Ha Ha Tonka State Park

The ghostly remains of a sixty room turn-of-the-century mansion stand guard over the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri.

Sometimes referred to as Ha Ha Tonka Castle, this stone mansion was the dream vacation home of Robert McClure Snyder. High on the hill, overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks, construction on the mansion began in 1905, but Snyder was killed in an automobile accident only a year later. The project lingered, neglected for fifteen years until Snyder’s son finished the house in the 1920s, just before the stock market crashed. The home was used less and less frequently until it was turned into a hotel and sparks from a fireplace lit the ceiling on fire in 1942. The mansion and nearby carriage house were completely destroyed.

You can view the ruins from behind a wooden fence, but do not enter the structure. A parking lot adjacent to the carriage house is a short, yet steep, walk away from the home, but parking is very limited. A larger parking area down the hill requires a bit of a walk up the somewhat steep road. The ornate stone water tower for the property is a short walk away from the carriage house along a boardwalk in the opposite direction of the home. It was far enough away from the fire and remains in good shape. Around the back of the house, a large wooden deck hangs on the side of the cliff and offers a large view of the lake below.