My Corner Online
Roaring River State Park
Roaring River State Park, August 16, 2022
Roaring River State Park is near Cassville, Missouri in Barry County in the Southwest corner of Missouri. It is close enough to take day trips to Eureka Springs, Table Rock Lake, and Branson. August 16, 2022
Roaring River State Park, July 25, 1990
This is a video made by Grandpa and his second wife. The Roaring River part begins at minute 5.31.
Here are two poems I wrote while sitting at the campground at Roaring River State Park: Above and Below Put Together and My Soul Needs You.
Roaring River it seems to me gets its name because of all of the many man made places in the river to create cascading water over rocks with that ever pleasant sound of rushing water.
They are every so often along the water within sight distance of each other. There are more of these throughout the park than I could easily count! This is the area across from the camping area where we pitched our tent. This is part of the Fire Tower trail.
The water has a fabulously calming color!
We hiked the Springhouse Trail and this is a photo of the spring house which was used back in the day to keep food cool with the natural cool air coming up from the spring. The water was not flowing much when we were there.
We also visited the lengthy River Trail and even sat down for a while and relaxed. It is as if each fisherman claims a space between rock sections as his own for a little while and then when he leaves another comes in. There is an unspoken respect for keeping space from each other. I have decided I like camping with fisherman because they are so quiet. I believe this is the view as you drive across the river along the River Trial.
Then there is this area of the park which is breathtaking. See the fish in this photo? You can feed quarters in a machine to get fish food which is a lot of fun. This is the area where you can walk along the fish hatcheries. To the left are the smaller fish and as they grow they move from section to section until they are set free to go downstream to be victims of the fisherman. Here in the distance is the Deer Leap Trail which takes you to the entrance of the cave where the spring water begins. Watch the video above to get the full effect of this area. You almost have to visit it to really enjoy it.
The pond from the initial spring water is to the right and some of the fish hatchery sections are to the left.
Breathtaking is the best word I can find to describe it.
I enjoyed the gently breeze on a super hot day because it made sparkling white ripples on the water.
This is the view as you get near the entrance of the cave.
As you get closer, you have no idea of the amazing view that is going to hit you just steps beyond.
Wowser! Look at that blue water! Just amazing! This is where the spring water comes to the surface. However, if you watch the video, you will see the graphic on the wall and just how deep the original source of the spring. Divers have adventured down there and there is actually a cathedral second area just beyond the opening you see.
The water changes color slightly, as it should, based on the sun and the clouds. I zoomed in here a bit so you could see the water dripping from the rocks above. It is really a beautiful sound.
Here we are returning to where we started looking the other direction. With the teal and the green and the mountain, your eye cannot soak it up enough. Continue traveling all the way to the end and you turn left in this photo to walk over the water.
As you walk over the water, look down the other side and you will see one of the two spillways from above. A little further down and you will see another spillway from above.
Next you arrive at the grand staircase which is so fun to walk down!
Here you can see both spillways.
It is fun to walk right in front of the spillway and now THIS is a roar of a river for sure!
Here is looking onto the second spillway which is actually the one that you cross like a bridge.
Here are the two spillways looking at them from the other side after you walk through.
This whole park is an adventure to explore and I am sure we did not get to see as much of it as we could have. It is really a special place for sure.
This graphic shows the location of Roaring River State Park in the corner of Southwest Missouri to our home in Cape Girardeau Missouri in Southeast Missouri. It is a bit of a distance. We have been here at least twice now where it has rained hard at home but we missed the entire weather event! People at work thought we had a messed up vacation because it had rained all day but we avoided the whole thing sitting in this pocket on the other side of the state.
I cannot find my photos from the first time we visited this park. I did not use my big camera because I just knew I already had photos. It disappoints me that I did not get better photos.