View source for Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park

{{short description|State park in Missouri, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name            = Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park
| iucn_category   =
| iucn_ref        =
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| photo           = Johnsons Shut-ins 20090815 1.jpg
| photo_caption   = A portion of the park's natural water park pictured after the 2009 reopening
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| map             = USA Missouri#USA
| map_caption     = Location in Missouri##Location in the United States
| relief          = 1
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| location        = [[Reynolds County, Missouri]], United States
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| coordinates     = {{coord|37|32|14|N|90|51|01|W|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref      = <ref name=gnis/>
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| length          =
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| area_acre       = 8,780.51
| area_ref        = <ref name=parkdata/>
| elevation       = {{convert|1106|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=gnis>{{cite gnis|750536|Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park}}</ref>
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| designation     = [[List of Missouri state parks|Missouri state park]]
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| established     = 1955<ref name=acquisition/>
| named_for       =
| visitation_num  = 373,204
| visitation_year = 2017
| visitation_ref  = <ref name=parkdata/>
| administrator   = [[Missouri Department of Natural Resources]]
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| website         = [https://mostateparks.com/park/johnsons-shut-ins-state-park Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park]
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'''Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park''' is a public recreation area covering {{convert|8,781|acre}} on the [[Black River (Arkansas)|East Fork Black River]] in [[Reynolds County, Missouri]]. The [[state park]] is jointly administered with adjoining [[Taum Sauk Mountain State Park]], and together the two parks cover more than sixteen thousand acres in the [[St. Francois Mountains]] region of the Missouri [[Ozarks]].<ref name=parks/>
The term "[[shut-in (river)|shut-in]]" refers to a place where the river's breadth is limited by hard rock that is resistant to erosion. In these shut-ins, the river cascades over and around smooth-worn igneous rock, creating a natural [[water park]] that is used by park visitors when water levels are not dangerously high.<ref name=parks3/>
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==Geology==
The [[bedrock]] of the area is an [[erosion]] resistant [[rhyolite]] [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]] and dark colored [[diabase]] [[dike (geology)|dikes]] of [[Proterozoic]] age. Waters of the [[Black River (Missouri)|East Fork Black River]] became confined, or "[[Shut-in (river)|shut-in]]", to a narrow channel following [[Fracture (geology)|fractures]] and [[Joint (geology)|joints]] within the hard [[igneous rock]]. Water-borne sand and gravel cut deeply even into this erosion-resistant rock, carving [[pothole]]s, chutes and canyon-like gorges.<ref>Beveridge, T. R., ''Geologic Wonders and Curiosities of Missouri,'' Missouri Department of Natural Resources, 2nd ed. 1990, pp 40–43</ref>
==History==
===Precolonial history===
The [[Osage Nation]] hunted in this area.<ref>{{Cite web|last=jennifer.sieg|date=2015-03-06|title=Park History|url=https://mostateparks.com/page/62413/park-history|access-date=2020-10-23|website=mostateparks.com|language=en}}</ref>
===After colonization===
The park was the mid-19th century homestead of the Johnston family, [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch-Irish]] immigrants who had moved west from the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachian]] region.  There is a Johnston cemetery on the grounds, where 36 members of the family are buried (the "t" was later dropped from the name). <ref name="mostateparks.com">{{cite web |url=http://mostateparks.com/page/55115/history-onondaga-cave |title=The History of Onondaga Cave |work=Missouri State Parks |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |accessdate=13 August 2011}}</ref>
When the Johnston family sold the land three generations later, most of it was purchased by Joseph Desloge (1889–1971), a St. Louis civic leader and conservationist. Desloge assembled most of the park, including the shut-ins and two miles of river frontage, over a period of 17 years, then donated it to the state in 1955.<ref name="geninfo" />  The [[Desloge Family in America|Desloge]] [[lead]] [[mining]] family continued over the years to donate funds for park improvements.
