Where on earth is the largest concentration of first-magnitude springs? (Springs that have a daily flow of over 65 million gallons of water!)
Round Spring, Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Water flows through the limestone of southeast Missouri creating chambers and caves and emerging as springs. Round Springs is a collapsed cave with 55 feet of water coming up. The water then empties out below, and flows into the nearby Current River.
Round Spring
Round Spring was a Missouri State Park beginning in 1924. Decades later, plans developed to dam the Current and its tributary the Jack Fork River. Local residents and conservationists fought these efforts which led in 1964 to Congress establishing the first protected river park—Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Missouri donated three state parks—Round Spring, Alley, and Big Spring. Aptly named, Big Spring is one of the largest in the world with an average daily flow of 286 million gallons, enough to fill a baseball stadium in a day.
Big Spring, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri
After the water flows through the dolomite dissolving minerals, it emerges in a spectacular blue-green color. Big Spring erupts here and several feet nearby.
Big Spring
Native peoples lived by these springs for thousands of years. When Scots-Irish and other settlers came in the 19th century, they often built mills next to the springs taking advantage of the consistent waterflow. A new mill was built in 1893 in the community of Alley.
Alley Mill
All the springs above are short walks from parking areas. A rewarding hike takes you to a spring emerging out of a cave and flowing directly into the Current River. Chance and I saw no one on the hike, but we heard voices as we got to river. It was great fortune as a photographer to have a red canoe paddle up to the cave just as we arrived. Can you spot Chance?
Cave Spring
We’ll end with a view from inside the cave.
Cave Spring, Ozark National Scenic Riverway