After four straight weeks of 6-day workweeks at my day job, I was due for an unplugged weekend. My boyfriend and I decided to escape into St. Joe State  Park in Park Hills, Missouri to pitch our tent and hide in the woods for a day or two.

St. Joe State Park is one of the only parks in Missouri where ATVs are welcome (in approved areas only). My family had a three-wheeler when I was a kid, but my dad never wanted me to drive it. As a result, I’d never driven an ATV.

MilliGFunk on a Four Wheeler, photo Tony

My boyfriend’s experience with ATVs is quite the opposite. Half of his wardrobe bears Fox Racing logos, and he spent his teenage years racing four wheelers and dirt bikes. There is no shortage of stories of him flying high through the air on four wheelers, and I’ve still not managed to tally of the number of broken bones he’s accrued over the years.

Peaceful Campsite

I’ve always considered the sounds made by revving engines to be testosteronic and over-hyped, so waking up to the sound of boys revving their dirt bikes outside our tent was a new and not entirely welcomed experience for me.

Always willing to give something one try, I decided to give four-wheeling a chance. I killed the engine repeatedly, and probably didn’t exceed 25 miles per hour all day long. I didn’t die though, and truth be told, I had a pretty good time. Besides that, I look kind of bad ass driving this thing, don’t I?

Riding into the sunset, photo by Tony

The moral of the story is to get brave and try something new, even if it’s something you never before thought you’d enjoy. Getting our minds out of their regular ruts is refreshing, and removing ourselves from comfort zones keeps us viewing the world from new perspectives.

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St. Joe State Park also has a nice, asphalt bicycle trail, which I ride with some frequency and blogged about in 2009.

I jogged on the trail a few times in high school, and took my mountain bike there for my first ride on it when I was in my early twenties.  Since moving back to Missouri, I’ve ridden the full trail twice.

St. Joe State Park Map, Credit: Missouri State Parks

If you’re not up for the full 14 miles, you can park at several points along the trail, and ride out half your intended distance before doubling back. If you’re in reasonably good shape, though, I’d do the full loop.

I’ve ridden this starting in Farmington, crossing US Hwy 67, and entering the park at the Farmington Trail head at the Southeast corner of the map.  By starting in Farmington, you can add a couple more miles to the ride.

I’ve also parked at the Old Mines entrance at the Northern edge of the park and ridden the loop. If you intend to ride the full 14 miles, where you start the ride is secondary, in my opinion, to which direction you ride in once you’re on the trail.

St. Joe State Park Bicycle Trail, photo by smalltowngirl

Riding the trail counterclockwise, according to this map view, you’ll encounter several long, low-grade uphills. If you ride clockwise, on the other hand, you’ll hit two hills that are neither terribly long nor terribly steep.

The asphalt is smooth;  fit for road bikes or hybrids, though I only have a mountain bike, and it works out fine as well. Because there’s a large area for riding ORVs in the center of the park, beware that on dry, windy winds, you’ll be riding through a lot of dust when you’re riding past Missouri Mines.

Missouri Mines from St. Joe State Park Bicycle Trail, photo by smalltowngirl

St.  Joe State Park can be accessed from several towns in the area, including Farmington, Park Hills, and Leadington. Parking is available at the trail heads, and there is at least one point along the trail (I believe it’s at the Harris Branch Trail Head) where clean drinking water is available.