Roaring River State Park Dam and Spillway
“Roaring River State Park Dam and Spillway” by Keith Snyder is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Roaring River State Park is one of Missouri’s most unique and popular state parks – and is only a little over a half hour’s drive from our Eureka Springs inn, 5 Ojo!

Eureka Springs offers so many fun things to do and see that you really don’t have to leave town to stay entertained. Our historic downtown is well worth your time and loaded with shops, restaurants, and galleries. Then there are attractions like Basin Spring Park, Christ of the Ozarks, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, Onyx Cave, Thorncrown Chapel, and so much more.

Explore beyond Eureka Springs’ borders, however, and discover that the entire region has a lot to offer. Roaring River State Park is an excellent example.

Roaring River State Park

12716 Farm Road 2239, Cassville, Missouri 65625

Roaring River State Park may be in Missouri but that doesn’t put it out of reach of our Arkansas bed and breakfast. In fact, the Missouri/Arkansas border is only 20 minutes from Eureka Springs, with the park only ten or so minutes farther in.

Roaring River Spring
“Roaring River Spring” by Jeff Weese is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Roaring River is one of Missouri’s most popular state parks, with 4,294 acres of hiking, fishing, camping, swimming, and more. The park is located in a deep, narrow valley home to the Roaring River.

The river originates from a spring here in the park. Roaring River Spring gushes out into a deep blue pool beneath a high limestone cliff before flowing into the river. The pool is only 10 feet across but has been explored to a depth of 223 feet! A smaller spring at the top of the cliff forms a waterfall that falls into the main pool below.

Roaring River Spring produces an average daily flow of 20+ million gallons of water, making it Missouri’s 20th largest spring. The spring then flows through a fish hatchery and into the Roaring River, which eventually empties into Table Rock Lake.

With a hatchery right in the park you know you can expect some good fishing. Anglers flock to the park all year ’round for its premier trout fishing. Not an angler? You can also just enjoy feeding and watching the trout in the spring pool – another popular activity

Seven hiking trails take you through hardwood forests, across small Ozark streams, and past unusual geological formations. The park also has a swimming pool, picnic tables, and the Ozark Chinquapin Nature Center, open seasonally.

Visit the official website to learn more more about this fantastic park.