On the River

The rules given here are those in force in the fall of 20261. The park’s own rules are collected in the superintendent’s compendium, a document the park reissues every year2 to set the local limits that the federal regulations for national parks leave to each park, and the state’s Wildlife Code is amended most years. Some of what follows will have changed by the time it is read. The current versions are kept at the park headquarters in Van Buren3, at the park’s visitor centers and ranger stations, and at the offices of the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the telephone numbers are in Table 6.4. Where a page here and a current rule disagree, the current rule governs.

The history behind each rule is told in its own chapter: the park’s founding and its boundary in Chapter 10, the motor rule, the campgrounds and the fees in Chapter 11, the caves in Chapter 13, the gauges and floods in Chapter 14, fish and snakes in Chapter 16, gigging and swimming in Chapter 19, and the practice of floating in Chapter 20.

Whose rules, where

Two bodies of law reach the Jacks Fork. State law covers the whole river from the Prongs to the mouth: the Wildlife Code for fishing, hunting and trapping, and the Revised Statutes of Missouri4 for boats, life jackets and what a canoe may carry. Inside the Ozark National Scenic Riverways the federal rules apply as well, the regulations for all national parks in Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations and the park’s compendium5, and a visitor inside the park is bound by both.

The park begins about 4.2 miles below the junction of the prongs, a little under three miles above Buck Hollow7, and runs to the mouth6 (Chapter 10). Above that line the banks are private, apart from the state’s South Prong Access8 at the Highway Y bridge, and only state law applies. Below it the park’s rules govern the river and the park’s land, though the park is not one solid block. Private holdings and scenic easements are scattered through it (Chapter 10), and the rules that let visitors camp on a gravel bar or gather firewood apply only on land the park owns9. At Eminence the park is broken by a gap of land outside federal ownership around the town10 (Chapter 10). The state’s landing at Eminence lies in the gap11 and follows state rules.

Floating past private land. In 1954, in Elder v. Delcour, the Missouri Supreme Court held the channel of a floatable river, the Meramec, to be a public highway for travel by floating or wading, and held that the public may fish in it12 (Chapter 10). The Department of Conservation now sorts streams into classes. On a stream too small to float even a canoe, fishing, wading and boating are unlawful without the landowner’s permission. On a middle-sized stream that will float a canoe, the public may fish, wade and boat as long as it stays within the stream bed. The bed begins at the high-water mark, in practice the line where trees and other permanent plants grow, and takes in the gravel bars that are under water for part of the year. Beyond the high-water mark, on the bank or on a permanent island, which is often private property, a floater or angler needs the owner’s permission. The department says that opinions about how to class a particular stretch can vary widely, names the county’s prosecuting attorney as the best reference and the county assessor for property lines, and advises asking permission whenever in doubt13. No court or agency is known to have classed the river above the park14, and the prongs and the first miles of the main river float only after rain15 (Chapter 20). The state’s statement speaks of fishing, wading and boating, and a night on a bar above the park is best arranged with the landowner. This account of the law is general and is no substitute for legal advice.

Getting on the river

The public places to put in and take out are listed in Table 6.1, from the top of the river down. No permit is needed to float16 the Jacks Fork, and the park charges no entrance fee17. The land along the prongs is private (Chapter 20), and no private access is listed.

Inside the park vehicles may cross the Jacks Fork at two designated road fords, Ratliff Ford at about mile 5.5, on Texas County Road 4666, reached by County Road 3940, and Blue Spring Ford at about mile 9.7, on Shannon County Road OO-49320, just above the spring (Chapter 8). Elsewhere a motor vehicle may run only on park roads, in parking areas and on routes designated for vehicles21, and a gravel bar is none of these. Parking on the bars is not allowed22. All-terrain and utility vehicles are allowed in most of the park only on county roads, and never on a gravel bar, a beach or in the river except to cross at an approved crossing and keep going23. Camping gear, vehicles and trailers included, may not be left unattended for more than 24 hours, and a vehicle may be left longer only in a designated parking area24.

