My Corner Online
Highway 79, Pike and Lincoln Counties, Missouri
On December 30, 2024, we visited Clarksville, Missouri, to see the Eagles and then we traveled north and south of the city visiting places as we came to them. It was a great day adventuring! I decided to put them all together on one website page and one video. All of these places listed first are northern are in Pike County, Missouri, and those southern are in Lincoln County, Missouri.
Silo River Access is just above Clarksville, Missouri, in Pike County, Missouri, and has primitive camping right on the Mississippi River. We loved this place and want to come back to camp here. The view of the river is great. It is managed by the US Army Corp of Engineers. O’Neil Creek runs along one side of the campground. Train tracks are nearby, so an occasionally train is heard.
The camping spaces are paved!
Several camping spaces are right next to the Mississippi River.
We popped up our camper tent just for a photo op and that was fun. We are imagining coming back and camping when it is warmer.
We drove up further north to Louisiana, Missouri (Pike County) and visited their downtown on the river. We did drive across the bridge and back. We saw there was a place to visit on the other side in Illinois, but did not take time this trip to check it out.
We drove around their quaint town. We drove a little more north thinking we would visit the Lock and Dam No. 22 up there, but decided it was a bit too far to fit in this trip and turned around. We drove back to Clarksville where we stopped for the third time and this time I had a great encounter and moments with an Eagle. Then we continued south and stopped at every area along Highway 79 that had a sign guiding us.
We found an old gas station beside the road and stopped to take a photo of it. Across the street were tons of vultures on the roadside! We had to stop and observe them as well. We discovered what looked like a dead deer they were eating. They were even sitting on top of a building and I was thinking how I would not want them on my house. A short distance down the road was an antique store and we stopped impromptu and went in to walk around. It was very large! I had found one item to buy, but they would not sell it to me, and I found another item to buy, but when we tried to check out, we were told to wait for a very long time and gave up, set the item down, and left.
Next we came to the first section of BK Leach Conservation Area (Lincoln County) and I believe it was called the Bittern Basin area. I found the map hard to follow, but we drove around.
We found a parking area with this map that did not help us too much.
Next to the parking area was this trail which we might have adventured down if the day was nicer or we had more time, but for the most part, we were not impressed. It is an area for hunters. It was down Highway P and was a nice country drive.
We went on down the road and visited the Prairie Sough Conservation Area and the Hamburg Ferry Access, listed below. Then we had lunch in Elsberry (see below). Later we found another sign to another section of the BK Leach Conservation Area (see below).
We drove on down Highway P and found the sign for Prairie Slough Conservation Area near Elsberry, Missouri. I just liked the name of the town of Elsberry. Prairie Slough is actually in Lincoln County, but on down the road to the Hamburg River Access we were back in
It was a nice drive that came to a bathroom area and a trail that we could have walked on if it were a warmer day.
It was confusing as over a hill that seemed to go to no where and drop right off into nowhere straight into water, and then after we went to the top of the hill, it took a sharp turn to the left. It was rather intimidating, but it lead to a parking area with assess to a chute of the Mississippi River aka Prairie Slough. We saw two Eagles flying and that was an exciting surprise! The did fly off and we did not see them again.
On down Highway P we tried to find the road that went to the other side of the Prairie Slough. It was fun to explore and adventure. We found Deer Slough and Mud Slough. Then we found a really cool area with houses on stilts that looked like they had been flooded out. Then we found the Westport Chute of the Mississippi River. The parking lot was muddy and intimidating like we might get stuck. Here we were looking at deserted houses on stilts and a difficult road, and here came an Amazon Prime van for a delivery! We had to laugh at that. Then we discovered the road became a private road with some much nicer homes down a peninsula. It must be a special spot for rich folks to hide out and vacation! You never know what you might find when you are adventuring.
The Hamburg River Access is in Pike County. Highway P starts out in Lincoln County and at the end of the road, it goes back into Pike County.
The City of Hamburg is actually across the Mississippi River in Illinois! The sign revealed that this is actually Hamburg Ferry Access, but there was no ferry in site, so we decided that it must be a historic site for a now non-existing ferry. We saw a man and a young child walk down along the river with fishing poles and thought that there must be a walking area that way.
We went back to Elsberry and found a Rachel's Restaurant and thought we would try it out. Often these small po-dunk off-the-side-of-a-country-road restaurants are the best. Unfortunately, we did not enjoy are food much. They all cannot be winners. The ingredients seemed cheap and not good quality. It seemed dirty to us as well. Our waitress was kind though.
Much further down Highway 79 we found another sign to another section of the BK Leach Conservation Area. We were still very confused on the map of this conservation area and where we were on the map. Maybe if I spent more time studying it I could figure it out.
It was a nice country drive down the lengthy road. Otherwise it was a rather boring part of our adventures.
We came to the end of the road and there was a parking lot! Ah! Hubby got out and walked up the hill and this is the view looking back at me in the truck. He could see the Mississippi River from atop the hill (as in the video).
However, on the return drive back to Highway 79 we encountered a most memorable moment! We had wide open views and to my left was sun and to my right was dark rain clouds, and they were colliding right in front of me! It is one of those moments you have to come across just because you are out and about, but could never find on your own. Then the road turned to the right and the sun was behind us as if it was illuminating my truck and the dark clouds were in front of us, again colliding.
A slight rain started and put drops on my windshield. I decided to stop right at this tree to frame my photo opportunity. It was such a fabulous moment and so hard to describe. It is in our heads though!
When we got to the end of the conservation road, there was a rainbow in the sky! It was huge! What a fun moment for us!
Next we came upon the Foley River Access which is maintained by the US Army Corp of Engineers, unlike the above Hamburg Access which is maintained by the Missouri Conservation Department.
The drive to the access was intimidating as it looked to have been wiped out by flooding in the past. There was one lone newer looking house that did not look to be damaged and I was imagining living here with the threat of rising waters.
In the parking area of the Foley Access it was a beautiful view of the river.
We later learned when we got to Lock and Dam No. 25 (see below) that there is a trail all the way from Lock and Dam No. 25 to the Foley Access! That is super cool. I wonder where the trail comes out here at this access.
Our final place to visit, as we were running out of daylight, was Lock and Dam No. 25 which is in Lincoln County, Missouri.
From the parking lot we could see a sunset behind us.
We found that there was a walking and biking trail that was from here all the way to the Foley Access and that was cool. With more time, we might have taken a walk.
It seemed to me that the public use area was on the wrong side of the lock and dam as down river from the lock and dam is where the Eagles would be fishing.