Missouri

Passes and routes

1. The fords of the Ozark Riverways, by name

   The park’s compendium names the legal crossings: Ratliff Ford on the Jacks Fork at Texas County Road 3940, Blue Spring Ford on the Jacks Fork at Shannon County Road OO-493, and on the Current River, Bluff School Road at Shannon County Road 385A, Akers Ford on State Highway K, Banks Ford at Shannon County Road 359 and Moloney Ford at Shannon County Road 235A. Anywhere else, a vehicle in the river is an offence rather than a photograph. 22

   Vehicle

   Only at an approved crossing, and only to cross and continue

2. Big Spring

   The largest spring in the state and one of the largest in the world, putting out some 289 million gallons on an average day. The Park Service counts several first magnitude springs on the riverways, meaning over 65 million gallons a day each. They are the reason the rivers run clear in August, and they are all a short drive off the county roads. 24

3. Katy Trail State Park

   240 miles, Clinton to Machens

   The longest developed rail-trail in the country runs 240 miles from milepost 264.4 at Clinton to milepost 26.9 at Machens. It carries no motor traffic and the state provides no camping along it, so for this guide it is a line to cross and a reason certain small towns have services at all. 44

   Vehicle

   No motor vehicles other than official or emergency vehicles

4. Glade Top Trail National Forest Scenic Byway

   23 miles

   Ava south to Longrun or west to Highway 125, on Forest Roads 147, 149 and 150

   The Forest Service calls it a two-lane, all-weather gravel road that follows narrow ridge tops rising approximately 500 feet above the rolling country around them, with seven overlook pull-outs. It was designated a scenic byway in 1989 and has changed little since the Civilian Conservation Corps built it in the 1930s. There is no potable water at any stop. Dispersed camping is allowed at Willie Lee, with no fire rings or tables. 12

   Vehicle

   Any car. A county permit is needed to ride an ATV or UTV on it

   Season

   January through December

5. Blue Buck Knob National Forest Scenic Byway

   24 miles

   Highway 181 south from Cabool to Highway AP, ending where AP meets Highway 14

   A short byway through farmland, pasture and wooded hillside with several overlooks. Points of interest along it are Indian Creek Overlook, Blue Buck Overlook, Noblett Recreation Area on its 26-acre lake, and the Blue Hole Trailhead, where the Ridge Runner and Ozark trails start. The remains of the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Willow sit about 2.5 miles east of Highway AP on Forest Road 108. No potable water at any stop along it. 13

   Vehicle

   Any car. The Forest Service says no permits are required for passenger cars

   Season

   January through December. Day use only; no overnight camping allowed

6. Sugar Camp National Forest Scenic Byway

   28 miles, 8 of them gravel

   Highway 112 south of Roaring River State Park, by Forest Road 197 to Highway 86 near Table Rock Lake, then back toward Cassville

   The Forest Service describes 20 miles of paved highway and an 8-mile section of maintained gravel forest road. Turn right off Forest Road 197 at Forest Road 1004 for the Sugar Camp Fire Tower, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, where climbing the tower is not allowed. The Onyx Observation Area is about 1.5 miles further on and holds two parking spaces. There is no potable water on the route. 14

   Vehicle

   Any car. Riders on the byway must obey county and local law

7. Ozark National Scenic Riverways county roads and fords

   Akers, Pulltite, Round Spring, Two Rivers, Alley Spring, Big Spring and the county roads between them

   This is the drive along the Current and the Jacks Fork, and it is narrower in law than it looks on a map. Off-road vehicles are prohibited in most of the park except on county roads, and never on park roads, campground roads, state highways, gravel bars or in the rivers. Six road fords double as river landings: Ratliff Ford on Texas County Road 3940 and Blue Spring Ford on Shannon County Road OO-493 on the Jacks Fork, and Bluff School Road, Akers Ford on State Highway K, Banks Ford and Moloney Ford on the Current. Which roads are open comes from the park’s 2022 Roads and Trails Management Plan, amended in 2024. 21

   Vehicle

   The Park Service’s own test: if a two-wheel-drive car cannot drive it, it is probably not a legal county road

8. Mark Twain National Forest road system

   Six administrative units across the Ozark Highlands, from Cedar Creek near Columbia to Doniphan near the Arkansas line

   The forest is the main dirt-road network in Missouri for a full-size vehicle, and the Motor Vehicle Use Map is what makes a road legal rather than the road itself. Open numbered roads are physically signed. Roads not posted or shown on the map are non-system roads and closed to motors under 36 CFR 261.13. Four Forest Visitor Maps cover all six units at half an inch to the mile and 168 topographic quadrangles cover the forest; the maps also load in a phone app for live position. The forest has over 750 miles of trail, but almost all of it is closed to motors. 9

