Patricia's Missouri Various Day Hikes
Big Sugar Creek State Park
Directions:
[Southwest corner of Missouri.]
Hwy 71 to Pineville. [And it is very tricky from here -
there are no road signs indicating the way to the park.]
Exit at H (east), turn left briefly on Business 71 and
then right on to W. W weaves through town - look for 8th
street on the right in town (next to the school - if you
reach the library/field, you missed it). Turn on to 8th,
to over one-lane bridge and the road turns into Big Sugar
Creek Road. Take the narrow, paved road about 5 miles to
the park, with a small parking area on the left.
Note: it may look like on a map that you can continue east
on Big Sugar Creek Road and eventually reach a major road,
but the road eventually has a low river crossing and then
T-junctions with no road signs and is dirt - best just to
go back to Hwy 71.
Vault toilet.
Free.
Trails:
There is a large information sign with a map at the start.
The trail starts wide and then narrows. There are yellow
blazes marking the way. Taking a right at the T-junction,
the trail heads along a mostly dry creek, crossing it a
couple of times, with thin woods around and small hills
to the left and right. I turned around after 20 minutes
as I was unimpressed and still had more driving to do.
Trail Length:
3.1 miles, loop
Area:
Trees, small hills
When I did the hike:
Monday, October 31, 2011
Recommendation:
Nope. Not near anything, hard to find, and the portion
I did was blah enough that I turned around.
Piney Creek Wilderness
Directions:
[Southwest lower edge of Missouri, west of Branson.]
Rt 76 to Lake Rd 76-6 (about 20 miles from Cassville) -
there is a road sign for 76.6 on the left and FR2150 on
the right. Take the road for .7 miles to a turn
(unsigned) on the right [if you reach the Mark Twain NF
sign, you missed the turn]. Take the turn on to a gravel
road for a very short ways to the parking area and loop
around the (fenced) lookout tower.
Vault toilet.
Free.
Trails:
Note that there are various older trails and horse paths
(and bit of old wagon trails) in the area and it is
sometimes hard to figure out the correct way to go.
One end of the trail starts just as the road reaches the
parking area and the other end is at the far end of the
loop in the middle of a small grassy area to the right
of a picnic table with a horse hitch. There is an info
sign and maybe some paper map brochures in front of the
tower. Taking the trail at the start of the parking area
(there is a small "trail" sign), the one-person width
trail heads in the trees (no distance views). It can be
overgrown in spots, but it is still easy to tell where
the trail goes. Take a left at the first junction (there
is a silver diamond blaze with directions). Head down to
a small gully and up the other side. Take a right at the
next junction (with an illegible wooden sign). The trail
heads a top a ridge for a good ways. It is pretty with
the fall colors, mostly yellows with some reds and
yellow-pinks. The trail heads a mild down and then a
sharper down and then not as sharp of a down as it makes
its way to the valley floor. The trail reaches the creek
and a junction (small pile of stones, nice seat). For
the shorter loop, you would head right here and then take
the creek trail for about 1/2 mile to the the next right
junction. For the full loop, take a left and you can see
the trail continue across the creek. You may be able to
rock-hop across the creek, but it can be difficult and
challenging to do a dry crossing and you may have to do a
wet crossing. The trail is not as pretty along the creek
area. It's about 1/4 mile to the junction for the way up
the south side of the valley. Continue straight where
you see a trail branch to the left. The trail crosses
the creek again (again a difficult dry crossing). At the
3rd creek crossing, go to the left for a dry crossing,
but that way is more difficult going through brush to get
back to the trail. Immediately on the other side of the
creek is the right branch for the loop trail (the creek
trail continues straight for less than a mile to the edge
of a lake spur). Taking the right branch, after a short
bit alongside the creek, the trail starts to make its way
up to the ridge - a hard and steady up. The trail still
heads a steady up along the ridge and then is back to
mild with a slight down. And then still mild with a
slight up as it heads along the ridge. The wider trail
is a mixture of slight ups and slight downs as it heads
along the ridge for a good ways. Just past the metal
wilderness sign is a gravel road. Take a right on the
road for a short bit to a parking area just ahead (no
facilities) - this is the southern trailhead for the
Piney Creek Wilderness. The narrow trail continues to
the left, behind the far horse hitch (the trail is faint
for a bit, but more distinct later). The trail is mild
as it stays near the road for a bit before curving right,
away from the road. After a short down and up, the trail
heads a mild down along the ridge. Then it is a sharper
down for a while along a now gravelish trail. After a
switchback, the trail loses the gravel and is not as hard
of a down. The trail eventually reachs a gully and heads
mildly along the (hopefully) dry creek bed and crosses it
a number of times. And heads along the creek bed for a
good ways. The gully eventually reaches Piney Creek.
