Nov 20, 20202 min read

Lyman state park. Halfway to St. Louis

I thought Alamo Lake was remote but traveling to Lyman State Park was darn scary. We drove down long empty roads where we hadn’t seen a car for twenty minutes.

Way off the beaten path, Lyman State Park was stuck hidden between two mountain ridges. we saw the lake first dispite the fact the water was down about 30 feet, its smooth surface and weird globular shape Curving between large rocky Bluffs. The campground was said to have a great fishing , a beautiful starry night and Indian Native American petroglyphs.

We pulled into the park at dusk and noticed Immediately a large concrete block house type structure that covered the picnic table. The fire ring was 2 feet across and made of a circular concrete and there was even a electric light over the picnic table, pretty swanky.

Not two minutes into our stay we saw a large coyote running across the grass not 50 yards away followed by a chorus of screaming howls.

I got on my bike, grabbed my fishing pole and as dusk fell, pedaled myself through mud flats and cockleburs over to the water in hopes of getting some evening fishing in. Vicki took to her bike and went on a tour of the campsite.

Half hour later I returned (There are no fish in the lake ) and helped Vicki make dinner

We woke up early the next day and decided to try and find the petroglyphs. We started out just before sun up and rode our bikes to the base of a small mountain. We crawled all around and all the way to the top but found only a few carvings.

We went back to the Pup Vicki heading off to the Ranger Station, me to grab my fishing pole.

Here the story changes. It seems the rangers had two stickers, one showing fishing at Lyman Lake, the other paddle boarding. Well, Vicki couldn’t buy the cool paddle boarding one without actually being on the water, so she hurried back to the Pup, got her board and hit the water.

I saw her gliding across the water and decided to follow her from the bank tossing a crawdad Fishing lure as I went.

Suddenly, I came across a large flat rock that had been submerged for decades exposed by the low water. It was laid at an angle that faced the rising sun and was covered with amazing petroglyphs.