   Vehicle

   Passenger cars, trucks and vans on any open numbered system road

9. Chadwick Motorized Trails System

   Nearly 80 miles

   About four miles southwest of Chadwick, with trailheads at Cobb Ridge, Camp Ridge and KC Pavilion

   A 12-square-mile block of rough forest with ridge-top and hollow trails that the Forest Service rates mostly moderate while saying all riders will meet advanced riding challenges. Published grades run to 30 to 40 percent on trails 122, 124, 126 and 135. Cross-country travel is allowed at only two places, a 3-acre family play area west of Cobb Ridge Campground and a 5-acre trials bike area near the head of Cobb Ridge. No drinking water at trailheads or on the trail. An approved spark arrester and a working muffler are required. 10

   Vehicle

   ATVs, UTVs, motorcycles and mountain bikes no more than 50 inches wide. Permit required

   Season

   Open January through December. The Forest Service names fall and spring as the best seasons

10. Sutton Bluff ATV, UTV and Motorcycle Area

    About 45 miles

    Centerville by County Roads 907 and 849, in the river breaks of the West Fork of the Black River

    Segmented trails on forested ridge tops crossing deep hollows, reached over county and Forest Service roads rather than directly from the campground. The Forest Service says the bridges cannot support a vehicle wider than 50 inches and that unlicensed motorcycles are not permitted on county or Forest Service system roads. Sutton Bluff Campground on the West Fork has 33 single sites, 14 of them electric, and takes rigs up to 50 feet except at sites 29, 32 and 33. The Karkaghne section of the Ozark Trail starts less than a mile away. 11

    Vehicle

    ATVs and UTVs 50 inches or less. Forest permit plus a Reynolds County permit for the connecting roads

    Season

    The campground ran April 2 to October 26 in 2026

11. St. Joe State Park off-road vehicle area

    54 miles of trail

    Park Hills, off US 67 at the Fairgrounds Drive exit for the Donnelly-LaMear Trailhead

    One of only two off-road riding areas in the Missouri state park system, and the one open to four-wheel vehicles, on ground the St. Joe Minerals Corporation gave the state in 1976. Trails run through woods and across sand flats made of tailings from a century of lead milling, and mined ground underlies about a quarter of the park. Signs mark the boundary and all off-road vehicles must stay inside it. Campground 1 sits beside the riding area with reservable electric and basic sites and trail access for unlicensed machines that may not use park roads. 42

    Vehicle

    Off-road vehicles, two-wheel and four-wheel, inside the marked boundary only. Snowmobiles in winter

    Season

    The Donnelly-LaMear entrance runs Thursday to Sunday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. April through October and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. November through March

12. Finger Lakes State Park off-road area

    More than 900 acres of trail

    North of Columbia on Highway 63

    A 1,128-acre park on the old Mark Twain Mine, a Peabody Coal strip pit worked between 1964 and 1967 and left with its ridges and ravines intact. Missouri State Parks says the steep hills and deep ravines will challenge the skills of even the most experienced riders, and is explicit that automobiles, pickup trucks, jeeps and dune buggies are not permitted off the normal park roadways. A motocross track sits in the central day-use staging area and is open to motorcycles and ATVs only. 43

    Vehicle

    Motorcycles, four wheelers and side-by-sides no more than 64 inches wide

13. Ozark Highlands Auto Tour, Mingo National Wildlife Refuge

    The refuge in southeast Missouri, on the eastern boundary of the national forest

    A wildlife drive across 21,592 acres of bottomland hardwood forest, cypress-tupelo swamp, marsh and upland forest, in a corner of southeast Missouri the Fish and Wildlife Service says once held 2.5 million acres of the same country. The refuge keeps the tour road on a season rather than open all year, and states its dates a year at a time, so confirm this year’s before you plan around it. 50

    Vehicle

    Any car, on the refuge drive only

    Season

    The refuge’s 2025 season ran March 1 through November 30

14. Taum Sauk Mountain State Park

    1,772 ft

    Highway CC off Highway 21 south of Ironton

    The road to the roof of Missouri, and the easiest state high point in the country to reach: the park says it is an easy walk from the parking lot to the highest point at 1,772 feet. The Mina Sauk Falls loop drops to the state’s tallest waterfall, 132 feet down volcanic ledges, and looks into the state’s deepest valley, with up to 700 feet of vertical relief. The park is the core of the 7,028-acre St. Francois Mountains Natural Area, the largest natural area in Missouri. Twelve walk-in campsites, first come only, no showers and no dump station. 41

