Maramec Spring Park / Clark’s Hill
Road Trip from Mark Twain National Forest, MO to Iowa | Maramec Spring Park | Clark’s Hill/Norton State Historic Site | Camping in Prairie Hills and Union Ridge Conservation Areas | November 2024
Today was the start of Thanksgiving week, and it was time for us to begin our drive back to Iowa. We planned a new route that would get us several new counties, filling in some gaps in Eastern and Northern Missouri. After packing up, we left Berryman Campground and began our drive heading West on MO-8.
Our first stop for the day was about 45 minutes into the drive at Maramec Spring Park, right off MO-8. We mostly picked it because it was along our way, and when we arrived we did some quick research to make sure we didn’t owe an entrance fee and Charlotte could walk around. It looked like there are only fees if you’re fishing here, and Charlotte was allowed on the trail, so we set off on a little loop hike, following the sidewalk around the fish sanctuary.
It ended up being a neat little place to enjoy our morning walk. The area is centered on a natural spring that was used to power an iron works (one of the first West of the Mississippi), and when that closed in the late 19th century the state turned it into a Trout Hatchery. The fish sanctuary was packed with fish, the water was a bright shade of turquoise, and the springs were especially interesting, nothing like we had expected, and very similar to Kitch-iti-kipi in Michigan. We made our way around a rocky outcropping, passed by some waterfalls, and walked over a bridge, and soon we were back at the van. From here, it looked like there was a historic road that we could drive that would take us to an overlook of the iron mine and lead us back to the highway, but we were only half right about that. It was indeed historic with some info boards, remains of houses, and an overlook of a mine along the way, but it was a little rough and it did not lead back to MO-8, so instead we had to drive back through the park and leave through the main entrance.
After that, we had a longer drive heading North. As we approached Jefferson City, we stopped for another hike down river from the city on a trail in Clarks Hill/Norton State Historic Site. It was warm and sunny outside, so we first took time to have a little picnic lunch at the trailhead before beginning our walk. The trail was about a mile long, going up to a bluff over the Missouri River and following a ridge, and we made it most of the way before Charlotte decided we were done walking for the day. This site was used by the Lewis and Clark expedition who camped at the base of the hill in June of 1804. At that time the confluence of the Osage and Missouri rivers was right at the base, and the expedition stayed several nights to take measurements and record the latitude and longitude. Capt. Clark ascended the hill now bearing his name and remarked in his journal of several burial mounds that are still present.
Unfortunately for us, the hill is now very wooded and the overlook of the confluence is a bit disappointing considering that the confluence has moved over 6 miles to the East. But it’s always fun stopping at places the Lewis and Clark expedition did.
Once we were done with our walk, it was time to find a place to camp for the night. We had a conservation area in mind just West of Jefferson City, so we followed 179 North along the Missouri River. Marion Bottom Conservation Area is a large area right off the highway, and from our map we could see two potential areas within the area where we could park overnight: one was a boat launch area, the other a parking lot. We drove by the boat launch one and decided to keep going to the other one since this one was right on the side of the highway, and we needed a place where we felt comfortable staying later into the morning because Curtis had a meeting. We navigated to the other lot off of dirt roads, and found it completely full of trucks from people hunting in this area. There was really no privacy and it was pretty muddy and trashy, so we decided to go back and give the fishing area another try.
When we made it back to the boat launch lot, we found a spot sort of out of the way of the main parking lot and started to debate again if we actually wanted to stay here. It wasn’t very quiet or private, but at least being on the river, it was a bit more scenic. Then a truck pulled up right behind where we were parked, and the guy driving it shut off the vehicle and proceeded to make a phone call (loudly, with his window open so it was impossible not to hear him). His call literally started off with “Hey, I just got out of prison!” If I had been alone, I would have immediately left without looking back, but since it was the two of us we were a bit more casual about weighing our options. I checked iOverlander, and saw another conservation area was about a half hour away and not too far off our route, so we made up our minds to leave and check that place out.
The next spot, Prairie Home Conservation Area, was a much better spot for us. We found an empty lot where we could camp overnight legally, and were all alone there for the night. There was much more room for Charlotte to wander around, and we enjoyed a quiet night and slow morning the next day while Curtis attended his meeting.
Once his meeting was over, we got on the road for a longer drive North. We didn’t end up making any stops since we had gotten a late start, but we got several new counties along the drive. Tonight’s camping spot was Union Ridge Conservation Area, a few miles East of our route. Here we found another lot where we were alone for the evening. To make up for her lack of walks, Charlotte proceeded to take Curtis on multiple mile long walks down the gravel road to the highway and back, and it was very difficult to convince her to settle down in the van once the sun had set.
It was quite cold that night, so we ran the heater several times. Since our only plan the next day was to drive back to my parent’s house, we did only what was necessary in order to get the van ready to drive, in order to minimize time spent in the cold. And after a 3 hour drive, we arrived at our final destination, more thankful than ever to be sleeping in a warm house that night!
