Director of Missouri State Parks, Bill Bryan, Talks Adventure, Solitude, And Peace At Missouri's New Echo Bluff State Park
A “slice of paradise in the middle of the Ozark Mountains,” the newly opened Echo Bluff State Park in Missouri offers a unique wilderness experience for people looking for some solitude – Echo Bluff State Park, which opened on Saturday, July 30, is Missouri’s newest state park and adds a modern campground and overnight lodging to the accommodations available to the outdoor enthusiast in the Ozark Mountains.
Surrounded on all four sides by public land, including the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Current River State Park and Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry, the park is ideally situated to be a base camp, allowing travelers and campers to explore everything the Ozark has to offer, from trout fishing, swimming, river floating, horseback riding, mountain biking and hiking. But Echo Bluff State Park is known most as a way to relax in nature, in solitude.
“There's a lot of opportunity for adventure: Mountain biking, kayaking, hiking in the back country. But it's a very relaxing place. There was lots of activity on opening day. But Sunday, I walked around, just relaxing. A typical activity I saw people doing on opening weekend was people putting their feet in the water, people setting up a lawn chair by Sinking Creek,” said Director of Missouri State Parks Bill Bryan. “People were floating down in an inner-tube. A lot of people were snorkeling.”
What Bryan enjoyed the most was floating down the stream with a snorkel. While most locations in the Ozark Mountains are very cold, around 50 degrees, the stream was over 80 degrees, “which was very comfortable. I enjoyed that a great deal.” Sinking Creek wraps around the campground, with a swimming hole just 100 yards from the site. Many visitors hear the river at night from their campsite. From many campsites and RV hookup sites, visitors can access the Sinking Creek via a short walk, so there's many opportunities to relax in the water, away from a crowd..
The park gets its name because of the dramatic bluffs that are situated up and down the creek. Echo Bluff is the most striking on the property, noted Bryan, who said that many visitors are drawn to Echo Bluff. Said Bryan: “It connects people with nature. It's pretty remarkable. It hangs down over the middle of the creek. It's a very cool place.”
But visitors can enjoy Sinking Creek right from their campsites.
“It's a unique natural area because nowhere else in the world is there this large a collection of springs or water wells going up out of the ground and streaming across Ozark,” said Bryan. “People will experience an entirely new environment where it's rapidly flowing and crystal clear. It's easy to paddle or kanoe. Sinking Creek is warm water stream where you can swim. Five minutes down, you're in Current River which is ice cold. It's a great place to float or fish.”
While floating down the river you might even see a herd of wild elks, which were reintroduced to the area a few years ago. Two weeks before Echo State Bluff's opening, reporters saw 59 elk just over the mountains. There are also protected wild horse herds that live in the Ozark and in some parks that surround Echo Bluff.
While Echo is tucked right into the valley, surrounded by a thick, dense forest and mountain ridges, guests still can use the park's “very strong Wifi signal,” noted Bryan. “So you can plan your next stop or stay in touch with family or business. You can do that while enjoying the great outdoors. It's literally in the middle of nowhere. This is the least populated area of Missouri. You can really get away.”
The Ozark Mountains used to be a weekend-only destination with limited overnight facilities for visitors to enjoy. To let people enjoy the area in all seasons, Echo State Bluff Park was formed right in the heart of the Ozark.
From South Kansas City, Missouri, Bryan started working in outdoor recreation 32 years ago. He always wanted to be an outdoor advocate since he was always into the outdoors. He was always camping with his family as a child.
“I like camping because I like being outdoors. I also like it because it takes you places and you see things you wouldn't normally see otherwise. Echo Bluff will certainly do that,” said Bryan. “It's different than your typical campground experience because of the location, number one. The campground is in a location that most places you couldn't do. It's remote and incredibly scenic. There's a lot of recreational opportunities right around you, without needing to drive.”
As Missouri State Parks get ready to celebrate their centennial in April of 2017, Bryan said that Echo State Bluff Park was created in that spirit, a turning point, and they're hoping it will lead the state parks that way for the next 100 years to come.
Olivia Richman
A graduate of East Connecticut State University in Journalism, Olivia has written for Stonebridge Press & Antiques Marketplace among others. She enjoys writing, running and video games.
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Echo Bluff State Park, the complete, quintessential Missouri Ozark destination. Echo Bluff State Park is set in a valley surrounded by towering bluffs, unsullied forest and cut by the Sinking Creek.