Our next stop in the Ozark NSR was Alley Springs. We enjoyed
this site allot more than Big Springs. While the camp site had a bit more
shade, the surrounding area seemed a bit more secluded. We wish we could have stayed at least one
more day to take advantage of a trip down the river, but that will have to wait
for another time.
Like many sites in
the Ozark NSR, this site too has a spring. This spring however has an addition
of a Mill from the 1800's. It is also a paleo Indian site. With 81 million gallons
of water flowing through this spring it makes perfect sense to build a mill on the site. The old
mill is no longer in use but it still stands and you can tour the mill and the
surrounding pond. If you are really up
to it you can take the 1.5 hike, which we did, once again early morning is the
best time to do this sort of thing in the summer. Bring plenty of water as you
will need it. The views of the mill and pond are really nice from this hike.
If you time it
right, after your hike go to the visitor center not too far from the mill. They
sell nice cold Sioux City Sarsaparilla. After that hike I can tell you it went
down real nice. If you are rock hound like us you will see nice examples of
chert, pockets of druzzy quartz and inter layered stromatolites.
Alley Springs
Alley Springs Mill
View of Springs & Mill from above on trail
Nice cold refreshing drinks after hike
.
No comments:
Post a Comment