Springs in the Fall

Friday, October 29, 2021

After leaving our AirBnb condo in Branson, my sister headed home to St. Louis. Taking the most direct route, her drive was about 4 hours long. Bob and I also headed to St. Louis, taking a route that would have us on the road for two days. No...we didn't get lost, but instead were on a nostalgic pilgrimage to revisit some special places from our childhoods.

Bob's grandmother (Granny to him) lived in the "boot heel" of Missouri so he has many special memories of times spent at her house and the surrounding area. I grew up in Southern Illinois and my family often took camping trips throughout Missouri when I was young. Between the two of us, we had mapped out a route to visit some of the places that we remembered from years gone by. Interestingly enough, many of these spots were springs located in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (hence the title of this post!)

Roads through southern Missouri are scenic but the hills and curves are not conducive to quick travels. Google Maps was our navigation guide, but we found that it didn't always give us the best advice on routes. This wasn't too much of a concern since we weren't under any time constraints. We just went with the flow and enjoyed the journey.

Back roads of Missouri.

Our first stop was at Alley Mill located west of Eminence, Missouri.. The mill was built in 1894 to grind grain into flour and was powered by water rushing out of Alley Springs. The day was cool but comfortable enough to hike the 1.7 mile loop trail that went around the springs, passed by a small waterfall and followed along the river. (Pardon the abundance of photos. I read that Alley Mill is one of the most photographed in the world and it is easy to see why!)

Bridge crossing over the river to the mill.

The spring with its dark turquoise water.

Bob had fun crawling through the small caves in the bluffs along the trail.

Crossing back over the stream at the end of the trail.

Just north of the town of Eminence was our next stop, Round Spring, one of Missouri's first state parks in 1932. No one else was around as we walked the short trail to the spring. 

From the National Park Service website:  The spring itself is some 55 feet deep, rising in a nearly circular pool of water before flowing under a natural bridge to join the Current River. On an average day, some 26 million gallons of water flow from the spring. At quiet times, otters, wood ducks, and great blue herons may be seen in the spring.

Round Spring

To complete our "spring day in the fall", we drove to Big Spring near the town of Van Buren. The name is not very creative, but it is accurate. Big Spring is one of the largest (if not THE largest) in the United States. Enough water flows out of the spring to fill Busch Stadium in St. Louis in just a little over a day! No hike is needed to see this spring, it is visible from the parking area and comes bubbling up out of the base of a limestone bluff. 

From the National Park website:  At an average daily flow of 286 MILLION gallons of water, Big Spring is an awesome sight and a geologic wonder. Underground passages carry water from as far as 45 miles away to emerge at the spring. Studies have shown that the water is carrying a load of dissolved limestone equivalent to 70 tons a day! This dissolved rock gives the spring its color and is also carving out a huge conduit underground. Should the spring ever go dry, a huge cave will be the result.

Exploring the bluffs above the spring.

Our day ended in the town of Poplar Bluff. It was getting dark as we pulled into the Fairfield Inn and Suites and we were hungry. Our Covid comfort level hasn't gotten to the point where we want to eat at an indoor restaurant yet. (Nor did we feel like getting cleaned up after our day of hiking and rummaging through the woods.) An Imo's Pizza was located adjacent to the gas station next door so we gave them a call. My sister loves Imo's but it was new to us. We walked over to pick up our pizza and brought it back to enjoy in our room. We both gave it a thumbs up!

Convenient after a day of exploring...Imo's Pizza right next door to our hotel!

Our room had one of the best hotel showers I have encountered and it felt wonderful. A little TV and then off to bed. Tomorrow...another day full of memories!