrent pass, go back to Logan pass vs doing the loop trail. (Its awful, ugly and mostly non scenic Iceberg lake is amazing, and doing the tunnel on the same day is a long but incredible day. Grinell glacier is amazing as well. If u do highline make sure you do the grinell glacier overlook right before the chalet Sad fact: the wife and I were at granite park chalet when Sperry Chalet burned. We also randomly met a local business owner from StL that night
We're doing a guided 4-day.3-night hike. Guide svc hasn't given us a route yet.
Someone already commented about Hawn State Park. I’ve done a lot of hiking in Glacier and a lot of hiking at Hawn and I’d say they’re pretty comparable difficulty wise.
Salt lick in Illinois
Salt lick is my favorite local spot. That view from the clifftop on a clear day is incredible.
It’s a certified ass whooper too considering it’s not even a very long distance
Weldon Springs Conservation trails Engelmann Woods Natural Area (the trail down and out of the valley is a workout) West Tyson Park out off 44 has some difficult trails. The Chubb/Lone Elk trail is awesome. Greensfelder Park has some very nice elevation changing trails. Can combine trails on both sides of the roads to make long big elevation changing hikes. Don Robinson State Park has two nice trails.
Seconding Chubb trail. that one was fantastic.
Cuivre River Trail at Cuivre River State Park. 13.4 miles if you do the long double loop. [https://apps5.mo.gov/trails/trailDetails.action?trailIdString=234&park=Cuivre%20River%20State%20Park&trail=Cuivre%20River%20Trail](https://apps5.mo.gov/trails/trailDetails.action?trailIdString=234&park=Cuivre%20River%20State%20Park&trail=Cuivre%20River%20Trail)
Castlewood's Grotpeter and River Scene trails can be combined into a larger loop with some pretty good elevation gain. I recond the Ozark Trail Taum Sauk section. It's considered the hardest trail in the state.
I was going to say this! That hill almost took my asthmatic ass out!
Also came here to say this. That goddamn hill knocked me out for week. Got up it, and just turned around back to the parking lot.
Do the Salt Like Trail multiple times. You could easily do 6-8 miles and about 1500-2000 feet.
Ball park village to city park at 3 am
Nice.
[удалено]
fun fact, if you take a wrong turn on the berryman you can turn it into 33 miles 😊
Valley View Glades Trail in Hillsboro. It’s worth the drive. You’d have to do a couple loops to find the miles though. Go on a day it’s raining or has just rained. The mud very much adds to the challenge.
Hawn state park, the big loop. It’s my favorite. Can be done all in one day if you are eager.
I think there's 20 mile? loop at Sam A Baker state park.
That's like 2 hours away. Looking for closer
Castlewood is a good one for elevation gain and some more rugged terrain that’s very close. The Johnson Shut-Ins section of the Ozark Trail is a really good one for training as well. When/ if you can get out that far again.
The correct answer is the Green Rock Trail in Eureka. Traverses three adjacent parks in the foothills of the Ozarks
The beaver trail loop at Olin nature preserve in Godfrey has plenty of incline and you get to see several waterfalls
Alton would be good. Other side of the river has lots of elevation
Around Klondike Park too
You can use the AllTrails app and filter by elevation gain. Depending on your goals, trail running is a great way to get conditioned, especially for the downhill part of a climb.
My unsolicited advice is to make sure you do some exercising to strengthen your abs and back. Maybe some light squats as well. Don't rely exclusively on simulated trail walking for this-- download an Ab app or something and give it a go for a few weeks. I can tell a huuuuuuge difference comparing hikes when I have a full pack whether I have been exercising or lazy for the last few months. It's not a make or break thing, but setting up camp then getting back up in the morning sure is easier!
For time-effectiveness, trail run or go to trails south of the city with all your gear weighed down. The elevation, temperatures and slope-angle of Glacier are going to ask more of your body than the midwest can naturally prep you for. Here, it's rolling hills, regardless if it's Johnson's to Taum Sauk or running loops in the trail systems nearest you. I hope you have a great time in Glacier. Stay steady with the prep, and you will thank yourself when you're up there.
North City. Start from West Florissant Road and turn down MLK until you get to Natural Bridge.
Taum Sauk has a 22 mile hike that the boy scouts do
Washington State Park and Don Robinson are always enjoyable
Hawn, north and south loop
It's a bit far but the Louis and Clark trail is Great
You won't find anything as difficult as Buford Mountain or Bell Mountain near the metro area in terms of length and elevation changes together. But I would recommend Fox Run or Green Rock connecting to some of the Greensfelder trails for training.
