In 1964, the United States Congress created the Ozark National Scenic Riverways to protect over 130 miles of the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers here in southeastern Missouri. Administered by our National Parks Service, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways furnishes you with a unique opportunity to see what the Ozark wilderness first looked like to early pioneers such as Daniel Boone.

The Current River is the most spring fed of all the Ozarks Rivers and can be floated year round. There are several caves and large springs on the Current River with excellent gravel bars for overnight floaters. If you do plan on camping along the river, we recommend carrying your canoes to a high place or the upper side of your campsite to avoid unnecessary loss of your canoes in any event of heavy rain fall.

For those taking gear along with them in the canoes, we recommend putting light items, billfolds, cameras and other valuables you do not want to get wet in a strong waterproof bag and tieing it to the canoe. You should make sure the bag is tied at all times while not in use.

The Current is an easy to medium river. It is classified as a Class I, occasionally Class II River. Average gradient is 4.4 feet per mile. Comfortable canoeing speed is 2 1/2 miles an hour. Upper water temperature on the Current River ranges from 58° to 65°.

Wildlife is abundant along the river. From your canoe, you can often see many of the 112 species of fish, 196 species of birds, 58 species of mammals and 25 species of snakes found within the park. Several of the over 300 caves in the park have been identified as housing the endangered Indiana or Gray bats. Many of these caves are gated or signed to protect bat habitat. Please respect these barriers.

Some specific points of interest along the Current River are the following:

Welch Spring Thomas Welch, the first pioneer to settle there, built a general store and a gristmill beside this spring. Much later an Illinois doctor built a two-story sanatorium for asthma sufferers on the bluff above Welch Cave. Cool mineral airs wafted up into the rooms from a tunnel connected to the cave. The results of the "cure" are not known, but plans to turn the town into a health resort never materialized.

Akers This access point at the Akers ferry crossing is a favorite with floaters.

Cave Spring Upon reaching this point in their trip, floaters are halfway between Akers and Pulltite. The cave is even big enough to paddle a canoe inside.

Rock House Cave The river here is very deep and full of fish.

Pulltite The spring and cabin are just downstream from the Pulltite campground. The average daily spring flow is 38 million gallons (144 million liters).

Round Spring and Cave The waters of Round Spring rise into a deep, blue basin, then pass beneath a low natural bridge. The flow disgorges an average of 26 million gallons (98 million liters) daily. The cave, a short way up the valley, is representative of many throughout the Ozarks. Guided tours take about 2 hours.

Two Rivers The access point is from Highway V, just below the union of Jacks Fork and the Current River. A short distance downstream is an old ferry crossing.

Owls Bend Here the Current River sweeps south in a wide arc. Barred Owls and Great Horned Owls perch in the high bluffs.

Blue Spring The spring water, shielded from bright sun and skylight by trees and overhanging cliffs, takes on a deep blue tint. The spring has a daily outpouring of more than 72 million gallons (272 million liters), and is one of the four largest along the riverways.

Big Spring No other spring in the Ozarks can match Big Spring's flow of nearly 277 million gallons (1 billion liters) a day. Here a vast network of underground streams disgorge their cool, crystal-clear waters at a single outlet.