Your Guide to the Ozarks
Van Buren is a river town first: the Current River runs along its edge, and the biggest spring in Missouri boils up a few miles south. If you are staying in town, almost everything below is a short drive, and most of it clusters along the river. Places are grouped by distance from downtown, so you can plan around how far you feel like going.
Missouri's only cobblestone-covered courthouse, built in 1871 and reclad by the WPA in 1936, stands vacant on its Main Street square in Van Buren, still the town's gathering ground for tree lightings and the Festival of Lights.
Van Buren's own river park at the foot of Main Street: a concrete boat ramp and canoe launch on the Current River, a picnic shelter, and swimming areas on one acre, open 4 AM to 10 PM.
The Forest Service's in-town Current River access: a double-lane concrete boat launch, five picnic sites, and concrete stair entries down to a river beach, a half mile from downtown Van Buren.
A half-mile Forest Service loop inside Watercress Recreation Area: past Watercress Spring, up a hillside to Civil War earthworks overlooking the Current River, and by a small cave in a rocky bank.
The Park Service's main campground in the Big Spring area: 123 reservable sites on the Current River, a boat ramp, electric hookups in one loop, and Big Spring itself within walking distance.
One of the largest springs in the United States, pouring an average of 289 million gallons of clear blue water a day into the Current River, four miles south of Van Buren.
A National Register historic district of stone and timber buildings the Civilian Conservation Corps built at Big Spring in the 1920s and 1930s: a dining lodge, cabins, and a museum, closed for restoration but walkable today.
The Park Service's trailered-boat ramp on the lower Current River, about twelve road miles north of Van Buren on Route M: motorized vessels only, no floater access, with overflow parking shared with the Pin Oak access.
A Park Service landing on the Lower Current a fifth of a mile below Hickory Landing: the take-out for the Big Spring to Cataract float and the last named landing above Gooseneck.
A Park Service landing at River Mile 7 on the Lower Current, at the end of a gravel road off Highway E, and the shore point for the Lower Current's Cave Spring.
A Park Service backcountry campground and year-round boat ramp at River Mile 37 on the Current River: six reservable sites, a vault toilet, and some of the darkest night skies in the park.
A Park Service river access at River Mile 33 on the Lower Current, at the end of County Road 626 north of Van Buren, with MDC's Paint Rock Unit around it and Gravel Spring a half mile downriver.
The Park Service campground at River Mile 0, where the Lower Current and the Riverways end: a large flat camping field on the river at the end of Big Barren Creek Road, with standard sites, a picnic area, and an accessible restroom.
The Forest Service's northernmost Current River access: a one-lane gravel launch on the east bank below Gooseneck, with a vault toilet and parking for twelve rigs with trailers, on a quieter stretch the Forest Service rates for fishing. Its ramp is currently reported inaccessible due to flood damage.