DAY-HIKING OPPORTUNITIES

Cave Spring Walk

(Although still under construction, this trail is nearing completion.)

Along the upper Current River are two important features which are not only individually spectacular, but geologically related, and which together portray the origins of cave development in Missouri. Cave Spring, with its river entrance, issues approximately 32 million gallons of water a day into the Current River. The mouth of this spring lies just within the entrance to the cave. Devil’s Well is an impressive sinkhole entrance where visitors can descend some 100 feet above a large underground reservoir. This reservoir of water feeds Cave Spring more than a mile away.

This is perhaps the best place in the Ozarks to witness altogether an Ozark spring supply system and the ongoing development of a cave, the Cave Spring cave system. The two-mile long trail linking the two sites is nearing completion and is a joint project of Pioneer Forest and the National Park Service. Once completed the trail can be accessed at Devil’s Well, located in Shannon County just three miles west of the Highway 19 and Route KK. Signs direct visitors to the parking area for Devil’s Well and from there to the walking trail.

Virgin Pine Walk

This walk is located at the interpretive drive, just south of Round Spring on Highway 19, about 25 miles south of Salem. The forest you will see here is an original; it is one of the oldest "pineries," or natural old-growth pine forests in Missouri. Many of the trees along the walk exceed 30 inches in diameter. Data from several of the large pines indicate the average date of germination for these trees occurred sometime around the year 1791. By Missouri standards, the age and tree sizes here are impressive, providing Missourians with an example of our state’s forestland as it once was. Descriptive brochures are available on site.