Many of the backcountry sites are reached down gravel roads, some of them too rough for a car with low clearance25 (Chapter 20). Shuttles and rentals are described in Chapter 20. Any business that guides trips, rents boats or runs shuttles inside the park needs the park’s authorization26, and the concessioners at Alley Spring and Two Rivers27 hold contracts to rent canoes and tubes there (Chapter 11).

Water levels and closures

Three gauges of the U.S. Geological Survey measure the Jacks Fork, and their readings are sent out through the day28 (Chapter 14). The National Weather Service sets flood categories for each (Table 6.2). Its list of what happens on the ground at each level, from the campground loops at Alley to the Highway 19 bridge at Eminence, is Table 14.4. A reading is the height of the water above the gauge’s own zero, so two feet on the gauge says nothing about how deep29 a given hole or riffle is (Chapter 14).

When the park closes the river. The park closes the Jacks Fork and the Current to boats without motors in times of flood and at other times the district ranger judges unsafe. Its general trigger is water two feet above the average level, and the compendium sets the levels for two gauges: at the Highway 17 bridge, an average of 2.75 feet and a closure at 4.00, a rise of a foot and a quarter; at the Highway 106 bridge at Alley, an average of 3.40 and a closure at 5.4030. No closing level is set for Eminence31. The closure is to non-motorized craft; motorboats are subject to the superintendent’s separate power to restrict or close32 the river under the motor rule. An older park statement gave two feet above normal33 at every gauge, and for Highway 17 the compendium’s foot and a quarter replaces it. Closures are announced by the park, and park headquarters or dispatch34 (Table 6.4) can say whether the river is open.

The low end. The rules set only the top of the range. For the bottom there is only advice, and one writer’s rule of thumb for the upper Jacks Fork calls for 2 feet or more on the local gauge, most likely the one at the Highway 17 bridge (Chapter 20). Read with the closing level, that leaves a band of about two feet on that gauge, from about 2 to 436, for floating the upper river. The same writer calls the river from Alley Spring down floatable the year round35. No published figure has been found for the gauges at Alley or Eminence37. Which way a reading is moving matters as much as the number, and a storm over the prongs can raise the river under a floater who has seen no rain38 (Chapters 14 and 20).

Camping and fires

On the gravel bars. Inside the park you may camp on a gravel bar if you reach it by boat, with a motor or without, and only on land the park owns. The camp must be about 300 yards from any developed or backcountry campground, at least 50 feet from any river access or landing, and at least 100 feet from any other party camped on the bar, and a party may stay no more than five days at one site. Leave No Trace practices are required. The park means gravel-bar camping for people traveling the river, and does not intend it for multiday stays by people who drive in or ferry their camping gear39 to a bar. It needs no fee, reservation or permit40. Camping is not allowed inside a cave or within 50 feet of a cave’s mouth41. Where there is no restroom, human waste must be buried at least six inches deep42. Where to pick a bar43, and why it should stand well above the water, is in Chapter 20.

The 300-yard figure replaced an earlier one. The general management plan of 2015 allowed boaters to camp on the bars half a mile from any designated campground and at least 50 feet from any designated access44. The compendium, which carries the force of regulation, has given about 300 yards since at least its 2024 edition45, and it governs. The park’s hunting buffer around developed areas is also 300 yards46, a separate rule that happens to share the number (see “Hunting and trapping”).

In the campgrounds. Every campsite in the park now needs a reservation, made through the federal recreation reservation service (877-444-6777) up to six months ahead47. On the Jacks Fork the developed campground is at Alley Spring, and it has been reservation-only since 2025, with same-day reservations available48. The backcountry sites on the Jacks Fork are at Blue Spring, Baptizing Hole, Bachers (a single site), Rymers, Bay Creek and Shawnee Creek49, and they too must now be reserved; their fees have been charged the year round since April 15, 202550. The last schedule the park published, effective April 15, 2022, charged $10 a night in season for a backcountry site, $20 for a non-electric and $30 for an electric site in a developed campground, and lower off-season rates51 in the developed campgrounds. The 2026 amounts should be checked with the park. A camper may stay no more than 14 days in any 30 in the same campground, and sites must be vacated by noon. A standard site holds at most six people, with two tents or one tent and one recreational vehicle, and two vehicles. Camping at a primitive site that the park has not designated needs a special use permit52, and horse camping is not allowed53. How the fees and reservations came about is told in Chapter 11.

