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This eroded plateau is riddled with caves, sinkholes and underground streams that come to the surface as springs.
Horizontal sandstone and limestone layers comprise the basic structure of the Ozark Hills. Meandering rivers wandered aimlessly back and forth across the rocks, creating valleys in their search for sea level. Roads generally occupy the level terrain of the flat ridge tops, seldom varying their elevation, except when they descend into a river valley and then climb up to the opposite ridge.
Man for centuries has made use of the Ozarks. Before the coming of the Europeans, Osage Indians made it their hunting lands. They met French fur traders, who were trappers that poled up the Missouri River to trade beaver pelts and buffalo hides for knives and hatchets.
President Thomas Jefferson acquired the Ozarks for the United States when he purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803. The traveler of today gazes upon the same beautiful landscape that early explorers saw. Zebulon Pike on his westward journey wrote in his journal, "The country around the (Osage) villages is one of the most beautiful the eye ever beheld." And Henry Schoolcraft, geologist, botanist and explorer, visiting the Ozarks for the first time in 1818, entered in his journal, "We stood a moment to contemplate the sublime and beautiful scene before us ... of native fertility and barren magnificence."
We headed toward our first stop, Big Spring, one of the largest single-outlet springs in North America. Whenever anyone talks about the Ozarks the conversation always comes back to water. Rainwater drains through the porous limestone of the hills down into earthen cracks and large water-filled caves. Ozark springs are fed only by rainwater, 40 to 45 inches a year. So uniform is the flow from the area's many springs that locals contend the water comes from the Great Lakes.
We were in a rich, green forested setting, standing beneath a bluff at the edge of what appeared to be boiling water. In reality, the water is cool, 55 to 60 F year-round. Its submerged outlet is constricted by giant boulders, causing the water to jet upward with sufficient force to give the appearance of boiling. Some 276 million gallons of crystal-clear blue water from Big Spring pours into the Current River daily. Yellow dye traces in the Big Spring River system indicate that the water comes from 40 miles away, an area covering 967 square miles. A good-size backyard swimming pool would be filled by the spring in roughly six seconds. It was not so much the huge size of Big Spring as its beauty that enchanted us. The rich blue color is caused by the scattering of light from suspended particles in the water itself. It was just one of the spectacular springs we would see on our journey.
The Current River has a wild, natural beauty about it. The most spring-fed of Missouri's rivers, it can be floated year-round. Back in the 1800s, it was a highway for Ozark settlement and timber headed for market. A campground at Big Spring provided us showers and a beautiful spot to relax and enjoy the surrounding scenery.
Northward bound, down State Route 19, we reached the small town of Eminence, situated on the Jacks Fork River. Founded in 1820 by pioneers from Kentucky and Tennessee, the quaint town today serves as a resort, lumber and livestock center. With canoeing being a popular pastime on the Current and Jacks Fork rivers, several outfitters are located near Eminence. Like the Current, the Jacks Fork is floatable all year.
Our next stop, Alley Spring, just west of Eminence, is one of the most picturesque spots in the area. Like Big Spring, the campground is managed by the National Park Service. The nature trail on the banks of the 60-foot-diameter artesian pool passes below sheer high bluffs. Hardwood trees ring the pool, their reflections mirrored in the crystal-clear water. Alley Spring empties 80 million gallons of water a day into the upper Jacks Fork River.
The pink, partially restored 1894 gristmill also adds color to the scene. Today it's a museum. Here was the focus of the Alley Spring community. The mill provided finely ground flour for local farmers. Stop by the one-room school-house where George Washington's picture reposes on a wall overlooking McGuffey's Readers on the desks.
North of Eminence, Round Spring drew us to its banks. The deep, shaded basin, now a collapsed cave, has an almost perfectly circular shape that gives it its name. Tiny minnows and snails were drifting lazily among the strands of water grass. We gazed down into an ethereal world created by the green algae, milfoil and starwort. A short trail nearby traverses upward through a forest of hardwoods to Round Spring Caverns at the base of a high limestone bluff. Beyond the cave's mouth, we were in a dark, silent world. Our light glistened off the calcium-carbonate formations. The cave is rich in unusual geological formations and is home to the gray bat. The Missouri Ozarks contain more than 5,600 caves, and cave tours are offered from May to September.
Montauk State Park, northwest of Round Spring, is one of Missouri's most popular vacation spots. The park has 156 campsites, 69 featuring electrical hookups. Surrounded by stately pine, oak and hickory forests, there is little wonder why the park is so favored. Here at Montauk, the Current River has its beginning. The park's seven springs feed an estimated 43 million gallons of water each day into the Current. Anglers come from afar in hopes of catching a rainbow trout, for which the park is well-noted. Sections of the Current within the park have been designated "fly-fishing only," and "artificial lures and natural bait." The park's fish hatchery provides trout daily, plus hatchery tours on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from the end of May to the first of September.
In winter, you're apt to see bald eagles along the Current or perched on trees near the Montauk pools. The Ozark stream habitat provides fish for the eagle, turkey vulture, osprey, kingfisher and great blue heron. Montauk's pleasing scenic atmosphere, nature programs and nature trails entice the visitor to stay longer. You can't help but notice the old gristmill, built in 1896, reposing in a grove of trees near the trout-rearing pools. It was here that millers ground tons of wheat into flour and corn into corn meal for local families. The picturesque mill contains most of its original machinery and is open to visitors.
The abundance of water power in the Ozarks gave birth to many mills during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of them, east of Salem, is now a state historic site. The barn-red Dillard Mill nestles among green trees beside the blue cascading waters of Huzzah Creek in the Mark Twain National Forest. Completed in 1908, much of the mill's original machinery is still intact and operational. Tours of the mills are conducted year-round.
A short distance east at Pilot Knob, off State Highway 21, are the remains of Fort Davidson, today a state historic site in the Arcadia Valley. Here, surrounded by the rugged landscape of the highest peaks in the Missouri Ozarks, occurred one of the bloodiest Civil War battles west of the Mississippi. We stood on the hexagonal earthen fortification once held by Union forces and looked down onto the moat and out across the open field to the rising hills beyond. It was across this plain on September 27, 1864, that the Confederate infantry charged the fort. The 20-minute skirmish cost the Confederates more than 1,000 casualties. Through exhibits, films and talks, a modern visitor center provides detailed information about the battle. A self-guided driving tour leads visitors to the most significant points on the battlefield.
We left roaring cannons and charging cavalrymen behind as we headed north. There was one more state park on our list: Elephant Rocks. To better see the "elephants," follow the gentle one-mile trail through the woods that circumnavigates and climbs to the top of the massive dome of solid granite. This is one of the most curious geologic formations in Missouri. At the dome's summit, weathering has formed crystalline red granite into giant globular shapes. One series of huge boulders resembles a train of red circus elephants, inspiring the name. You'll find yourself dwarfed by their size as you follow the interpretive trail among them. You can't miss Dumbo, the pink granite patriarch of Elephant Rocks. Weighing in at a hefty 680 tons, it measures 27 x 35 x 17 feet.
Just off the trail, a lake-the site of an old quarry - captured our attention. The late 1800s saw the red granite being quarried for use as building material. Today it's cut and polished mainly for use as monuments. A few quarry workers, when they became master stone-cutters in 1893, carved their names on boulders near the summit. Camping is not not permitted at Elephant Rocks, but campgrounds can be found at several nearby state parks.
The Ozark National Scenic Riverways; Mark Twain National Forest; a multitude of state parks, springs, caves - it's all there to make a memorable adventure. In more ways than one, it's difficult to pick out the high point of a trip in the Missouri Ozarks.
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