===2005 reservoir failure and flood===
{{stack|[[File:Taum Sauk Reservoir from scour-089.jpg|thumb|The "scour", eight years after the flood, through what had been dense forest below the since-rebuilt reservoir.]]}}
On December 14, 2005, the park was devastated by a catastrophic flood caused by the failure of the [[Taum Sauk pumped storage plant]] [[reservoir]] atop a neighboring mountain. Damage included eradication of the park's campground, which was unoccupied at the time. The only people at the park were the park's superintendent and his family, who survived, sustaining some injuries. The park was closed because of the extent of the damage it received.<ref name=10years/>
The park partly reopened in the summer of 2006 for limited day use, but due to dangerous conditions, swimming in the river and exploring the rock formations was prohibited. In 2009, the river and shut-ins were reopened for water recreation. A new campground opened in 2010.<ref name="reopening"/> Park restoration and improvements were funded with $52 million of a $180 million settlement to the state from [[AmerenUE]], the owner and operator of the failed reservoir.<ref name="settlement-details"/><ref name="nixon"/>
===2009 derecho===
Some areas of forest in the park and the surrounding region were severely damaged by the [[May 2009 Southern Midwest Derecho|May 2009 derecho]] windstorm.  Straight-line wind speeds in this part of Reynolds County reached {{cvt|60|to|70|mph}} with [[microburst]]s estimated up to {{cvt|100|mph}}.<ref name="nws"/>
==Activities and amenities==
Park activities include camping, hiking, swimming, and rock climbing.<ref name=parks/> Park trails include a paved quarter-mile walkway to an observation deck overlooking the shut-ins,<ref name=accessibility/> the {{convert|10|mi|adj=on|spell=in}} Goggins Mountain Equestrian Trail loop, and a section of the [[Ozark Trail (hiking trail)|Ozark trail]].<ref name=trails/>
An extension to the park provides an auto tour that passes by the ongoing recovery effort, as well as the recovered endangered [[fen]]s area,<ref name=nature/> terminating at a shaded overlook of the flood path accessible from the park entrance. From this one can walk a path through the boulder field created by the flood. The boulder field contains many examples of the minerals and rocks that make up the St. Francois Mountains of the Ozarks.<ref name=trails/><ref name=scourtrail/>
=== Goggins Mountain ===
'''Goggins Mountain''' is a summit in northeastern [[Reynolds County, Missouri|Reynolds County]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Missouri]]. The summit is at an elevation of {{convert|1483|ft}}.<ref>{{GNIS|730435}}</ref>
The mountain lies within the northwestern portion of Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park.<ref>''Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer,'' DeLorme, 1998, First edition, p. 56, {{ISBN|0-89933-224-2}}</ref>
Goggins Mountain has the name of the local Goggins family.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_reynolds.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624071725/http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_reynolds.html | archive-date = June 24, 2016 | url-status = live | title=Reynolds County Place Names, 1928–1945 | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri| access-date= December 13, 2016}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=parks>{{cite web |url=https://mostateparks.com/park/johnsons-shut-ins-state-park |title=Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park |date=10 December 2010 |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |access-date=September 29, 2014}}</ref>
<ref name=parkdata>{{cite web |url=https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/johnsonsshutins_datasheet_01_2018.pdf |title=Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park: Data Sheet |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |date=November 2017 |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=acquisition>{{cite web |url=https://mostateparks.com/page/59045/state-park-land-acquisition-summary |title=State Park Land Acquisition Summary |date=25 August 2011 |publisher=Missouri State Parks |access-date=August 17, 2015}}</ref>
<!--<ref name=parks2>{{cite web |url=https://mostateparks.com/location/55901/visitor-center-black-river-center |title=Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park: Black River Center |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |access-date=October 8, 2015}}</ref>-->
<ref name=parks3>{{cite web |url=https://mostateparks.com/page/68571/shut-ins-access-river-levels |title=Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park: River Levels |date=25 May 2017 |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=10years>{{cite news |url=http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/ten-year-anniversary-reservoir-breach-flooded-johnsons-shut-ins-state-park#stream/0 |title=Ten-year anniversary of reservoir breach that flooded Johnson's Shut-ins state park |publisher=St. Louis Public Radio |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=accessibility>{{cite web |url=https://mostateparks.com/page/65496/accessibility-information |title=Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park: Accessibility Information |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |date=February 2011 |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=geninfo>{{cite web|url=https://mostateparks.com/page/62413/park-history |title=Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park: History |date=6 March 2015 |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |access-date=August 17, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=nature>{{cite web|url=https://mostateparks.com/page/67811/natural-features |title=Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park: Natural Features |date=7 April 2017 |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name=trails>{{cite web|url=https://mostateparks.com/trails/johnsons-shut-ins-state-park |title=Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park: Trails |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |access-date=August 17, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=scourtrail>{{cite web |url=https://mostateparks.com/sites/default/files/trail_maps/jsi_scour.pdf |title=Scour Trail at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park |work=Missouri State Parks |publisher=Missouri Department of Natural Resources |access-date=August 17, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204152837/http://www.mostateparks.com/sites/default/files/trail_maps/jsi_scour.pdf |archive-date=February 4, 2015 }}</ref>
<ref name="reopening">{{cite news |url=http://www.semissourian.com/story/1626897.html |title=Mo. set to reopen Johnson's Shut-Ins Park in May |newspaper=The Southeast Missourian |location=Cape Girardeau, Mo. |date=April 15, 2010 |access-date=April 15, 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="settlement-details">{{cite news |url=http://www.semissourian.com/story/1293845.html |title=Settlement reached in Taum Sauk reservoir collapse |newspaper=The Southeast Missourian |date=November 28, 2007 |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>
<ref name="nixon">{{cite press release |url=http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/2009/Johnson_s_Shut_Ins_State_Park |title=Gov. Nixon announces partial reopening of Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park on Saturday |publisher=Office of Missouri Governor |date=June 5, 2009 |access-date=August 29, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527114229/http://governor.mo.gov/newsroom/2009/Johnson_s_Shut_Ins_State_Park |archive-date=May 27, 2010 }}</ref>
<ref name="nws">{{cite web |url=https://www.weather.gov/ict/event_20090508 |title=May 8th 2009 Derecho |publisher=National Weather Service |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>
}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park}}
*[http://mostateparks.com/park/johnsons-shut-ins-state-park Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park] Missouri Department of Natural Resources
{{Protected areas of Missouri}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:State parks of Missouri]]
[[Category:State parks of the U.S. Interior Highlands]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Reynolds County, Missouri]]
[[Category:Rock formations of Missouri]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1955]]
[[Category:Landforms of Reynolds County, Missouri]]
[[Category:1955 establishments in Missouri]]