Fires. The compendium forbids fires except in the areas it designates, and only with fuel made and commonly used for warmth or cooking, such as charcoal briquettes or natural firewood54. A campfire on a gravel bar is long custom, but the compendium’s list of places where fires are allowed names no gravel bars55, so ask the park whether fires are allowed on the bars before lighting one. Every campfire and cook fire must be put out, and the site cleared of litter56, before the site is left unattended. Lanterns may not be hung on trees57 or limbs. When the park posts a fire ban for elevated fire danger, notices go up at visitor centers, campgrounds and landings58, and smoking is forbidden in the backcountry59 while it lasts.

Firewood. Dead wood lying on the ground may be gathered anywhere in the park for a campfire, except on private property inside the boundary, and it must be burned in the park where it was gathered60. The 2024 compendium asked campers to buy firewood locally or to gather dead and down wood in the park, to keep the emerald ash borer61, a beetle that kills ash trees63, from being carried in. The current edition does not repeat the request62, and there is no ban on bringing wood in.

What to carry, and what to leave behind

Glass and foam. The park prohibits glass and polystyrene foam on or around the river64. State law goes part of the way on its own. On a canoe, a kayak, an inner tube or any other craft that is easily swamped, tipped or rolled, no one may use a glass container for drinks within the banks of a river, except a container for something a doctor has prescribed, and any glass aboard must be secured against breaking or falling into the stream. Food and drink must ride in a cooler or other container that is not glass and is sealed so that its contents cannot spill into the water. Each such craft must carry a bag or container for trash, fastened to the boat. Breaking the state law is a class C misdemeanor. The statute does not cover houseboats, party barges, runabouts, ski boats or bass boats65.

Coolers and tubes. No park rule limits the size or number of coolers66. The park forbids lashing or tying two or more boats or floats together while underway, since a raft of tied craft is hard to steer, can catch on a rootwad, and can trap a swimmer who falls off beneath it, but an unoccupied tube67, such as an inner tube carrying a cooler, may be tied on.

Trash. Everything carried in goes out, or into a park receptacle68. An Eminence outfitter hands out trash bags69 for the purpose (Chapter 20).

Alcohol and drugs. Under federal rules drinking is allowed on the river and on the gravel bars. It is forbidden in the Alley Mill and the Alley Store and in any park-owned or leased building, vehicle or boat, though not at picnic pavilions. The concessioners may sell alcohol in cans or plastic containers70. The park enforces its alcohol and drug rules strictly, marijuana included71, which federal law forbids in the park whatever state law allows. Inside the park, federal rules forbid operating or being in control of any vessel, a canoe, kayak or tube included, while under the influence of alcohol or drugs to a degree that makes safe operation impossible, or with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or more72. Under state law, boating while intoxicated, or with 0.08 percent or more, is an offense, and the state defines operating a vessel as controlling it under mechanical or sail power73, which reaches motorboats.

Life jackets. State law requires a personal flotation device of an approved kind on board for each person on any watercraft. On a canoe or kayak a throwable cushion or ring meets the law, and larger motorboats must carry a wearable one for each person74. A child under seven on a watercraft must wear a life jacket approved by the U.S. Coast Guard, except in a fully enclosed part of the boat, and an adult who allows otherwise commits a class C misdemeanor75. The park asks for one life jacket on board for each person and recommends wearing one regardless of ability76. Its own guidance gives the children’s age two ways77, “under 7” and “7 and under.” The statute’s wording, under seven, means six and younger.

