Missouri Ozarks - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 699

Beyond the bridge a path winds down to the turquoise pool formed by a dam on Alley
Spring.
8. Blue Spring
About 12 miles east of Eminence on Rte. 106, along the stretch of the Current River ap-
propriately known as Owls Bend, barred owls and screech owls do indeed perch on high
ledges. Here, at the end of a gravel road, in a rocky basin beneath a black-and-buff dolo-
mite cliff, you'll find the deep, dazzling waters of Blue Spring, shimmering like a liquid
sapphire.
Of Missouri's springs, the largest are in the Ozarks, and many bear simple names that
humbly describe their most obvious characteristics. The Missouri Ozarks comprise one of
thenation'sgreatestconcentrationsofsprings.Inastatethatpridesitselfonplainspeaking,
a spring in a round basin is called Round Spring and one whose waters are blue is dubbed
Blue Spring. But what a blue it is: pure, serene, and so clear it invites inspection. Gazing
down into its transparent depths, you take a moment to realize this is not a still pool: More
than 85 million gallons of rushing water surge to the surface daily, gushing from a hidden
source some 250 feet below and spilling into the creek. Nurtured by the crystalline waters,
carpet of watercress rings the spring's gravelly shore.
Did you know…
Upstream from Blue Spring is Owl's Bend, which once supported a mill that
produced gunpowder and ran a river ferry, the only way to cross the Current
River in this area until 1975.