ahschneid

Apr 267 min read

"The Show Me State" of Missouri Did Just That!

We arrived at Big Spring Campground in Van Buren Missouri on Saturday 20 Apr 2024. The campground is in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and Mark Twain National Forest. We had reservations for 7 nights so that gave us 6 days for site seeing and errands. We missed mass at St. George's Catholic Church in Van Buren on Sunday because their website said that mass was at 9am and 11am on Sundays. We arrived close to 9am and saw that there is only one mass and it's at 8:30am. So, we went to the local laundromat and got our laundry done and watched mass online later that day. The weather forecast showed rain on our last two days here and on the day we leave, so we attempted to pack everything we wanted to see in 3.5 days. We're staying at Big Spring Campground, so we decided to see the Big Spring first. We took the Big Spring Slough trail to it and it did not disappoint! It was a 1.2 mile round trip hike and perfect after a morning of doing laundry and other chores.

Slough Trail to Big Spring in Van Buren MO 21 Apr 2024

Slough Trail to Big Spring in Van Buren MO 21 Apr 2024

Slough Trail to Big Spring in Van Buren MO 21 Apr 2024

Slough Trail to Big Spring in Van Buren MO 21 Apr 2024

Solar Eclipse on 8 April must have been visible here

Big Spring in Van Buren MO 21 Apr 2024

Largest natural spring in Missouri averaging a flow of about 286 million gallons of water a day.

On Monday the 22nd, we ventured out to Blue Spring 40 miles west of our campground. Anita slept in that day so we got a pretty late start (around 10am). Once we arrived we noticed on our map that there is another Blue Spring north of our campground. This blue spring is on the Jacks Fork River and considered the "little" blue spring. We walked around a little at the first stop, but it wasn't the one to see. We then started back toward home and stopped at Alley Spring and Mill in Eminence Missouri. The mill wasn't open for seeing inside yet, but it was nice to see the 100 year old building standing. We did the 1.7 mile loop around the mill and had our packed lunch there. We then drove to the Blue Spring north of Van Buren, but we took a scenic road to get to it. This was the Blue Spring to see! We walked a half mile to see this spring and it was amazing. The NPS describes Blue Spring this way: Called "Spring of the Summer Sky" by Native Americans, the more famous Blue Spring is on the Current River and is one of the most beautiful places you'll ever find, anywhere. The spring itself is over 310 feet deep, one of the deepest in the United States. This gives it a vivid blue color that one must see to believe. If you were to place the Statue of Liberty in Blue Spring, her torch would be five feet below the surface of the water!

Alley Spring Mill in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Alley Spring Mill in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Alley Spring Mill in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Alley Spring hike in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Alley Spring Mill in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Alley Spring Mill in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Alley Spring Mill in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Blue Spring in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Blue Spring in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Blue Spring in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Blue Spring in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Smallmouth bass at Blue Spring in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Stairs to Blue Spring Overlook in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

Blue Spring Overlook in Eminence MO 22 Apr 2024

We decided to stop at Peck Ranch Conservation Area described on their website as: Peck Ranch consists of 23,763 acres of rugged, forested hills and hollows. Limestone and rhyolite glades provide natural openings among the oak-pine forest that dominates the region. Narrow ridges range from 900 to 1,000 feet in elevation. The area's highest point is Stegall Mountain, 1,348 feet above sea level. Rogers Creek and Mill Creek, which flow into the Current River, meander through the area. Peck Ranch is home to Missouri's wild elk cohort as well as a vast diversity of other wildlife. A visit to Peck Ranch brings opportunity to view White-tailed deer, wild turkeys, song birds, and many other native species. Diverse management techniques are used to maintain and restore the many natural communities on Peck Ranch.

We almost turned around when we saw that we had 10 miles to get to the ranch with 6 of the miles being gravel road. We had driven on gravel roads for the two springs already that day. It was around 6pm when we got on the gravel road and were just about inside the area for the driving tour. We followed the map and drove about an additional 10 miles inside the conservation area and we were almost at the end of the driving tour around 6:30pm and we saw a few elk on the grass to our left. We went a little further and there were more elk on the road! We stopped and just watched them and some of them watched us. Their behavior was not like deer which would have scurried away as we approached. It was crazy! We could tell by the way they move that they could have jumped over our truck with ease. Thankfully, they meandered off the road to let us pass and there was no problem. After we were off the ranch, we saw 3 more bulls in velvet heading toward a private home. That home had a couple of dogs trying to stare down the approaching elk. I wonder how that turned out...

Elk at Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Fremont MO 22 Apr 2024

Bull at right with one spike left from last year

Elk at Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Fremont MO 22 Apr 2024

Bull Elk in velvet just outside Peck Ranch Conservation Area in Fremont MO 22 Apr 2024

The next day on Tuesday the 23rd, we went to see Round Spring. That one also has Round Spring Cave, which offers ranger guided tours starting after Memorial Day. We were there too early in the season for a tour. We walked a mile to get to the Round Spring Loop trail which in itself was 2.87 miles, then a mile back to the truck. This trail coincided with the N/S Ozark Trail Iowa to Arkansas. We were a bit tired after that day of walking in the hot sun. The Round Spring was nice too. We watched a river otter swimming and cleaning itself on the rocks. We think it was a little spooked by us up on the overlook. A wild herd of horses are said to frequent here but all we saw was their droppings. On our way home that day we stopped off at the Twin Pines Conservation and Education Center in Winona Missouri. That was an interesting place with lots of useful information on the birds, plants and animals of the area.

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

River Otter is on the lighter colored rocks about in the middle of the picture

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Part of the 1 mile trail heading to the 2.87 mile Round Spring Loop/Ozark Trail

Round Spring in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Part of 1 mile trail heading to the 2.87 mile Round Spring Loop

We finally reached the trail

Zebra Swallowtail Butterflies on Round Spring Loop Trail 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring Loop Trail 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring Cave in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring Cave in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring Cave in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring Cave in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

Round Spring Cave in Eminence MO 23 Apr 2024

On Wednesday the 24th, we took a raft float trip down the Current River. We were dropped off at the Pin Oak launch area and we floated about 10 miles down to The Landing where our truck was. We got on the river about 11:30am and were back at The Landing around 3pm. It was a beautiful day on the water and we were amazed at how clear the water is and how the depth changed so often with so many boulders and tree trunks underwater. The "cliffs" on the sides of the water were steep and some of the houses built up there seemed perilously close to the edge. We enjoyed being out on the water and mostly had the river to ourselves except for a couple of small boats fishing.

When we got back to our campsite we saw that another Grand Design Reflection had come in across the street from us. We met the couple (Mark and Julie) who are from Texas. They're on the road about 6 months of the year and they're going to Canada Maritimes this summer too! In talking we learned that we've been traveling the same states just a couple of weeks apart. They've taken their rig into Alaska and we're encouraged by that since theirs is 2 feet longer than ours.

Our river float wasn't straight, but Steve steering around logs and choosing paths around brush in the middle of the river. We left our raft on the beach just after the bridge (at the arrow).