Big Spring, Missouri

Posted by Rose.Sherry November 10, 2020

Big Spring, Missouri

November 8, 2020

We left Tennessee and drove to Missouri

Here is the Current River, our campground is up on the bluff on the right.

Since the river is much lower than the campground the river view is limited.

And here is the Current River in the opposite direction.

Seems a little low right now.

Our campsite, a pull-thru, Jim's favorite kind of site.

Yes, it is a little barren compared to the forest we were in last night.

November 9, 2020

It's time to head to a different National Park Service property

We are here to explore the

Ozark National Scenic Riverways

first stop Big Spring.

The water is surging up out of the ground.

". . .at an average daily flow of 286 million gallons of water, Big Spring is an awesome sight and a geologic wonder. Underground passages carry water from as far as 45 miles away to emerge at the spring. Studies have shown that the water is carrying a load of dissolved limestone equivalent to 70 tons a day! This dissolved rock gives the spring its color and is also carving out a huge conduit underground. Should the spring ever go dry, a huge cave will be the result."

Oh, yes this is one that you need to see in motion

and to hear the power of the water.

You can walk around behind the spring

the only side you can't approach it from is the water.

"The Big Spring is sometimes called America's biggest spring. In reality there are three contenders for that title: Big Spring, Idaho's Snake River Spring Complex and Florida's Silver Spring. Since the flow from springs varies with local rainfall, any of these three might be biggest on any given day depending on the weather in Missouri, Idaho and Florida! The truth is they are all about the same size."

The rock wall behind has cave like openings,

giving evidence that perhaps the water used to flow there.

Given the opportunity of course we walked all around it.

The color was an aquamarine, and it was very clear.

There is even a mini spring off to the side

It was also moving fast but nothing like the Big Spring.

We marveled at the Big Spring and then hit the trails

which gave us a view from up on the top of the ridge.

The leaves here were mostly on the ground

the upside being the view was not blocked by them.

Jim up on the trail with a peek at the Current River in the distance.

Here you can see the run off from the Big Spring

with its aquamarine coloring.

The rocky walls along the trail down by the river.

With slippery leaves, rocks, and uphill climbing

I am glad I wore my duct taped boots

which held up pretty well today.

Happy feet, happy me.

All springs are not this powerful.

We stopped by Watercress Spring in

Mark Twain National Forest as well today.

The water is clear, and there are some bubbles

coming up to show it is a spring

but the flow isn't strong enough to move

these fallen leaves.

Clearly, Big Spring is more awe inspiring.

November 10, 2020

Today we headed out to Rocky Falls.

"The reddish-brown rock you see here is rhyolite porphyry. It formed as molten rock deep within the earth and flowed onto the surface about 1.5 billion years ago. Since the rhyolite is harder, the stream tends to stay within whatever cracks that it finds, deepening them only a little by erosion. Thus a“shut in” is formed where the harder rock has “shut in” the stream. Farther downstream, past the constricting rhyolite, the stream valley widens once again. This allows the stream to expand into a pool."

The volume is not overwhelming but

the setting is so pretty for this wide falls.

Once again the water was crystal clear.

We were able to climb to the right side of the falls

but the landscape did not allow for much of an overview from above.

Side view after climbing up a little.

And a video from up top so you can hear the falls.

The plan had been to hike to the Klepzig mill near here,

but we could not find the trailhead.

So Jim did some planning on the fly

and we switched our plans to drive to Alley Spring instead.

Oh, what a place, I can see why one would settle here.

81 million gallons of water each day flow from this spring.

A little history from the park sign.

Alley Spring seemed like a gentle pool. The pool is 32 feet deep.

It was difficult to see where the water was coming from,

unlike Big Spring the other day which

spilled out with a vengeance.

However, the flow from the spring was evident.

This Spring was spilling out in 3 separate spots,

here on the far right straight from the spring.

on the far left it runs through the mill's gates

and then a little left of center it spills out as well.

Here you can see all 3 outlets for Alley Spring

and that is how 3.375 million gallons of water

flow out every hour.

We loved it all. I may just need to live by a spring someday.

I asked a question in with my favorite geologist, Caroline,

to find out if an Ancient Sea created these tunnel like caves

in the rocky walls around the spring.

"Oh I think absolutely.

It looks like all that rock is limestone, which is typical for forming springs, just like it's also most likely to form caves - it dissolves easier than other rock types. Actually, all that dissolved limestone is probably giving the spring water that blue color (from NPS website: " Studies have shown that the water is carrying a load of dissolved limestone equivalent to 70 tons a day!"). Doing a quick google, it looks like these springs are part of an extensive karst system in the Ozarks - so lots of water moving around in underground caverns that locally empty out into above ground springs like this one. I would assume the limestone bluffs surrounding the spring were once the underground part of the system! The spring probably has been eating away at the rock for millions of years and the springs' water level has evolved over time with the groundwater levels driven by the surrounding topography. Alternatively yet related visual explanation - look at where the spring is labelled here!"