Over a million people a year visit the Current and Jack’s Fork Rivers – otherwise known as the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, part of the National Park system – to partake of the amazing natural beauty of the area. The vast majority of those visitors float the streams in canoes, kayaks and rafts. However, paddling is far from the only attraction this park offers to outdoor types. It also offers caves and springs, trails for hiking and horseback riding, camping and even some cycling. In fact, it is quite possible to have a week-long trip in this beautiful national park and never take to the water.
Below are Alpine Shop‘s five best non-paddling destinations to round out your visit to the ONSR.
Named for not only the circular shape of the spring opening, but also for the almost curved appearance of the water, Round Spring is a must-see on any trip to the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
1. Round Spring & Cave
Located on the upper section of the Current River, Round Spring is a delightful place to visit. The surrounding terrain and mineral content of the water makes the flat surface appear to be curved and the spring opening is almost perfectly circular, thus the name Round Spring. Round Spring adds an average of 33 million gallons of water to the Current River each day. The beautiful spring branch flows under a short tunnel while making its way to the river. This area was one of Missouri’s first State Parks (1932) prior to its inclusion into the national park in 1964. (Note: people are not allowed to swim or wade in Round Spring.)
Nearby is the extremely beautiful Round Spring Cave. The National Park Service offers guided tours by lantern from Memorial Day to Labor Day. There is a small charge for the tour ($5 for adults and $2 for kids) and participation is limited to the first 15 people to buy tickets. These tours are offered daily at 10 am and 2 pm. Tickets go on sale 30 minutes before each tour. While there are over 300 known caves in the park, Round Spring Cave is the only one open to public tours.
One of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Ozarks, Rocky Falls is the perfect destination for a summer afternoon.
2. Rocky Falls
This 40 foot wide cascade is one of the best waterfalls in the Ozarks. Some water flows year-round, but in the spring and after heavy rains will give you the best view of this amazing geologic formation. The falls are located about 22 miles east of Eminence, Mo. off Hwy H. The area includes pit latrines and a small picnic area. The plunge pool below the falls offers a great place for a swim during the hotter months.
Over 300 feet deep, Blue Spring more than lives up to its name.
3. Blue Spring
Blue Spring, called “Spring of the Summer Sky” by native Americans, is over 300 feet deep. This amazing depth gives the spring its brilliant sky-blue coloration. The area is reached by a gravel road off Hwy 106 east of Eminence, MO and features a picnic area and restrooms. This spring is best visited before the afternoon sun casts its shadow on the spring pool.
One of the most popular areas in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Big Spring pumps an amazing 246 million gallons of water each day into the Current River.
4. Big Spring
Big Spring is the one of the largest single outlet springs in the world pumping out over 246 million gallons of water on an average day. This amazing site offers picnic grounds, cabins, a dining lodge, and campground. The beautiful spring branch flows about a half mile to the Current River. Big Spring is located just outside of Van Buren, MO.
A little-known glimpse into the past, Klepzig Mill will bring you back to 1928, the year the mill was built.
5. Klepzig Mill and Shut-ins
Located downstream from Rocky Falls, Klepzig Mill and Shut-Ins is one of the hidden gems of this National Park. You can find this seldom-visited place by following a somewhat rough gravel road (County Road #522) that heads to the left where the pavement ends on Highway NN. The old mill sits along the creek with a fascinating shut-in below. There are no facilities here, just a couple of pull outs for cars. The shut-ins provide a great place for a picnic.
Who goes backpacking for their honeymoon!? What is romantic about hiking 280 miles in three weeks, 30 lb. packs, sleeping on the ground, a lack of showers, freeze-dried meals, bugs, and all other not-so-glamorous aspects of spending days on end in the woods? Honestly, I’m not sure what is so romantic about it; ask me in a month when I get back, but my husband and I are confident it’s how we want to celebrate our marriage. That’s why we are spending the next three weeks backpacking on the Appalachian Trail for our honeymoon.
The idea of backpacking for one’s honeymoon is the antithesis of what a honeymoon is typically all about: pampering yourselves, spending money lavishly, enjoying superfluous comforts of five-star hotels, etc., but it is of no surprise to me that we are choosing a tent and Therm-a-Rests over pillow-topped beds and beaches. After all, the Appalachian Trail is how we met.
