For many, the summer ended with Labor Day, but opportunities to enjoy the water still exists at six Missouri State Parks whose swimming beaches remain open.

Beaches at Finger Lakes, Lake Wappapello, Long Branch, Pomme de Terre, St. Joseph and Stockton state parks will continue to welcome guests. Water samples taken Tuesday at all of these parks showed the beaches met water quality standards as set by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Finger Lakes State Park’s beach as well as Pomme de Terre State Park’s Hermitage and Pittsburg beaches will close for the recreational season on Sept. 10. Therefore, no additional water quality testing will be conducted this season. Lake Wappapello, Long Branch, Stockton and St. Joe’s Pim and Monsanto beaches are scheduled to close Sept. 17. The department will collect additional water quality samples at those beaches next week. The recreational season previously ended at seven Missouri State Park swimming beaches on Sept. 4 while two additional state parks swimming beaches have been closed for season due to repairs.

Visitors to Missouri State Parks are able to sign up to receive free electronic notices about the status of state park beaches by visiting the department’s website at http://bit.ly/HlSnaG. In addition, visitors may continue to check the state park beach status on the department’s website at http://bit.ly/MoStateParksBeachStatus as well as mostateparks.com.

Missouri’s state parks and historic sites offer something to suit everyone’s taste – outdoor adventure, great scenery and a bit of history. With Missouri’s 86 state parks and historic sites, the possibilities are boundless. For more information about Missouri State Parks, a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, visit mostateparks.com.

Image courtesy Missouri DNR