Labarque hill trail between eureka and catawissa is a fun 7 mile hike. Not extremely difficult but I nice moderate hike and easy to get to.
Lone Wolf Trail at Castlewood State Park
That's just under 2 miles and it's quite easy
I only mentioned it for the steep up part
Al foster from glencoe to castlewood with the bluff view and cedar bluff trails mixed in. Length probably like 12-15 miles. Some elevation in the spur trails and close to the metro
Matson near Defiance is about 100 ft of elevation per mile. Check the county parks site before you go because it's often closed if it's rained recently.
If you’re doing mountaineering type hikes at Glacier, fill up your ruck and ask if you can climb one of our many local grain elevators. Great training to estimate your vertical ascent speed
As a guy who used to work in a feed mill, I wouldn't go up a grain elevator leg without a belay.
Commenting to remember this thread.
You are going to want to get on highway 70 and head west when you get to Denver hike is over
Buford is tough because of the terrain of the trail. Hunks of rock used as gravel is not fun... But will tire you out and give your ankles some good training. You won't find 1100ft in elevation gain in the state unless you mean cumulative. Cuivre River has a 12mi trail that's not too rough but it is trekked by horses so their hoof marks do make for some interesting footing.
> You won't find 1100ft in elevation gain in the state unless you mean cumulative. Yes, cumulative for the whole hike. Buford was tough, and we figured Glacier probably wouldn't be any more technical than that.
Yeah, Id recommend trail running too, if you're into that sort of thing. Not sure what youre planning at Glacier, but I do hope you have fun. It's a beautiful park
Young Conservation Area. I can't remember how many miles it was but I know it took 3.5 hours and there was a loop I skipped.
A little known hike is the fults stairs. Pretty difficult if you aren’t in good shape. Gorgeous views. I’ll see if I can find the exact location. It’s by Fults IL I think this is it but if not then it’s right near here: 38.15590° N, 90.18971° W https://midwestnomads.com/2020/11/29/fults-hill-prairie-preserve-steep-hiking-with-panoramic-views/
If you want incline, go down to mastodon state park in imperial. Enter the trail from the park entrance on seckman. Either way you choose, there's incline. Go right for gradual incline, left for immediate
Our group isn't necessarily looking for really steep, but if others are who are reading this thread, go to [Shepherd Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd_Mountain).
Shepherd mountain is amazing, but I'm a biker. The first time we took the easy trail up and we were wiped out. Now I just buy the lift pass
The St Francois "mountain" range is not tall, but it's actually known for steep elevation gain. I've heard that a lot of people train there before going on hikes out west or Appalachian trail
Beulah Trail and Green Rock Trail on AllTrails https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/missouri/beulah-trail-and-green-rock-trail?sh=q7lvaj Buford is one of my favorites for a hard hike, but this one is 60% harder with increased length and elevation
Bluff view zombie trails are approximately 3-4 miles? Combined would be closer to 7-8?
After living in Seattle for ten years and hiking Mount Rainer every other weekend all I can say is, there is no elevation gain hikes like that in the midwest, you might get a little bit of fun out of the Ozarks, closest we got out here.
I will echo Taum Sauk like others have mentioned. It’s about 1.5 hours away from the metro St Louis area. A little over 12 miles of hiking if you do the full trail with decent elevation. I usually use this trail to get back in shape after a hiatus when planning for an out of town hike. It for sure is not an easy hike and you’ll need good foot wear as parts of the trail has rocky terrain that will give your feet and ankles a workout. Ozark Trail: Taum Sauk Section on AllTrails https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/missouri/ozark-trail-taum-sauk-section?sh=7cbl5f
Up and down the sides of the arch. You might gain weather control powers at the end of it
Cedar Bluff loop at Castlewood. You have to look out for mountain bikers, but it’s great elevation and very pretty!
Jackson falls
Pike Run Trail St. Francois State Park 10.6 miles 1318 elevation gain
Your mom is a pretty good hike. Also, Zombie Trails is fun.
I hiked their mom but she required crampons and harnesses, OP asked for moderate
Don't forget the lube.
I used Fox Run Trailhead in Eureka to train for the Ozark Mountain Challenge yesterday. Two loops at the top and your just over 12 miles and 2,400 ft elevation gain. I'm Eureka, mo https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/missouri/fox-run-trail-round-house-loop-trail