I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, known as “thru-hiking” in 2009. It is 2,178.3 miles long and runs from Georgia to Maine. It took me five and a half months. As I was hiking through Pennsylvania, a stranger, my now-husband, Will, offered “trail magic” to me and my hiking buddies. Trail magic can be described as random acts of kindness by strangers to help hikers on their journey. Examples of common forms of trail magic seen on the AT are: rides to town, a bed to sleep in, a home-cooked meal, or a random cooler in the middle of nowhere filled with soda. Thru-hikers rely on the kindness of strangers throughout their journey. Will had a love of the AT, too, but being a teacher during the school year, he knew that a thru-hike was likely not in the cards for him since it’s takes about six months. So, instead, he read books and blogs about the trail and provided trail magic to thru-hikers on his days off during the summer (he worked at a summer camp in Pennsylvania).
I kept a blog throughout my hike which I updated in towns when I had the chance. Through this, Will was able to follow my progress northbound. When he checked in on my blog in early Fall and saw I had completed the trail, he emailed me a note of congratulations. I wrote him back and a couple visits and a few months later, I moved to St. Louis so we could be together. I found a wonderful place of employment at Alpine Shop, which allows me the opportunity to share my passion for the outdoors with customers, as well as the flexibility to pursue my own outdoor adventures, such as three weeks of time off to go backpacking for my honeymoon! And of course, we have been able to completely outfit ourselves with everything we could possibly need for this adventure from the shop! I will be promoting Alpine Shop everywhere I hike on the trail with my new hot pink Alpine Shop Nalgene, too! Gotta represent!
We organically came up with the dream of hiking the entire trail together, in small pieces (known as section-hiking) over our life-time. When thinking about what we should do for our honeymoon, it just felt right to begin our marriage with our first official section hike of the Appalachian Trail. And, as symbolism would suggest, we are beginning at the southern-terminus, Springer Mt., Georgia, and doing the first 280 miles northbound.
There is something special about backpacking with the one you love. There are no distractions. The only worries are food, water, shelter, and physical well-being. It is life and love in its simplest form. There will be sunsets and sunrises, shooting stars and campfires. But let’s not forget the bugs, bears, blisters, and torrential downpours. You need to rely on each other to help make it through the tough times and you get to share in the beauty and magnificence of nature during the good times. Both types of experiences bring you closer to each other and make your relationship stronger – just like real life.
We can’t wait. Who knows when the next opportunity we will have to spend three weeks alone together in the woods will be? Probably retirement.
As outdoor recreation lovers, Alpine Shop employees are naturally drawn to our national parks. As a company, we celebrate their existence, their protection and their continued preservation for our use and our children’s use and our children’s children.
The National Park Service consists of over 375 parks and historic sites covering an amazing range of landscapes, wildlife and history. Below are just a few of the most interesting facts on this expansive park system.
More than 300 million people visited our national park areas in 2010.
The first national park, Yellowstone, was created in 1872 through a law signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. The cavalry was the first caretaker.
The first nationally-proclaimed protected area of public land in the United States, Yosemite, was created in 1864 by the passage of the Yosemite Grant.
The largest living things in the world live in national parks; Sequoia Trees, and the world’s largest carnivore; the Alaska Brown Bear.
National park areas have volcanos, glaciers, white sand beaches, and dinosaur fossils.
Starting in 1910 with “The Immortal Alamo”, filmmakers have been coming to national parks year after year to capture majestic scenery for their productions.
While all of these parks are worthy of protection some hold a special place in the American experience. While there will never be a consensus on which parks are the best we have listed below the ones that have become part of our staff’s hearts and souls.
Bull Elk resting in Yellowstone National Park, Montana.
The 2,221,766 acres of this astounding land make up the world’s first national park. Created in 1872 the park features nearly a thousand miles of trails, over 280 backcountry campsites and 466 miles of roadways.
Within it’s boundaries you will find over 10,000 hot springs, geysers, and other thermal features, dramatic mountain ranges, beautiful rivers, hundreds of waterfalls and some of the best wildlife viewing this side of the Serengeti.
Much of the park sits in an ancient caldera of a super volcano resulting in over 2000 earthquakes in an average year.
The iconic face of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California.
This crown jewel of the National Park system in California was the first park to be protected by the American Government in 1864 with the passage of the Yosemite Grant.
Yosemite Valley is famous throughout the world for its waterfalls and the dramatic granite cliffs rising up, in some cases, 5000 feet above the valley floor. The iconic face of Half Dome in the southeast corner of the Valley can be seen on everything from the California quarter, the logos of such respected outdoor companies as The North Face and Sierra Designs and on countless tourist photographs throughout the world.
