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Writer's pictureTrail Guide Joe

The MO State Parks Centennial Passport Challenge Begins!

Updated: Jun 24, 2022


After finding out that Missouri State Parks was celebrating their centennial at the same time as the National Park Service AND that Missouri State Parks was once again offering the Passport Challenge to reach every park, I jumped in ready to rock!


Every so often, Missouri State Parks sets up a passport challenge, usually centered around a theme, where participants purchase a book, complete some kind of simple task, and collect a stamp. It's that simple! Complete the challenge and there is typically a prize waiting at the end!


The very first passport challenge was to visit all open state parks within a finite amount of time. It was a challenge I dreamed of completing but, having a late start to the challenge, it wasn't meant to be... Determined I would finally finish a Missouri State Park Passport Challenge of this magnitude, I finally got my start on the first offered day!



I set out to make a quick visit to some of the easiest to reach state parks and historic sites and picked up my book! The first two stops of my epic journey were Missouri State Capitol SHS and Katy Trail SP! As it sounds, First Missouri State Capitol is the building once used as Missouri's first state capitol! Originally located in St Charles, MO, the current capitol is now located in Jefferson City, MO and would be a later stop on this journey. After picking up my book, before they were even unpacked and on the shelves, I promised to actually walk the Katy Trail to earn my stamp, which I did, before setting out for one more park before the end of the day!


The next stop would be Deutschheim SHS in Hermann, MO. Deutschheim is an original German-American house setup to provide a glimpse at the way of life of some of the earliest settlers of Missouri, the Germans. I did spend some time looking around though I didn't take the tour this time as I had taken it once before on a prior visit.


Span of 1 day; Approximately 132 miles; No gas mileage stats collected at this time.


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