Boats and motors

Motors on the Jacks Fork are governed by a federal rule published on December 12, 2023, which took effect on January 11, 202478; how it came about is told in Chapter 11. It divides the year into two seasons. The peak season begins on the day after the state’s spring trapping season on public lands ends and runs to the day before the gigging season for nongame fish opens79, both as the Department of Conservation sets them. The beaver and nutria season closes on March 31 and gigging opens on September 15, so in 2026 the peak season ran from April 1 through September 1480. The rest of the year is the off-peak season.

• From the park’s upstream boundary (about mile 4.2) to the upper end of the Eminence gap81: no motors in the peak season. Off-peak, motors of up to 25 horsepower with a jet unit or 18 horsepower with a propeller.
• From the lower end of the Eminence gap to Two Rivers: up to 60 horsepower with a jet unit or 40 with a propeller, in both seasons.

Throughout the park a boat may carry only one outboard motor, though an electric trolling motor may be carried besides. Inboard motors and personal watercraft82 are not allowed. The limits may be exceeded only under a written permit, the superintendent may restrict or close the river to motors, and maps of the zones83 are kept at park headquarters in Van Buren86. The federal limits stop at the upper end of the Eminence gap and start again84 at its lower end. Above the park no federal limit applies.

Scuba diving in the park’s springs and spring branches is forbidden without the superintendent’s written permit85.

Fishing

Permits. Anyone who fishes needs a Missouri fishing permit or an exemption. Anyone fifteen or younger may fish without one, and so may Missouri residents sixty-five or older; nonresidents of that age are not exempt. A resident landowner may fish without a permit on land of at least five contiguous acres87 that he or she owns, an exemption that never applies on park land88. The fishing permit also covers frogs, crayfish, turtles, mussels, clams and live bait89. In 2026 an annual resident permit cost $14, an annual nonresident permit $57 and a daily permit $9, and anyone could fish without a permit on the free fishing days of June 6 and 790. Prices and free days change every year. Inside the park, fishing is allowed in any manner state law authorizes91, except in the springs and spring branches, which are closed to fishing (see “Caves and springs”). No trout rules apply92 to the Jacks Fork.

Black bass. The state’s daily limit is six black bass in all, counting smallmouth, largemouth, spotted bass and their hybrids together. On a stream, any black bass under twelve inches must be returned to the water unharmed. From March 1 through the Friday before the fourth Saturday in May no black bass may be kept from a stream, and every one caught must be released at once. In 2026 that closed season ran from March 1 to May 22, and the harvest season from May 23, 2026, to February 28, 202793.

The Jacks Fork from the Highway 17 bridge, mile 7.0, to the Current is a smallmouth bass special management area. There every smallmouth under fifteen inches must be returned unharmed, and the daily limit of six black bass may include only one smallmouth94. Largemouth and spotted bass in the area follow the twelve-inch stream rule. The state set this standard fifteen-inch, one-fish rule for its smallmouth areas, and extended the area on the Jacks Fork, effective March 30, 201795. The earlier rule, eighteen inches from Highway 17 to Highway 10696, is described in Chapter 16. Above the Highway 17 bridge the statewide rules for streams apply.

Other fish. The daily limit for goggle-eye (the rock bass and its kin) and warmouth is fifteen in all, and any under seven inches97 must be returned. For nongame fish taken on pole and line, trotline, throwline, limb line, bank line or jug line, the daily limit is fifty, and carp and goldfish98 do not count toward it.

Hellbenders. The Ozark hellbender (Chapter 16) may not be possessed, harmed or killed. An angler who hooks one must release it, cutting the line99 if need be.

Eating the catch. The state’s fish advisory, which has no entry of its own for the Jacks Fork, advises pregnant women, women who may become pregnant, nursing mothers and children under thirteen to eat no more than one meal a month of walleye or of largemouth, spotted or smallmouth bass over twelve inches100 long, because of mercury. Water quality and the advice on swimming after rain are in Chapter 17101.

