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. When the Johnston family sold the land three generations later, most of it was purchased by Joseph Desloge (1889–1971), a St. The park was the mid-19th century homestead of the Johnston family, Scotch-Irish immigrants who had moved west from the Appalachian region. Water-borne sand and gravel cut deeply even into this erosion-resistant rock, carving potholes, chutes and canyon-like gorges. Waters of the East Fork Black River became confined, or ' shut-in', to a narrow channel following fractures and joints within the hard igneous rock. The bedrock of the area is an erosion resistant rhyolite porphyry and dark colored diabase dikes of Proterozoic age. 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. The term ' shut-in' refers to a place where the river's breadth is limited by hard rock that is resistant to erosion. Francois Mountains region of the Missouri Ozarks. 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. Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park is a public recreation area covering 8,781 acres (3,554 ha) on the East Fork Black River in Reynolds County, Missouri. The boulder field contains many examples of the minerals and rocks that make up the St. From this one can walk a path through the boulder field created by the flood. Park trails include a paved quarter-mile walkway to an observation deck overlooking the shut-ins, the ten-mile (16 km) Goggins Mountain Equestrian Trail loop, and a section of the Ozark trail.Īn extension to the park provides an auto tour that passes by the ongoing recovery effort, as well as the recovered endangered fens area, terminating at a shaded overlook of the flood path accessible from the park entrance. Park activities include camping, hiking, swimming, and rock climbing. Straight-line wind speeds in this part of Reynolds County reached 60 to 70 mph (97 to 113 km/h) with microbursts estimated up to 100 mph (160 km/h). Some areas of forest in the park and the surrounding region were severely damaged by the May 2009 derecho windstorm. 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. In 2009, the river and shut-ins were reopened for water recreation. 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.

The park was closed because of the extent of the damage it received. The only people at the park were the park's superintendent and his family, who survived, sustaining some injuries. Damage included eradication of the park's campground, which was unoccupied at the time. 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. The 'scour,' eight years after the flood, through what had been dense forest below the since-rebuilt reservoir. The term 'shut-in' refers to a place where the river's breadth is limited by hard rock that is resistant to erosion.

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Johnson shut in