Ha Ha Tonka

Ha Ha Tonka is an Osage Indian name for a region of rugged scenic beauty in the Missouri Ozarks and the site of a European-style mansion known as Ha Ha Tonka Castle.

In 1905, a self-made, prominent Kansas City businessman, Robert McClure Snyder, began construction of his dream home atop a 250-foot cliff overlooking Big Spring, a natural spring in the south-central Missouri Ozarks, just outside of Camdenton. This region is known as Ha Ha Tonka, or Hahatonka, and is most often translated as the “Land of the Laughing Water” because of the sound the water makes at the base of the cliff.

This is the view of the water tower as seen from the visitors parking lot at Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

Natural spring water would be pumped up to the water tower, where it was stored, and then gravity fed to the castle. A family would live in the lower half of the tower.

These two structures were either side of the stable gate house.

All  of the stone used for construction came from a rock quarry at the base of the hill from where the castle.

One year after Robert McClure Snyder, Sr. started building the castle, he was killed in a car accident, but his family completed the castle, which was later destroyed by fire.

One of the hikes we took at Ha Ha Tonka, was to see the Natural Bridge.

This was the post office for Ha Ha Tonka.

This is an old millstone left from a mill that operated using the natural spring water.

A beautiful trail hike to see the origin of the natural spring water source for Ha Ha Tonka.

Do you see the water snake?

The old electric pump used to pump the natural spring water to the water tower at Ha Ha Tonka.

These steps led to a parking area at the top of the natural spring cliff. This is an alternate route to visit the spring. We choose the lower, and easier path without steps.