Where the trail T-junctions with the Piney Creek trail,
take a left and the trail goes through the dry creek bed
and then along side Piney Creek. Not too far ahead is a
right (small rock cairn) for the last portion of the loop
[and this is also where you would turn if you were doing
the half loop]. Take the right and immediately cross the
creek (should be able to rock hop). The wide, rocky
trail heads a steady up (not too hard) as it is an old
road. The up is not too long and then the trail is mild
(with some mild up) for a while and less rocky. At the
open area make sure you take the proper branch - looks
like there is a trail to the hard left, left (which is
the wrong way I went), and straight - go straight and the
trail takes a little zig-zag and then heads a sharp down
to the valley floor (so if you are not heading down, you
are on the wrong trail and will eventually end up near Rt
76). The trail crosses the dry creek and then heads a
rocky up (go right at the open area). The trail heads a
hard up for a bit. At the end of the rocky area, the
trail heads not as hard of an up. After the trail levels
out, it is mild the rest of the way back to the parking
area/tower.
Trail Length:
The loop is about 10 miles
Can also do a half loop for about 5 miles
Area:
Trees, hills, creek
When I did the hike:
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Recommendation:
It is nice, but confusing with the various branches.
Good place to see the fall colors and not crowded.
Devil's Backbone Wilderness
Directions:
[Southcentral lower edge of Missouri, east of Branson and
west of West Plains.]
From West Plains, take Rt 63 north to CC and take CC west
about 16 miles.
From the west, take 160 east to 181 east (just east of
Gainesville) and stay on 181 for a ways (it is a windy
road) to the T-junction with H. Turn left on H and go
for a couple of miles and turn right on to CC. Go for
about 5 miles (I think) and cross the Fork River.
The turn-in for the campground/day-use area is just east
of the river (on the south side of the road). About a
mile from the river is a right/south turn on to a small
dirt road and a short ways ahead the road ends at a
small loop and there is the signed trailhead for the
Devil's Backbone Trail/McGarr Ridge.
No facilities at the trailhead, vault toilets in the
camping area.
Free if parking at trailhead, $2 day-use for parking in
the camping area.
Trails:
I went to the area for a long hike, but the rain (not
wanting to hike on wet leaves with a sprained ankle)
limited me to the short nature trail loop (less than a
mile loop) to Blue Springs. For Blue Springs, go to the
campground area and take the road all the way to the
small parking area at the end. The trail starts in the
middle of the grassy area (to the left of the river).
Head along the trail, near the river, going by a small
rock face to a small pool with a natural spring on the
left edge (you can see the water flowing/bubbling up).
There is a rope on a tree and it is a small swim hole.
The trail heads a short, sharp up to the left to the
ridge, with a bench at the top. To the right (facing
away from the river) is a spur trail that hooks up with
the Ozark Trail. Go left to complete the nature loop.
The trail heads up the gully a short ways, crosses it,
and heads back and then goes along the small ridge
above the river (with a pretty view of the river as
the trail curves right) and eventually reaches the
parking area.
Note that some of the trails in the area can be a bit
overgrown.
Note that the Ozark Trail is a combo trail.
Trail Length:
Short to full day to multi-day. [Do a web-search for
Ozark Trail (McGarr Ridge/south area) and Devils
Backbone Wilderness for maps of the area.]
Area:
Trees, small mountains, river
When I did the hike:
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Recommendation:
Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and it rained
the two days I was there so I did not get to do my long
planned hike (Devil's Backbone trail-part of Ozark Trail
loop), but I'd like to go back sometime and try again.
The bit of the trail that I saw looked nice. Don't go
just for the Blue Springs.
Patricia Bender
pbender@eskimo.com
Not affiliated with or representing anyone besides myself