Missouri Parks and Outdoor Spaces

5/21/16

Roubidoux Springs Laughlin Park Waynesville MO
We had never visited this spring in Waynesville before. It ranked as #16 of Missouri springs and is a second magnitude freshwater spring with a daily flow of 37 million gallons. The spring discharges from the base of a rock ledge that has been capped by a large concrete wall, built to hold the road that passes over the spring. Spring water flows a very short distance before adding its waters to the Roubidoux Creek. A city park with trails and a board walk is around the spring.  This was a stop on the Trail of Tears and there are several informational signs about the Trail of Tears. The large concrete wall detracted from the beauty of the area but was interesting to visit with the spring visible bubbling up from below the ledge. We parked at the first parking area and walked along the creek to the spring. There were several people here. The cave is a scuba diving site for certified cave divers but we didn't see any divers today. We spent about 20 minutes and walked 1/2 mile.

Meramec State Park  670 Fisher Cave Drive, Sullivan, MO 63080
This is another Missouri State Park we have never visited. It covers nearly 7,000 acres along the Meramec River and is about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis According to the website, the park was acquired by the state in 1927, then saw active development by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1933 and 1935. At that time, trails were laid out and numerous buildings constructed including a dining hall, recreation hall, concession building, and shelters.^[6] Three surviving CCC-era structures were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985: the Meramec State Park Lookout House/Observation Tower,^[7] the Meramec State Park Pump House,^[8] and the Meramec State Park Shelter House.^[9] In 1991, the Meramec State Park Beach Area Historic District was also added to the list.^[10]The park has diverse ecosystems such as hardwood forests and glades. There are over 40 caves located throughout the park, the geology of which is a mixture of limestone and dolomite. The most famous is Fisher Cave, located near the campgrounds.
We were actually a little disappointed in this park. We enjoyed some of the historic buildings but the two trails we hiked were not pretty at all. The River Trail was a narrow, muddy trail that led through the woods with trees across the trail and so overgrown that you had to push through high grass. The trail did not travel along the river, rather led straight down to it and there was no view to speak of. We also traveled part of the Bluff View trail which was slightly better. The river was muddy and not very picturesque and with views of bluffs in a few places. We did not see the ironworks or the beach. There were a lot of people camping and a few people fishing. We picnicked here for lunch, drove through the park and looked at the river and hiked on two trails. We spent about  1 1/2 hours here total and spent 30 minutes hiking 1 mile. I'm sure we missed some things, but are not especially eager to go back.