    Vehicle

    Any car. Tent camping only; pop-ups and trailers are not allowed

    Season

    Campground open year-round. Water is on only from April 1 to October 31

15. Missouri’s lettered routes

    18,993 miles

    The whole state, linking numbered highways to the forest, the rivers and the Corps lakes

    Missouri’s supplemental system is its own thing and worth understanding before you plan a day. Beyond 1,385 miles of interstate, 3,412 miles of US route and 8,259 miles of state route, MoDOT maintains 18,993 miles of lettered route, single and double letters that carry local traffic out to farms, river landings and trailheads. The department classes 10,465 miles of its network as low-volume routes carrying about one percent of traffic, and these are the roads that reach the ground in this guide. They are also the first to be affected by high water. 32

    Vehicle

    Any car, with the caveat that surface and width vary

Rules worth knowing

Over 750 miles of trail, and two places to ride

The Mark Twain National Forest has over 750 miles of trail for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and motorised use, but only two designated off-highway vehicle systems: Chadwick in Christian County and Sutton Bluff in Reynolds County. Everything else motorised happens on forest system roads, and the forest says which: you may drive cars, trucks and vans on any open Forest Service system road, and open numbered roads are physically marked with a post or sign. 7

Seven wilderness areas, and none of them take a vehicle

The forest holds seven wilderness areas with published acreages: Irish at 16,277 acres, Hercules Glades at 12,413, Bell Mountain at 9,143, Piney Creek at 8,178, Paddy Creek at 7,035 and Rockpile Mountain at 4,238. They are the pieces of the Ozarks where the road network simply stops, and the boundary is the rule rather than the surface. 16

Fort Leonard Wood sits in the middle of the forest

The forest notes that Fort Leonard Wood, an army base with a daily population of 35,000, is surrounded by national forest on three sides west of Rolla. It is the reason the road pattern around Waynesville reads oddly on a map, and a reminder that a green area is not automatically open ground. 8

Most forest campgrounds are open all year

The forest publishes opening dates for the handful that close, North Fork 1 April to 1 December, Watercress 1 May to 1 October, Council Bluff 23 April to 26 October, Loggers Lake 9 April to 26 October, and then states that any campground not listed is open year round. In a state with no snow season worth the name in the south, that is most of them. 15

It takes 168 topographic maps to cover the forest

The Mark Twain publishes a set of four visitor maps covering all six administrative units, and notes that 168 topographic quadrangles cover the forest. That is a fair measure of how scattered it is: six units in one forest, spread across the Ozarks rather than gathered in a block. 17

The Ozark Trail is 230 miles and carries no motors

The Ozark Trail runs 230 miles between Onondaga Cave State Park and the western edge of the Mark Twain National Forest in 13 sections, for hiking, backpacking, biking and horses. It crosses the forest roads this guide is about, and a trailhead on a forest road is a place to park rather than a route to follow. 20

On the riverways, camping is 14 days and vehicles stay out of the gravel

Camping is limited to 14 days in any 30 in the same campground, and all equipment including vehicles must be off the site at the end of it. Gravel bar camping is for visitors who arrive by boat, limited to five days at a site; anyone camping from a vehicle uses the primitive, backcountry or developed campgrounds. Vehicles may be left unattended over 24 hours only in designated parking areas, for up to seven days. 23

More than 300 conservation areas allow camping, and all of it is free

The Department of Conservation states that more than 300 of Missouri’s conservation areas offer camping, that all of it is free, and that most is first come, first served. There are no hookups anywhere on department land and campers bring their own water. Stays run 14 consecutive days in any 30, with a total of 30 camping days on all department land in a calendar year. 27

A utility vehicle may not be driven in a river either

The statute covering utility vehicles carries the same prohibition as the one covering all-terrain vehicles: no operating off-road within any stream or river in the state, except to ford it at a crossing that is customary or part of the highway system. Missouri’s gravel bars look like invitations and are not. 29

An out-of-state machine has thirty days

No person may operate an all-terrain vehicle in Missouri unless it is registered with the Department of Revenue, with an exemption for machines covered by a valid registration of another state or country that have not been in Missouri more than thirty days. A plated highway vehicle is registered as a highway vehicle and is outside this regime entirely. 30

What the ATV decal costs

Titling and registering an all-terrain vehicle in Missouri runs to an 8.50 dollar title fee, a 10.25 dollar registration decal fee and an 18 dollar processing fee, with the decal renewed every three years at 10.25 plus 9 dollars processing. The state defines an all-terrain vehicle as used exclusively off-highway with an unladen dry weight of 1,500 pounds or less, and a utility or recreational off-highway vehicle as 50 to 80 inches wide at 3,500 pounds or less. A full-size plated truck is none of the three. 31

