Always looking for a new natural area to visit, my wife and I drove down to Echo Bluff State Park yesterday. Located in southern Missouri, the Park stretches through the Sinking Creek Valley, a tributary of the Current River; the latter, renowned for its crystal-clear, spring-fed water and challenging rapids, is, itself, a secondary tributary of the White River, which enters the Mississippi in southeast Arkansas.
The Park, named for dolomite cliffs along Sinking Creek (see photo) is a popular destination for RV camping, float trips on the Current and for its rustic lodge. Trail loops lead through the forest above the Creek and offer views across the valley (especially in winter, we imagined).
While Echo Bluff State Park harbors scenic terrain, our trek across the varied landscape of the Ozark Plateau proved to be the highlight of our road trip. In my experience, the journey often outshines the destination.
