Hawn State Park is one of our favorite Missouri state parks for both hiking and camping. It is about an hour outside of St. Louis. It is also located near Pickle Springs Natural Area, which is another great place to hike. The park has both longer and shorter trails with connectors to extend or shorten your hike. Our favorite trail is the Whispering Pines trail, which is made up of a north and south loop. Through various connectors, you can access most of the other trails in the park via this trail.
Hiking
Hawn has two main trails: Whispering Pines and White Oaks. Whispering Pines is the longest trail in the park at around 10 miles. White Oaks trail is about 4 miles long. The two are connected via a couple connector trails.
Whispering Pines Trail
- Quick Facts
- Length: Approx. 10 miles (both loops combined)
- Trailhead: Follow the main road all the way to the back of the park. Trail parking is at the bottom of the hill near the campground.
- Link to State Park website
This is one of our absolute favorite trails in the area. It’s broken into two loops: a north and south loop. The trail head is located on the northern loop. There are connector trails (blazed in white) that lead to the White Oak trail and connector trails that act as shortcuts for the Whispering Pines trail itself. The north loop has several creek crossings, rocky climbs, and some stunning views. It is blazed in red.
The southern loop has a short trail off of it (which also happens to be a small loop) that follows a creek and some rocky cliffs. If you venture down the south loop, I’d recommend this short addition. It’s especially neat in the Winter time when you can see giant icicles hanging from the rocky cliffs if the conditions are right. The south loop is blazed in blue. A trail map from the Missouri State Parks website can be found here.
Along the trail you will also notice some backpacking campsites. We’ve never camped in one of these sites, but I think it would be a cool experience. Some sites are more secluded than others. A few are right off the trail while others are down a short path from the main hiking trail.
White Oaks Trail
- Quick Stats
- Length: Approx. 4 miles
- Trailhead: Turn off on the right near the front of the park. If you pass the park office, you’ve gone too far.
- Link to State Park website
The White Oaks trail is a lollipop trail (single path in leading to a loop) that meanders through the woods. This trail connects to the Whispering Pines trail via two white connector trails (blazed in white). The trail itself is blazed in orange. Note that this trail can become very overgrown in the Summer. We prefer to hike it when there is less vegetation (late Fall to early Spring). A trail map from the Missouri State parks website can be found here.
Pickle Creek Trail
- Quick Facts
- Length: 0.7 miles (one-way)
- Trailhead: Same as Whispering Pines trailhead. Follow the main road to the back of the park.
- Link to State Park website
This is a great shorter trail with several options! I like this trail because it follows along rockier parts of Pickle Creek, which makes for a scenic and fun hike. If you would like to hike this trail out and back, make a right in front of the entrance to the Whispering Pines trail. Walk past the bathrooms and the shelter and you’ll find this trailhead at the edge of the woods. Pickle Creek trail is blazed in green.
We enjoy combining this trail with the beginning of the Whispering Pines trail. Start on the Whispering Pines trail and head up the hill (to the right) at the beginning. Continue along the trail until the first major creek crossing. Immediately after crossing the creek, the trail will split. Finally, turn left to stay on the Whispering Pines trail or make a right to continue along the Pickle Creek trail, which will return you to the parking lot where you started. This loop is about 2 miles.
Camping
One of my favorite things about camping at Hawn is that you can walk out of your tent or camper and onto the trail. Depending where your site is located within the campground, it may require a short walk down the campground road, but it’s great that you don’t have to drive to get to the trailhead (for Whispering Pines and Pickle Creek trails). There are times when this parking lot fills up because these are popular trails, so this is a nice bonus. Click here to read more about this fantastic campground!