The park extends for 1169 square miles, 94% of which is wilderness.
The tranquil shores of Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park, Montana
This park in NW Montana is dubbed “The Crown of the Continent”. This mountain park lives up to it nick name featuring stark mountain landscapes, dozens of glaciers, and amazing wildlife.
The park has about 700 miles of trails with each one more beautiful than the last. It is a hiker’s paradise with many backcountry campsites to choose from. The Going to the Sun Road is one of the most beautiful drives to be had anywhere. This 52 mile long roadway was constructed in the 1920’s. There are many sheer drops sans guardrails to keep you holding tightly to the steering wheel.
The park is one of he last refuges of the great Grizzly Bear. Other wildlife includes Mountain Goats, Big Horn Sheep, Mountain Lion, Black Bear and deer.
The beautiful sandstone sculptures of Arches National Park in Utah.
While tiny in comparison to Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier National Parks, Arches packs a tremendous amount of things into its borders. Crammed into it’s 76,000 plus acres are over 2000 sandstone arches. Many of these outstanding geologic formations are easily accessible by car and short hikes. A couple of the more impressive arches include Landscape, Double and the states symbol Delicate Arch. The park is just a couple of miles north of Moab, Utah and features a small campground and picnic areas.
The beautiful walk up the Virgin River into the Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah.
Another “can’t miss” Utah park is Zion. This fantastic park offers canyoneering, waterfalls, great rock climbing, and unusual geologic formations. One of the most popular activities is a walk up the Virgin River into the Narrows. On this walk the canyon walls will tower over you rising up to 1500 feet from the canyon floor A convenient shuttle bus system takes you into and out of the canyon proper. There are two campgrounds, lots of trails as well as excellent opportunities for cross county travel.
Beautiful pictures abound in this third Utah National Park on our list.
The old story goes that if you cannot take a great photo in Bryce Canyon you may as well throw your camera away. The park is a series of horseshoe canyons carved out of the top of the Grand Staircase geologic formation. Trails will lead you though a fairyland conglomeration of brightly colored spires, walls, hoodoo’s, and fins.
Ready to Explore on Your Own
Alpine Shop offers a continuous series of programs on these and other of America’s incredible national parks. If you would like to learn all about these parks from people who know them intimately visit our Great American National Parks Programs by clicking here.
There’s nothing more embarrassing during a St. Louis summer than finding you can’t paddle a kayak in a straight line. Well, there’s that and getting smoked by your eight-year-old while bike riding. Or maybe having to cut short your three-day camping trip due to an unfortunate tent-pitching accident that leaves you with a bad puncture wound.
Alpine Shop is here to help. “Be prepared,” we always say. (Okay, the Boy Scouts always say that, but we’re hoping they don’t have a patent on it.) Let’s handle the kayak scenario first:
Kayak Paddling: Similar to the less known “I’m from Missouri, paddling a canoe is ingrained in my genes so I never have to take a lesson” Syndrome, many Missourians mistakenly believe that paddling a kayak is akin to falling in the water – you know, it’s easy, not something you need to learn. Well, if you want to look like an idiot, feel free to flail around in the water. However, kayaking (like canoeing) is a skill best learned from a competent teacher – not by attempting to make yourself seasick. Solution: Take Alpine Shop’s Summer Kayaking Program. Our Intro to Kayaking: Dry Land Basics and our on-the-water Basic Kayaking class can get you straightened out in no time.
Biking: Next, protect your pride from little Timmy. You can’t let an eight-year-old do that to you. Never fear, you just need to get back in the saddle again. Solution: We have cycling programs running all summer long. Whether it be maintenance clinics to make sure your bike is in shape, weekly Tuesday night rides out of our Kirkwood store’s parking lot or even the now-famous Short Track Dirt Crit Series of mountain bike races every July. You and your bike will be BFF’s in no time. Visit Alpine Shops Calendar for more tips and trips.
Get Prepared for Camping:
Finally, let’s handle that unfortunate tent-pitching incident. To start with, you need to get some first aid training so that wound doesn’t get infected. We’ll cover that in our Wilderness First Aid certification program. It would also help to learn how to pitch the tent. Solution:Buy a tent from Alpine Shop and we’ll go over the process step by step so you know how to do it like a pro.
Join us next time for more worst-case scenarios and solutions with Alpine Shop!