Gigging, snagging, bowfishing and frogging

Gigging. Nongame fish may be taken by gig from streams between sunrise and midnight from September 15 through February 15102. Some older sources give January 31 as the end of the season. The state lengthened it by fifteen days in 2019, beginning with the season of 2019–20103. Game fish may never be gigged. In Missouri they include the black basses, goggle-eye, warmouth, crappie, walleye and sauger, the pikes and pickerels, every catfish except the bullheads, the trout, paddlefish, the white, yellow and striped bass, and the shovelnose sturgeon, and nongame fish are all the rest except alligator gar and endangered species104. On the Jacks Fork the giggers’ fish are mostly the northern hog sucker and the redhorses105 (Chapter 19). The daily limit is twenty nongame fish in all, taken by gig, bow, crossbow, grabbing, snaring, snagging or spearfishing combined, and the possession limit is twice that106. A five-fish limit on hog suckers applies on part of the Current107 and not on the Jacks Fork.

The federal motor rule is tied to the opening of this season. The day gigging opens is the first day of the off-peak season, when johnboats may run motors again on the upper river (see “Boats and motors”). The close of the gigging season has no part108 in the motor rule.

Snagging, snaring and grabbing are allowed on streams from March 15 through May 15 and from September 15 through February 15109. Bowfishing on streams is allowed throughout the year between sunrise and midnight110. Spearguns may not be carried on free-flowing waters or their banks111, so underwater spearfishing is not allowed on the river.

Setlines. Trotlines, throwlines, limb lines, bank lines and jug lines may carry no more than 33 hooks in all for one person, with the hooks on trotlines and throwlines at least two feet apart. Lines must be checked at least once every 24 hours or taken out entirely, unanchored jugs on a stream must be attended at all times, and lines and live boxes must be labeled112 with the owner’s full name and address or Conservation Number.

Bait and crayfish. Up to 150 crayfish, freshwater shrimp and nongame fish may be taken for bait, all year. A crayfish trap’s opening may be no larger than one and a half by eighteen inches, and traps must be checked at least every 24 hours. Bait taken from the state’s waters may not be sold or carried out of the state113, bought bait must come with a dated receipt114, crayfish of conservation concern may not be taken, and bighead and silver carp115 may not be used as live bait.

Frogs. Bullfrogs and green frogs are in season from sunset on June 30 through October 31, with a limit of eight in all. They may be taken by hand, hand net, gig, bow, atlatl, snagging, snaring, grabbing, pole and line or the set lines, and an artificial light116 may be used. A fishing permit or an exemption117 is required. The park’s 2024 compendium allowed frogs, turtles and crayfish118 to be taken within the park under the Wildlife Code. Whether the current edition repeats that permission should be checked with the park.

Hunting and trapping

The law that created the park in 1964 directs that hunting and fishing be allowed in it under federal and state law, and lets the Secretary of the Interior close zones and set periods with no hunting, for safety, administration or public use, after consulting the state’s Conservation Commission119 (Chapter 10). Hunting is allowed in most of the park, under the state’s seasons and limits and with a Missouri hunting permit. It is not allowed in the Alley Spring area or in the park’s other developed areas120, and the compendium closes to hunting and trapping all ground within 300 yards of any developed area, which takes in buildings, administrative compounds, camping areas, roads, hiking trails and other public facilities, and forbids shooting a gun, bow or crossbow toward any of them121.

Several state rules bear on the river itself. No one may take or chase wildlife from a motorboat until its motor has been shut off and the boat has stopped moving122. No one may take a deer while standing in a stream or other body of water, or from a boat with a motor attached123. No one may shoot at wildlife from or across a public road124, which includes the roads at the fords and accesses. During the firearms deer season, hunters must wear a hunter-orange cap or hat and a hunter-orange shirt, vest or coat125, and the park asks people walking, hiking or floating in that season to wear orange126 too.

Trapping on the river is open for bobcat, coyote, mink, muskrat and river otter from November 15 through the last day of February, and for beaver and nutria from November 15 through March 31127. The end of the beaver season is what sets the start of the motor rule’s peak season. Killing-type traps may be set under water, and snares, with narrow exceptions, only in water. Traps under water must be checked every 48 hours and others daily, and every trap must carry the trapper’s name and address or Conservation Number128. Inside the park the 300-yard closure around developed areas applies to trapping129 as well as hunting.

