Cuivre River State Park is located northwest of St. Louis near Troy, Missouri and brands itself as bringing a bit of the Ozark region into the northern region of the state. While the area isn’t quite as mountainous as southern Missouri, Cuivre River features beautiful forested areas with rocky hills and babbling creeks. During our visit, we began by driving through the park and taking in the forests. In doing so, we discovered a lovely wooden shelter built by the CCC. We also came upon a two-story brick chimney and a few attached walls, the sole remnants of an old cabin that used to stand in the park.

After taking in the scenery from our car, we parked and walked along Sugar Creek for a bit. We first traversed through some woods. The trees were bare and stood among rocks and grasses. We could see for quite a distance around us with so little foliage. After going through the woods, we found ourselves on a sandy beach along the creek. We were the only people around, so we were able to listen to the creek babble and the birds sing with no other sounds around us. It was a lovely experience.

Overall, we enjoyed our visit to Cuivre River State Park and agreed that we would like to explore the park further.