State Historic Site Week: Day 1

Even though it is cold outside, that doesn’t mean that you can’t explore the state park system, wherever you might live. This week we will feature a variety of state historic sites that are perfect for visiting when the temperatures are chilly.

Mastodon State Historic Site, located about twenty miles southwest of St. Louis, is a small natural area that also preserves an archaeological site. Mastodon is where evidence was first found proving that humans lived alongside mastodons at one point in time, so the site contains both the Kimmswick Bone Bed (where the archaeological evidence was found) and a small museum that relates both the natural history of the area and the history of the dig itself. Visitors can browse the museum in a short time, though there is plenty of information to learn, along with a skeleton of a mastodon in what would have been its habitat.

In addition to the archaeological aspect of the park, Mastodon also has a few trails that wind through the hills and forests just west of the Mississippi River. The trails are fairly well maintained and provide a nice, quiet area to just enjoy the natural beauty of this area of the country. One of the trails even leads to the site of the archaeological digs, tying the natural and recreational aspects of the park to archaeology.

Mastodon State Historic Site offers a nice, natural place to go for a hike, while also relating the archaeological history of the area.