Missouri’s Ozark Nationwide Scenic Riverways was the primary nationwide park space within the U.S. particularly created to guard a river system, so it is no shock that its waterways—The Present and Jacks Fork Rivers—are one thing particular. Spring-fed, chilly, and clear, they appeal to paddlers, swimmers, and anglers from throughout. However Blue Spring, tucked simply off the Present River, by some means manages to outshine even the park’s most celebrated pure wonders.
To not be confused with the smaller Blue Spring on the Jacks Fork River, that is the one lengthy revered for hundreds of years. Indigenous peoples known as it “Spring of the Summer season Sky,” and it is easy to see why. Its floor glow with an intense, virtually surreal shade of blue so vivid it appears borrowed from the sky itself. (Some can solely describe the colour as “Caribbean blue” and parallels have been drawn to The Bahamas’ Blue Holes.)
However the colour is not only for present. Blue Spring is over 310 toes deep, making it one of many deepest springs in the US. To visualise that, think about decreasing the Statue of Liberty into its depths—Woman Liberty’s torch would nonetheless be 5 toes underwater. The placing hue and readability are as a result of that excessive depth and the purity of its spring-fed water, drawing photographers, nature lovers, and various speechless guests.
Blue Spring is accessed through a quiet, 0.25-mile path (0.5 miles roundtrip), which is lined with wildflowers in spring and vivid foliage within the fall. For an extended trek, hikers can attain it from the Powder Mill Campground, about 3 miles roundtrip.
You will need to word: swimming and wading in Blue Spring are strictly prohibited to assist protect its fragile ecosystem. Fortunately, there are many different swimming spots inside Ozark Nationwide Scenic Riverways. A neighborhood favourite is Rocky Falls, the place a cascading waterfall flows right into a pure swimming gap that ranks among the many state’s finest. It’s a significantly widespread place to be in spring and summer season.
Past clearwater rivers and swimming holes, the park has over 300 documented caves, together with the Spherical Spring Cave, which could be explored on ranger-led excursions. Close by is the spring that offers it its title: Spherical Spring, an almost excellent turquoise pool formed like a circle.
Blue Spring is positioned lower than half-hour from each Ellington and Eminence, Missouri, simply off Route 106. Rocky Falls is about half-hour south of Blue Spring, whereas the Spherical Spring and its cave lie roughly 45 minutes to the northeast.
Entrance to Ozark Nationwide Scenic Riverways is free year-round, making it an accessible vacation spot for anybody in search of the wild fantastic thing about one in every of Missouri’s most exceptional waterways.