Deep Blue

After squeezing through Coot Chute and rounding Owl’s Bend, the Current River joins the Ozark Trail for about five miles. Along that stretch, many floaters miss the stunning blue water of Blue Spring, even though it’s only a quarter mile … Read More

There’s a reason it’s called Blue Spring.

Many floaters miss the stunning blue water of Blue Spring, even though it’s only a quarter mile from the Current River, an easy hike beside the spring’s rushing stream. The water’s vivid color comes from dissolved limestone suspended in this … Read More

Many Springs. One Pole.

Been through hundreds of small towns, none smaller than Many Springs, on Highway 160, so small that the city limit signs are on the same pole, back-to-back.

Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Welch Spring

Upriver from Akers Ferry, which connects the wilderness north of the Current River to the wilderness on the south, Welch Spring is home to an abandoned country hospital. Nearly a century ago, a physician built a stone sanitarium at the … Read More

Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Round Spring

Highway 19 crosses the Current at Round Spring, another wonder to the eyes, but also a wonder down under. That’s because geologists believe the spring crosses under the Current before it empties into the river. Just north, two towns named … Read More

Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Blue Spring

Most of these half million floaters miss Blue Spring, even though it’s only a quarter mile from the Current, an easy hike beside the spring’s gushing stream. Called Spring of the Summer Sky by native inhabitants, the water charges from … Read More

The Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Rocky Falls

Most of the creeks that feed these rivers emanate from springs in the steep hills. Many must make a special effort to bust through barriers to reach the bigger streams. One such robust creek flows over Rocky Falls, and when … Read More

The Wild Horses of Shannon County

Downstream a bit, a feud has brewed for decades. At the heart of the fights are horses along the Jacks Fork and Current rivers. Back during the Great Depression, a farmer turned his herd of 30 or so horses loose … Read More

Seven Wonders of Shannon County: Alley Spring

Some folks claim that Alley Spring Mill is the most photographed spot in Missouri. The two story gristmill sits astride this emerging underground discharge of 81 million gallons per day, where Alley Spring Branch flows a half mile to add … Read More