ozark springs hike

sadiejane

sadiejane

Joined
Feb 6, 2009
Messages
1,120
a cupla buds and i headed out saturday for some hiking and swimming in the missouri ozarks. an area well know for its large springs. many of you may already know the ozarks is one of the largest karst systems in the world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozark_Plateau
and holds some of the largest springs in the world.
we started out at big springs near van buren
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Spring_(Missouri)#cite_ref-table2_0-0
it is the largest spring in missouri. since the temps were to hit well into the 90's we tried to get an early start but didnt end up getting there till after 9am(its about a 2hr drive from springfield where we started from). so we opted to do a shorter hike than originally intended. a 3 miler around the big spring area.

bigspring.jpg
[/IMG]
this is where the spring first hits daylight

watercress.jpg
[/IMG]
where it quickly makes its way to the current river. all that greenery seen on top of the water is watercress. a wild edible often used in salads and with a slight hotness much like a radish.

bigspringscave.jpg
[/IMG]
this cave is above the spring source probably where the spring flowed at some point in the past.

wildgeranium.jpg
[/IMG]
the cliff face was covered with wild geraniums

alleytrail.jpg
[/IMG]
the trail took us away from the spring and into the dense hardwood forest surrounding it.

dragonfly.jpg
[/IMG]
lots of these critters flitting around

cottonwood.jpg
[/IMG]
in one more open area there were numerous cottonwoods. this stuff is great firestarting material.
 
by the time we finished that bit of trail we were hot, tired and hungry. so we headed on down the road to have some lunch and a swim.

eminence.jpg
[/IMG]
we headed into eminence missouri for some grub then down onto the jacks fork river to lounge about in the water till the heat of the day had passed.

as the afternoon got a bit cloudy and cooler we headed to alley spring for another short hike.

alleysprings1.jpg
[/IMG]
not as big an output as big spring but impressive nevertheless. within about a 60 mile area there are 6 of these large "first magnitude" springs.

alleyspringmill.jpg
[/IMG]
all of these springs had mills when the area was first settled. many of them remain today and have been restored by the national parks service.

alleyspring2.jpg
[/IMG]

alleysprings.jpg
[/IMG]

alleytrail3.jpg
[/IMG]
we followed another 3 mile trail. a great place for bird watching. along with a wide variety of flora

astilbe.jpg
[/IMG]
astilbe

coreopsis.jpg
[/IMG]
coreopsis

echinacea.jpg
[/IMG]
echinacea(a widely used medicinal) local name purple cone flower

hydrangea.jpg
[/IMG]
hydrangea
 
frog.jpg
[/IMG]
we came across a back flow area. rather swamp like. and there were dozens of these guys croaking away.

waterplant.jpg
[/IMG]
this growth was everywhere appearing to be choking what water surface was still there. have no idea what it is. anyone??(this was the swampy area not where the spring flows-i didnt see any where the water was visibly moving)

pheobe.jpg
[/IMG]
pheobe

alleyspring.jpg
[/IMG]
right below the spring.

alleytrail4.jpg
[/IMG]
it was beginning to get dark as we headed back. all in all a lovely, albiet hot n muggy, day for a woods hike

alleytrail5.jpg
[/IMG]

pawpaw.jpg
[/IMG
pawpaw-another local wild edible. will be a few months before theres fruit

astilbe1.jpg
[/IMG]
that same astilbe after dark

thanks for coming along
the ozark area is highly recommended for hiking(the ozark trail http://www.ozarktrailguide.com/page3.html. spelunking(missouri has many public access caves), fishing. most of these spring systems support rainbow and brown trout all year round. at least for the first few miles after the water leaves the ground, then the summer heat warms the water too much for them to survive.
 
Beautiful pic's!!

Both of my parents are from Van Buren. It's a lovely little part of the world, but it has really changed in the past 30yrs or so.

It's been a few years since I've been back... did you stop in town at all?
 
The stuff that you described as choking the water surface is duckweed, There are several different kinds and also other similar looking small floating plants. That one looks like lemna minor. I wish I could get into that water and see if there were any aquatic plants unique to that spring ecosystem. Thanks for the astilbe pics, they are one of my favorite plants. I love eating paw paw as well. You should definitely snap pics of those when they are ready, many people are not aware of them.
 
Last edited:
Bhamster said:
The stuff that you described as choking the water surface is duckweed, There are several different kinds and also other similar looking small floating plants. That one looks like lemna minor. I wish I could get into that water and see if there were any aquatic plants unique to that spring ecosystem. Thanks for the astilbe pics, they are one of my favorite plants. I love eating paw paw as well. You should definitely snap pics of those when they are ready, many people are not aware of them.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info.
there were many varieties of plants in that water. aquatic plants are not something i have any familiarity with. because of the uniqueness of the area and the springs, it would be quite plausible that there are aquatic plants specific to these or this spring.

yeah pawpaws are great. my pops and i gathered them every year when we were in the midwest. if im in this part of the country when they start to ripen will most definitely get pix and an arm load. thanks again.
 
wow, what a beautiful place! i really need to start taking long distance vacations to places like this. thanks for sharing :)
 
Nice pics ... It's great to see people getting out.

Summer has arrived :thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top