Taum Sauk Mountain, Mountain summit in Iron County, Missouri.

Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest natural point in Missouri at 1,772 ft (540 m), an elongated ridge running NNW-SSE rather than a peak. Its broad, rounded summit is covered by unbroken deep green forest, with a narrow pale strip of exposed earth cutting diagonally through the trees on the lower left slope. The crest rises gently and fades into the hazy distance.

The name comes from Chief Sauk-Ton-Qua of the Piankeshaw tribe, who inhabited the region before European settlers arrived. The area later transformed as settlement and land use changed the landscape.

The name Taum Sauk is said to come from Sauk-Ton-Qua, a Piankeshaw chief. The Piankeshaw were a Miami people of the wider Illinois confederacy, not the Sauk of the Great Lakes. Visitors meet the name on the polished granite plaque marking the highpoint in Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, created in 1991.

A paved road leads up to the parking area, with just a short walk to the summit marker from there. The path is relatively easy to walk, though sturdy shoes are helpful, especially if conditions are wet or slippery.

Taum Sauk is not Missouri's most prominent peak: it rises 522 ft (159 m) from an already elevated base, while Mudlick Mountain gains 693 ft (211 m) from a lower start. The summit is an elongated ridge running NNW to SSE, not a pointed peak. The Taum Sauk pumped storage plant that failed on 14 December 2005 sits on Proffit Mountain, about 5 miles (8 km) southwest, not on Taum Sauk itself.