Goggins Mountain Trail

Glade on top of Goggins Mtn

Hiked Goggins Mountain trail yesterday (1/11/14).  This trail head is at the Johnson's Shut-Ins campground on MM.  I started late and finished the trail with my head lamp on.  I had to do several water crossings because of the rain and snow melt (that slowed me down).  However, it was a great day to be out and the trail was in good shape and well blazed.  You get a good view of the Tom Sauk upper reservoir from the top of Goggins Mountain.  I guess the "good" could be debated because it is a little disheartening to see that huge man made structure in the middle of the natural beauty of the Taum Sauk area.  This area has the Taum Sauk, Ozark, Goggins Moutain, Bell Mountain, Rock Pile Mountain, Buford Mountain trails and several other shorter trails in the area.  Great area for hiking.

AllTrails did not have Goggins Mountain listed as a trail. I hiked the trail and tracked it but when I

Upper Taum Sauk Reservoir

added the trail, AllTrails did not let my iphone sync with the website. The only way I could get the track to sync was by associating it with Johnson's Shut-In. The trail is in good shape and well blazed. I hiked the trail counter-clockwise.

Connector to Ozark Trail

To find the trail, go to the Johnson's Shut-ins campground on MM. There is a parking lot for the trailhead as soon as you pull off MM into the campground. If you start at the trailhead, you will have to cross a small stream 3 or 4 times. The stream is wide enough that you cannot jump across it. I hiked on January 11, 2014 and we had a combination of snow melt and rain fall so the stream was up and I could not cross on rocks. So I took my boots off and crossed the stream and then then used logs to cross the other portions of the stream. You can avoid all of that by walking along the road to the campground (you will pass some trailer pads) and then you will find a bridge on the right to cross the stream. You will see a sign on the right (small area information sign). Walk off the road and past the sign and you will pick up the trail (yellow blaze). If the water is lower, it should be no problem to cross the stream on rocks.

View of Bell Mountain

The first portion of the trail climbs up to a ridge top. You will drop of this ridge (couple of switchbacks) and then you will cross 3 or 4 smaller tributaries. Even though the water was up, I was able to cross these rock hopping. That is the last water you will cross on this trail. It is also the last source of water for the rest of the trail. You will have about 7.5 miles left to hike at this point.

Trail was in great shape and well blazed. I believe I only crossed one blow-down on the entire trail. The trail out to and along the top of Goggins Mountain is a double track (old logging or forest fire lane). When you get to the most northern end of the loop (mile 6.1) and start the return portion of the trail, the trail changes to a single track and is pretty rocky. However, this is the portion of the trail with the best overlooks of the mountains to the east and south. At the northern most point, you can see Bell Mountain to the north. On the top of Goggins, even in the winter, the views are not spectacular.

Water crossing - snow melt

It is a good hike. I started late and was delayed by the water crossings. I should have finished this trail in a little over 4 hours. The trailhead sign recommends allowing 7.5 hours. I did not get out until 6:00 PM and sunset was 5:00 PM. Still have enough light to hike another 1/2 hour before putting on my head lamp. The trail was wide enough and blazed well enough to easily follow it with a head lamp.

This is a fantastic area for hiking. You have the Taum Sauk, the Ozark trail, Goggins, Bell and other smaller trails in this area.  Here is a copy of the track click here to link to Alltrails.com track.  If you are not a member and like to hike, you need to join this website.  Here is a link to the Missoui State Parks Goggins Tail map: 

Track of Goggins Mountain Trail