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Montauk State Park

Montauk State Park near Salem, Missouri Aug 2020

1990 July 27 Montauk State Park, Missouri

The above video was taken by my Grandpa and his second wife Mary in 1990.

Montauk State Park is for trout fisherman or anglers! The trout season is open from March 1 through October 31 and a license is required.

If you love to visit Missouri State Parks to swim, this is not your place, although there are swimming places within driving distance. These areas are downstream and include Tan Vat (also called Inman Hollow Access), Baptist Access, and Cedargrove Campground. To drive to Tan Vat, leave the park marked as to Highway YY (which is actually quite a distance), which is found by turning right exiting the campground, which turns into a gravel road. Travel about one mile to where a concrete pad extends across a small creek (Inman Creek). Cross this "low water bridge," turn right onto a small gravel access road which in a short distance leads to the river access near the Tan Van "chute" and gravel bar. In the 19th century animal hides where processed into leather at this hole by soaking them in a "tan vat" filled with tannic acid from tree bark. Thereafter, they were submerged in the water basin known as "Tan Vat."

If you love hiking to pretty places, this park provides several easy trails as well, as the beautiful places the fisherman step into and the old mill.

We also hiked the Montauk Lake Trail which is only .75 a mile and was lovely. A third trail is Pine Ridge Trail which is 1.5 miles.

Montauk Springs is just beautiful and a nice easy .25 mile trail. There is also a cut off that goes over to the river. It is so awesome to be able to visit the place where the Current River begins. The water is a constant 57 degrees and about 43 million gallons of water bubbles up each day.

The camping area is nice and flat with showers and restrooms and cabins are also available for rent. This photo is from the bridge near the campground.

Visit the Ozark National Scenic Riverways Map and download it for you trip. The above image is a snippet of this map showing the Upper Current River places to visit. Not all of these places are in Dent County as some are in Shannon County, along with the Middle Current River areas.

 

There is a Montauk Natural Area owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation within the park.