OK, I admit it. When I was a kid I was kind of an idiot. My Dad would take me to the Badlands of South Dakota, an epic National treasure, and I wasn't that into it. The pictures in this mostly photo post were taken on 2 separate trips in the summer. The Badlands is a magical place - lots of wildlife, hiking, camping, great lookouts, and more.

   On our second trip we got a little wet from a giant storm - I would imagine flash floods are very possible here since the ground is super solid. Luckily we were fine as we got our camp on at the Cedar Pass Campground.

   The park's main visitors center is the Ben Reifel Visitor Center - it has a nice museum, restaurant, lodge, & gift store.

The Badlands is a car's park - a curvy road cuts through the awesome rock formations with several lookouts along the way. Driving the whole thing and stopping every now and then takes time - make sure to leave enough!

   We took a quick hike - Saddle Pass Trail - a great/steep-at-the-beginning hike taking you deeper into the park.

   I think the pictures speak for themselves - this place is amazing! But, as amazing as tomorrow's post from Wall Drug?
     ~Paul, Micah, Dad, Sis, Susan

   This is what I'm talking about - paddling the Current River located in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri. A warm weather summer float surrounded by forest, cruising the river just downriver from Montauk State Park. It was so good we floated it twice in one week, both times from Cedargrove to Akers Ferry - about 10 miles.

   Although our Innova kayaks could have made the paddle no problem, we decided to make it easy and use kayaks from a local rental - Jadwin Canoe Rentals. They dropped us off at a popular launch site (below), Cedargrove.

   The paddle was shallow at times, but really manageable as the river here is class I/II. Jadwin picked us up and the end and brought us back to our vehicles and their general store packed with fishing gear, gifts, river essentials, and snacks & beverages. There is also a store close to the ferry at Akers.

  After our paddle we couldn't help but head upstream (via car) to the headwaters of the Current River at Montauk Springs. Smaller yet similar to Maramec, this spring pumps out over 50 million gallons of water a day and feeds the very same river we just spent time paddling.

   We launched on William E. Towell Lake (known locally as Little Prairie Lake) for one last Ozarks paddle. Small pocket-lakes exist like this one all over the state. It's easy to get a quick paddle in when you need one!

   We could spend a month in Missouri alone, paddling the entire Current River and exploring lake after lake…but alas, we must push on toward South Dakota! I would seriously love to come back here with our kayaks and paddle the entire Current - camping riverside is free in the entire park - it would be a pretty cheap adventure!
   ~Paul, Sis, Dad, Susan

Links:
Jadwin Canoe Rental
Ozark National Scenic Riverways Map
Map to Jadwins
Map to William E Towell Lake
Our entire Road Trip Route

   Well, our road trip has made it all the way to my homeland of Missouri! In this post we visit the breathtaking Maramec Spring. It's a dark blue fresh water spring, pushing out an average daily flow of 96 million gallons of water. It's private property, owned by the James Foundation (there's a small admission fee), and includes a museum, the spring, historic iron works, an old cemetery, camping sites, great forest lookouts, picnic areas, and opportunities to fish and hike.

   The water is no-joke that blue. We visited in a little of a dry spell and the water was crystal clear. I researched pictures of the place in rainier times when the water is really pumping - the spring looks like a giant jacuzzi! A foundation operated trout farm runs adjacent to the river - look closely at the picture below to see the fish!

   The cool water, ore, and woods nearby made this place an ideal spot for pioneer iron works. Maramec iron production was carried on between 1829 & 1876, fueled in part by the need for iron during the Civil War. As you walk around the corner from the museum & spring you'll find the iron work ruins.

   We jumped in the car and drove a loop around the park - checking out the slightly creepy pioneer cemetery (a lot of kid graves), the mine, and some great lookouts of the forested grounds. When you explore this place it's hard not to think about the natives that called this area of the Ozarks home for thousands of years. 
   The story is a common one around here - pioneers arrived in the 1800s and trashed thousands of years of tradition and land management in just a few short years. Over-hunting, deforestation, & soil degradation meant the streams were clogged, dried up, and the wildlife gone.  Efforts of communities, land owners, and private land trusts from the 1930s onward has helped establish the Ozarks and Maramec Spring we know and enjoy today:)

   What an amazing place!!! If you're even remotely close to the area, check it out!

   ~Paul, Dad, Susan, Sis   ETC

Links:
Maramec Spring
Our Road Trip Route

   Road Trip month continues! As we leave Utah in our wake, we are headed across the entire state of Nebraska (long drive) and into Missouri. Next week we'll be posting from lakes, rivers, forests, & farms in the show-me state! Today: just a little photo preview of what's to come! 

   The stuffed elk below is the coolest thing in the entire state of Nebraska.

   Tune in next week for all of the Missouri goods!
~Paul, Micah, Dad   ETC