Horses

Inside the park horses may be ridden only on the designated trails and on state and county unpaved roads. The designated trails are four loops, the Two Rivers, Jerktail, Shawnee and Broadfoot Loops130, about 25.5 miles131 in all. The Shawnee and Two Rivers Loops are on the lower Jacks Fork132, and Jerktail and Broadfoot on the Current. Riders may cross a river only at a designated county-road or horse-trail crossing, and never at high water133. The park keeps seven designated horse-trail river crossings134; which of them are on the Jacks Fork should be checked on the park’s current trail maps. Horses may not be bathed or left standing in the park’s waters, or tied directly to trees135, and horse camping is not allowed. The staging area for the lower Jacks Fork, with restrooms, hitching rails and trailer parking136, is at Shawnee Creek. Guided rides need the park’s authorization and may take no more than 25 horses, guides included, with two guides for any ride of more than twelve137 horses. Dogs are not allowed on the horse trails138.

The wild horses that range along the lower river (Chapter 11) may not be approached closer than 100 feet, and touching, feeding or attracting139 them is forbidden. How the trail system and the crossings came to be is told in Chapters 10 and 11, and their effect on the water in Chapter 17.

Caves and springs

Caves. Every cave on federal land in the park is closed to visitors except four that the compendium opens140:

• Jam Up Cave on the Jacks Fork, open from the entrance to the pool at the foot of the underground waterfall, the “Forbidden Pool,” and no farther. It can be reached only by boat, between Blue Spring and Rymers, at about mile 12.8142 (Reach E). The park warns that parts of the ceiling have fallen141 in the recent past.
• Round Spring Cave on the Current, open only on tours led by park staff, from May 1 through Labor Day.
• Big Spring Cave on the Current, open to the public.
• Cave Spring on the lower Current, open as far as the interior shade line.

Jam Up is the only cave open on the Jacks Fork. The park has kept its caves closed to protect the bats from white-nose syndrome143; the closure and the disease are the subject of Chapter 13. Devils Well, on the Current, is a karst window seen from a platform reached by a stairway144, and is not entered. The park’s general floating guidance says that all caves in the park are closed145, which leaves out Jam Up and the other three, and the compendium is the governing text. State law, which covers caves on any land, makes it a misdemeanor to break, carve or mark a cave’s walls or formations without the owner’s written permission or to break into a cave gate, and a separate offense to dump waste146 into a cave or spring (Chapter 13). Caves on private land above the park are private property.

Springs. All entry into the spring pools and spring branches on federal land in the park is forbidden, fishing, wading, swimming and boats147 included. On the Jacks Fork this closes Alley Spring’s pool and branch and Blue Spring and its outflow. At Blue Spring the swimming hole is the river pool below the spring (Reach D), and no published map draws the line148 where the spring’s outflow ends and the river begins, so the place to ask is the park.

Artifacts, fossils and collecting

Inside the park the federal regulations forbid possessing, removing, digging, disturbing, damaging or defacing any archaeological or cultural object or any fossil, and a point picked up loose from a gravel bar149 is covered. They forbid the same for minerals and cave formations150, so rock collecting is not allowed, and neither compendium makes an exception151. The same regulations forbid possessing or using a metal detector, magnetometer or similar device in the park, unless it is taken apart or packed152 so that it cannot be used, and the compendium makes no local exception.

Digging for or removing an archaeological object on public land without a permit is also a federal crime under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. A first offense carries a fine of up to $10,000 or a year in prison; where the value of the object and the cost of repair exceed $500, up to $20,000 or two years; and a second offense up to $100,000 or five years153. The act’s criminal penalties do not reach a person who picks up an arrowhead lying on the surface154, but the park’s rule does, and the point stays where it lies. Disturbing a human burial anywhere in Missouri, marked or unmarked, is a felony under state law155. Chapter 3 tells the history of looting in the valley and what to do on finding something, and Chapter 1 the fossils.

Some things may be gathered. Fruits, nuts and berries may be picked by hand for personal use in set amounts, such as a bushel of grapes or eight gallons of black walnuts156, and dead wood may be gathered for a campfire (see “Camping and fires”).

