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01 Where to ride

St. Joe State Park ORV area

Park Hills, Old Lead Belt. Managed by Missouri State Parks.

Sand flats and wooded hills in the off-road riding area at St. Joe State Park, Missouri
The sand tailings area at St. Joe, where 4WD vehicles and dune buggies are allowed. Photo: Kbh3rd, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized), via Wikimedia Commons.
Managed by
Missouri State Parks
Where
Park Hills, Old Lead Belt, Missouri
Vehicles
Motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs and dune buggies. Four-wheel-drive vehicles and dune buggies are allowed only in the sand tailings area, not on the wooded trails.
Permit / fee
ORV permit required for the riding area (online for up to three days, or at the ORV contact station). General park entry does not need one.
Season
Daily hours change between the April-September and October-March seasons; see the hours page.

Missouri State Parks: Off-road riding rules, St. Joe ↗

What the official page says

  • Helmets meeting DOT or ANSI standards for all operators and passengers on motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs and dune buggies.
  • Working brakes and muffler with a noise limit, spark arrestors on motorcycles and ATVs.
  • A flexible whip mast with an orange flag on vehicles other than motorcycles, and seat belts fastened in vehicles other than motorcycles and ATVs.
  • Stay inside the red and white boundary signs and out of marked revegetation areas. No alcohol in the ORV area.

Before you go

  • Check weather and recent rain: creeks and wet-weather closures are the big Ozark variables. See seasons and weather.
  • Pack recovery basics and know how to use them. See recovery gear.
  • Know your state's machine registration and road rules. See state laws.

Where this comes from

Last reviewed 2026-10-19. General information only: the official site and posted rules always come first.