My Corner Online
Ha Ha Tonka State Park
Ha Ha Tonka State Park, June 13, 2015
Ha Ha Tonka State Park is a long-time favorite place to visit in Missouri. It is located 1491 Missouri D, Camdenton, Camden County, Missouri. The above is a video and a slideshow of graphics taken on June 13, 2015. I will add some of these photos below. Be sure to see the 2019 photos below as I took no video.
1991 April 24 Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Missouri
My Grandpa and his second wife Mary recorded this video and I digitized it. It seems they came back a few years later as they also did the below video. He makes a comment in the video that how you enter has changed, as well as some restoration, since the time they had previously visited.
1989 September 30 Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Camdenton, Missouri
My Grandpa and his second wife Mary recorded this video and I digitized it. They do a good job going over the history in this video. It is interest to see it from so many years ago. I note in the video she speaks about the building being burnt and that it is being rebuilt, possibly within the next ten years. Vandals burned the water tower in 1978 and the state stabilized and re-roofed the structure in 1999. However, many years earlier, on Oct. 21, 1942, a fire started on top of the roof of the castle at 11:30 a.m. High winds spread the blaze quickly, and even the nearby water tower caught fire but was saved. The building was never restored and by 1958, tourists to Ha Ha Tonka could pay $1.50 to visit the ruins to see the quarried stone walls still standing the test of time.
Photos
May 5, 2019
I visited the park for a quick visit after I attended a women's retreat before returning as the retreat was so close. I did climb the stairs all the way down all by myself and back up! I was surprised that so much of the castle ruins was blocked off from the time previously in 2015 when we were able to walk right up and see the middle area of the castle. I can imagine that vandals messed that up for the rest of us.
The water was up considerable, so it was not as lovely as when it is calmer.
June 13, 2015
These are the walls to the carriage house as you walk up to the castle ruins.
This is what you see when you first spy the castle ruins.
I think everyone must imagine what it was like to pull up in your carriage all decked out for a glamorous dance or event. At least I do!
You can see the char from the fire.
This, and following, is what it looks like in the middle of the castle ruins. This is where the rooms would have been and you can get a glimpse of how they were laid out. You are no longer allowed to see this view. We were able to see the view from under the carriage arches (here) and from the porch in the distance of this photo.
This is the stairs on the side near the back.
This is what it looks like on the inside from the back.
This is what it looks like around back. We are no longer allowed to view this. I believe there was a fountain located here.
This is the view of the back standing where the fountain was located.
This is a view from the back.
You can see the water tower from here which is quite a distance away.
This is a pano of three photos.
This is also a pan of several photos.
This is a view from the side.
This is the top of the stairs down to the spring.
While walking down the stairs, you can see across to the castle high on top of the hill.
This is the first glimpse of the spring below.
Here is the spring! It comes out from underneath a cave.
Once at the bottom you can continue walking down the boardwalk following the water.
This is after walking down the boardwalk along the bottom for a while.
When you reach the end of the boardwalk, there is another parking lot. You can park here to access the spring if you do not want to go up and down all those steps.