Swimming, jumping, drones and pets

Jumping. In the park no one may jump or dive into the Jacks Fork or the Current from a tree, and rope swings or similar devices hung from trees or other fixed objects are forbidden. Jumping from a bluff or a rock is not forbidden, though the park strongly discourages it157 for safety. Water deep enough under a bluff one summer may be shallow the next158 (Chapters 15 and 19).

Swimming. No swimming or wading is allowed within 50 feet of the boat ramp at Two Rivers159, or in the springs and spring branches (see “Caves and springs”). The swimming holes and their history are in Chapter 19.

Drones. Launching, landing or flying an uncrewed aircraft from or on park land or water is forbidden without the superintendent’s written approval160. Above the park and over private land, only the federal aviation rules apply161.

Pets. A pet must be on a leash no longer than six feet; dogs may not run off the leash162. A dog in a boat on the water may not be leashed or tied, since a dog tied in a boat that overturns can drown163. No pet may be left alone for more than two hours in a campground, and droppings must be picked up at once and put in the nearest trash receptacle. Pets are not allowed in public buildings or historic structures, the Alley Mill among them, except service animals, or on the designated horse trails164.

Hazards

Strainers. Rootwads and fallen trees, called strainers, are tangles of roots and branches that let water through and stop anything larger165, and the current can pin a boat or a person against them (Chapter 20). Give them a wide berth. If the current carries you toward one, grab hold of the wood and climb up onto it, and do not go back166 for a boat or gear caught in it. A single high water167 can bring a new tree down across a channel that was clear the season before.

Rising water. The streams of the area rise quickly to unsafe levels after moderate or heavy rain, and floods on the upper Jacks Fork arrive fast (Chapter 14). Camp high, keep a second way out168 of any campsite in mind, and watch the gauges before and during a trip (Table 6.2). The floods themselves, from 2017 to 2024169, are told in Chapter 14.

Low-water crossings. The concrete slabs and fords that carry county roads across the prongs and the upper river are a hazard to boats and drivers alike. A floater meeting a slab has to get out and carry around it170 (Chapter 8; Reach C). For a driver, six inches of fast-moving water can knock an adult off his or her feet, a foot of it can carry away most cars, and two feet can carry away trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Never drive or walk into flood water171.

Cold water. A fall into the river in cold weather can bring on hypothermia, which can cause permanent injury or death within an hour. The spring-fed river stays at about 57 degrees through the winter, and the upper river above the big springs runs colder173 (Chapter 12). Carry a change of dry clothes172, and get anyone who has gone in into dry clothes first.

Heat and sun. On a summer float, drink water often and before thirst sets in, and protect skin and eyes174 from the sun.

Snakes. Cottonmouths live along the river, and the harmless watersnakes are often mistaken for them; how to tell them apart is in Chapter 16175.

Emergencies

In an emergency call 911 or the park’s dispatch (Table 6.4). On much of the river there is often no phone signal, and help can be hours away176. The nearest park telephone on the Jacks Fork is at the Alley Spring General Store177. The river runs through two counties. Texas County takes in the prongs and the river to about mile 7.9, at Lily Pad Hole178 below the Highway 17 bridge, and Shannon County the river below it to the mouth (Reach D). The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Troop G, at Willow Springs179, covers both counties.

Hospitals. There is no hospital in Shannon County, so none at Eminence, and none at Van Buren in Carter County180. The nearest hospitals are these:

• Mountain View: Mercy St. Francis Hospital (Mercy Hospital Mountain View), 100 West U.S. Highway 60, 417-934-7000, with a 24-hour emergency room181. It is the nearest to the upper river and Highway 17.
• Houston: Texas County Memorial Hospital, 1333 South Sam Houston Boulevard, 417-967-3311.
• West Plains: Ozarks Healthcare, 1100 North Kentucky Avenue, 417-256-9111.
• Salem: Salem Memorial District Hospital182, 35629 Highway 72, 573-729-6626, north of Eminence by Route 19.

Rules at a glance