Looking for a new natural area to explore, my wife discovered Carrington Pits Recreation Area in the Mark Twain National Forest, southwest of Fulton, Missouri. Carrington was a coal mining community that was destroyed by a tornado in the late 1920s. In honor of that town, Carrington Pits Recreation Area was established by the Forest Service, centered on a chain of lakes and ponds that occupy the old mining pits.
After zigzagging across cattle country on graveled roads, we arrived at a small pullout that was once the entry point for the site. From there, an overgrown jeep road leads through the forest; a one mile hike along that path brought us to the secluded lakes, where we spooked small flocks of wood ducks as we approached. Remnants of the Recreation Area, which was initially established in the 1930s, included weathered and splintered fishing decks, several picnic tables and an abandoned toilet hut. Clearly, the site has not been utilized (at least in any official capacity) for quite some time.
Nevertheless, it was a peaceful excursion into the past, serenaded by forest birds and greeted by swaths of wildflowers. Though I tend to root for Nature and her power of reclamation, it was sad to see that this tranquil spot, once enjoyed by our fellow humans, has likely been a victim of fiscal prioritization.
