One Hundred Nature Walks in the Missouri Ozarks

by: Alan McPherson

The Missouri Ozarks is an area that cannot be appreciated at highway speeds. With 33,000 square miles of incredible scenery — mountains, caves, rivers, waterfalls, sinkholes, lakes, bluffs — the Missouri Ozarks offer some of the best hiking in the United States. Alan McPherson has chosen 100 locations accessible to public use across the Missouri Ozarks and describes hundreds of trails found at those sites. A veteran hiker, McPherson has personally hiked the trails listed and describes the trails and their conditions as well as noting any unusual features. He has written similar hiking books for Florida, Indiana and Southern Illinois.

Table of Contents

	Foreword: Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club	xi
	Acknowledgements	xii
	Preface	xiii
	Discovering the Missouri Ozarks	xiv
	Abbreviations Used	xxi
	Number Key to Sites Map	xxii
	Fredericktown Area
1.	St. Francois State Park	2
2.	Hawn State Park	5
3.	Pickle Springs Natural Area	8
4.	Missouri Mines State Historic Site and St. Joe State Park	11
5.	Hughes Mountain Natural Area	15
6.	Buford Mountain Conservation Area	18
7.	Elephant Rocks State Park	21
8.	John James Audubon Trail	25
9.	Knob Lick Mountain Lookout Tower	28
10.	Silas Dees Azalea and Wildflower Preserve	30
11.	Amidon Memorial Conservation Area	33
12.	Silver Mines Recreation Area and Millstream Gardens Conservation Area	35
13.	Cathedral Canyon	38
14.	Rock Pile Mountain Wilderness	40
15.	Crane Lake Recreation Area	43
16.	Taum Sauk Mountain State Park	46
	Poplar Bluff Area
17.	Mingo National Wildlife Refuge	49
18.	Wappapello Lake	52
19.	Lake Wappapello State Park	55
20.	Sam A. Baker State Park	58
21.	Lon Sanders Canyon Conservation Area	62
22.	Clearwater Lake	64
23.	Markham Spring Reacreation Area	67
24.	Pinewoods Lake Recreation Area	70
	Potosi/Salem Area
25.	Washington State Park	73
26.	Meramac State Park and Conservation Area	76
27.	Onondaga Cave State Park and Huzzah Conservation Area	80
28.	Zahorsky Woods	84
29.	Maramec Spring Park	86
30.	Moses Austin Trail	89
31.	Berryman Trail	91
32.	Red Bluff Recreation Area	94
33.	Dillard Mill State Historic Site	96
34.	Council Bluff Recreation Area	98
35.	Bell Mountain Wilderness	100
36.	Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park	103
37.	Taum Sauk Hydroelectric Plant	106
38.	Sutton Bluff Recreation Area	109
39.	Grasshopper Hollow Natural Area	112
40.	Loggers Lake Recreation Area	115
	Ozark Riverways: Current and Jacks Fork
41-52	Ozark Riverways: An Overview	117
41.	Montauk State Park	118
42.	Welch Spring, Hospital and Landing	121
43.	Devils Well	124
44.	Pulltite	126
45.	Round Spring	128
46.	Lick Log Hollow Trail and Angeline Conservation Area	131
47.	Powder Mill and Blue Spring Natural Area	134
48.	Rocky Falls and Rocky Creek Shut-Ins	136
49.	Watercress Spring Recreation Area	`139
50.	Skyline Trail and Skyline Drive	142
51.	Big Spring	144
52.	Alley Spring and Mill	146
	Doniphan-Eleven Point Area
53.	Float Camp Recreation Area	149
54.	Big Barren Creek Natural Area and Cowards Hollow Natural Area	152
55.	Irish Wilderness	155
56.	Morgan Spring at the Narrows	158
57.	Greer Spring and Greer Crossing Recreation Area	160
58.	McCormack Lake Recreation Area	164
59.	Ponds: An Overview	166
59A	Overcup Oak Sink Natural Area	168
59B	Marg Pond Natural Area	169
59C	Grassy Pond Natural Area	170
59D	Tupelo Gum Pond Natural Area	171
59E	Brushy Pond Natural Area	172
59F	Haney Pond Natural Area	173
59G	Cupola Pond Natural Area	174
59H	Red Maple Pond Natural Area	175
60	Grand Gulf State Park	176
	Ozark Trail: Eastern Loop and West Main Trail
61-72	Ozark Trail: an Overview	179
	Eastern Loop
61.	Taum Sauk Section	180
62.	Marble Creek Section	184
63.	Wappapello Lake Section	187
64.	Victory Section	191
	West Main Trail
65.	Courtois Creek Section	194
66.	Trace Creek Section	198
67.	Karkaghne Section	201
68.	Blair Creek Section	204
69.	Current River Section	207
70.	Between the Rivers Section	211
71.	Eleven Point Section	214
72.	North Fork River Section	218
	Rolla/Houston Area
73.	Clifty Creek Natural Area and Conservation Area	221
74.	Mill Creek Recreation Area	224
75.	Lane Spring Recreation Area	227
76.	Slabtown Bluff Recreation Area	230
77.	Paddy Creek Wilderness and Recreation Area	232
78.	Horshoe Bend Natural Area	236
79.	Piney River Narrows Natural Area	238
80.	Lake of the Ozarks State Park	240
81.	Ha Ha Tonka State Park	244
82.	Bennett Spring State Park	248
83.	Pomme de Terre State Park	252
	Willow Springs Area
84.	Dean Davis Conservation Area	255
85.	Tingler Lake Conservation Area	257
86.	Ridge Runner Trail	260
87.	Noblett Lake Loop, Ridge Runner Trail	263
88.	North Fork Loop, Ridge Runner Trail	266
89.	North Fork Recreation Area	269
90.	Devil's Backbone Wilderness	272
91.	Caney Mountain Conservation Area	275
	Ava/Cassville Area
92.	Swan Creek Territory	278
93.	Hercules Glades Wilderness	280
94.	Springfield Nature Places	285
94A	Springfield Conservation Nature Center	286
94B	Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World	287
94C	Dickerson Park Zoo	288
94D	Springfield City Parks	289
94E	Crystal Cave	290
94F	Little Sac Woods Conservation Area	291
94G	Wilson Creek National Battlefield	292
94H	Busiek Conservation Area	293
95.	Henning Conservation Area	294
96.	Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery	297
97.	Piney Creek Wilderness	300
98.	Roaring River State Park	303
99.	George Washington Carver National Historic Site	306
100.	Buffalo Hills Natural Area	309
	Helpful Books	312
	Appendix I: Birds of Wappapello Lake	315
	Appendix II: Animals of Roaring River State Park	316
	Appendix III: Hiking Places in the Arkansas Ozarks	319
	Index	320

 

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