Johnson Shut-Ins
Missouri · height not recorded · Last verified 2026-05-15
Flow at Johnson Shut-Ins is light today (12 cfs) — visit for the geology, not the volume.
Right now
Streamflow
11.8 cfs
East Fork Black River · 1h ago
Overnight
68°F
Slight Chance Rain Showers
Sunday
85°F
Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
Today's daylight
Sunrise 5:42 AM · Sunset 8:22 PM · 14h 40m
Snapshot built 13m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS LSX.
Johnson Shut-Ins is a waterfall in Missouri. Height has not been officially recorded. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park is a public recreation area covering 9,432 acres (3,817 ha) on the East Fork Black River in Reynolds County, Missouri. The state park is jointly administered with adjoining Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, and together the two parks cover more than sixteen thousand acres in the St. Francois Mountains region of the Missouri Ozarks.
Is the water flowing right now?
Most waterfall sites don't tell you this. The waterfall itself is almost never gauged, but a USGS streamgage in the same watershed can tell you whether snowmelt has started, peaked, or run dry.
USGS gage 07061270 · 0.9 mi away
East Fork Black River near Lesterville, MO
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Below 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 315 cfs · 4% of last year — significantly drier
When to go (from the climate data, not our opinion)
Monthly averages from Open-Meteo's reanalysis dataset (2020–2024). Highlighted months are when we think the waterfall is at its best — but the numbers are the numbers regardless.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip (in) | Snow days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 43 | 26 | 4.3 | 6.6 |
| Feb | 49 | 28 | 3.2 | 5.4 |
| Mar | 59 | 39 | 6.1 | 0.4 |
| Apr | 66 | 45 | 4.9 | 0.4 |
| May | 74 | 56 | 4.3 | 0 |
| Jun | 85 | 65 | 2.7 | 0 |
| Jul | 88 | 69 | 4.7 | 0 |
| Aug | 85 | 67 | 3.2 | 0 |
| Sep | 80 | 61 | 2.6 | 0 |
| Oct | 69 | 50 | 3.1 | 0 |
| Nov | 57 | 38 | 2.6 | 1 |
| Dec | 50 | 33 | 3.1 | 2.2 |
Source: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API · ERA5 reanalysis 2020–2024.
Compare to nearby falls
If this one isn't the right fit, here's how it stacks up against the closest documented falls. Every column is filterable on the site — not buried in 13,000 reviews.
| Waterfall | Distance | Height | Trail | Dogs | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson Shut-Ins (this page) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mina Sauk Falls | 6 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Wolf Pen Hollow Waterfall | 13 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Big Drop | 21 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Cats Paw | 21 mi | — | — | Y | Free |
| Waterfall (seasonal) | 29 mi | 10 ft | — | Y | Free |
Questions visitors ask about Johnson Shut-Ins
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
How far is Johnson Shut-Ins from a major city?
Johnson Shut-Ins is 12 miles from Arcadia (about 17 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in Missouri
Where it is
37.5393, -90.8380
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson's_Shut-Ins_State_Park
Wikidata (Q14704332)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14704332
GeoNames (4392675)
https://www.geonames.org/4392675/
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
Been there?
Marina and Theo verify pages one road trip at a time. If you've been to Johnson Shut-Ins recently, your local knowledge improves the page for everyone. Pick the kind of contribution that fits — every email lands in our inbox and gets read (and credited when we publish).
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