Missouri gets 8 to 24 inches of snow, and 100,270 tons of salt

The Department of Transportation puts average annual snowfall at 8 to 24 inches, heaviest in the northern half, and warns that freezing rain and ice affect travel as much as snow does. It spreads a five-year average of 100,270 tons of salt a winter. For a vehicle that lives here, corrosion is the winter problem rather than traction. 33

Never drive around a barrier on a flooded road

The state’s flood guidance is short and absolute: never attempt to walk or drive through water-covered or flooded roadways, two feet of water can carry away most automobiles, road beds may be washed out under flood water, and never drive around barriers warning that a road is flooded. Missouri ranked fourth in the country for flood losses between 1955 and 1997, which is the context for how seriously the barriers are meant. 34

Twelve inches of moving water moves a car

The Weather Service puts the threshold at twelve inches of rushing water to carry away most cars and two feet to carry away an SUV or a truck, and explains where the warning signs go: a road that dips to the level of a stream channel, or a bridge or culvert that cannot pass high flows. Low-water crossings on Ozark county roads are exactly that shape. 35

The ground is hollow: 7,500 caves and 16,000 sinkholes

Missouri has more than 7,500 caves, more than 16,000 known sinkholes and more than 4,400 springs. That karst is why the rivers run clear, why a rainstorm forty miles away can raise a ford, and why the Mark Twain National Forest closed every cave and mine on its land by order through 2031. 38

57 state parks, and they close at sunset

Missouri State Parks runs 57 parks and 36 historic sites. They are generally open from sunrise to sunset for anyone not camping or staying in park lodging, and camping is limited to 15 days in any 30 consecutive days at one park or site. That sunset rule is the one that catches people planning to arrive late and sleep in the vehicle. 39

The park rules are published as law, not as guidance

Missouri State Parks publishes its laws and regulations as a single body covering hours, camping, vehicles and conduct across the system. Read them once rather than per park: the differences between individual parks are mostly facilities and season, and the rules themselves are statewide. 40

Thirteen Corps projects hold most of the big water

The Corps of Engineers lists thirteen projects in Missouri: Blue Springs, Clearwater, Harry S. Truman, Illinois River-Riverlands, Long Branch, Longview, Mark Twain Lake, Upper Mississippi River, Pomme de Terre, Smithville, Stockton, Table Rock and Wappapello. Our build of the federal recreation database finds 46 of the state’s 66 drivable federal campgrounds on Corps ground, which is where most of the camping actually is. 45

Stockton is 298 miles of shoreline

Stockton Lake carries over 298 miles of shoreline, twelve parks and 24,700 acres of water. Shoreline mileage is the number that matters on a Corps lake: it is what decides how many separate places you can reach a bank from, and how far apart they are by road. 46

Wappapello is a 45,000-acre project from 1941

Wappapello Lake is a 45,000-acre project on the St. Francis River in southeast Missouri, completed in 1941 and averaging a million visitors a year. It is the closest big Corps water to the Ozark riverways and a reasonable base for the eastern end of the forest. 47

Table Rock has thirteen modern campgrounds

Thirteen modern campgrounds sit next to Table Rock Lake, which is the densest concentration of developed camping in this guide. Modern in Corps usage means hookups and facilities, so it is the answer for a rig that needs them rather than for a night on gravel. 48

Mark Twain Lake is 18,600 acres of water

The lake behind Clarence Cannon Dam covers 18,600 acres in the northeast of the state, where public land is otherwise thin on the ground. It is the practical answer to where to sleep between the Mississippi and the middle of Missouri. 49

Six million people, and almost none of them where you are going

The 2020 census counted 6,154,913 residents in Missouri, most of them in and around two cities at opposite corners of the state. The Ozark counties this guide spends its time in are the emptiest part of it, which is why the fuel stops are further apart than the map suggests and why a county road can be the only road. 5

Fourteen days, and then off the whole forest

The Mark Twain National Forest’s stay limit is forest-wide rather than per site. Forest Order 09-05-20-01 prohibits camping in excess of 14 days in any 30-day period and states that once the 14 days are reached, no camping is allowed anywhere on the forest until the 30-day period ends, with the camp and its equipment removed. The same order caps a single developed campsite at eight people and two motor vehicles, and requires a working spark arrester on any combustion engine. 18

Three agencies, three different stay limits

Ozark National Scenic Riverways allows 14 days in a 30-day period in the same campground, and says all camping equipment including vehicles must be off the site at the end. The Department of Conservation allows 14 consecutive days in any 30-day period and caps the year at 30 camping days across all department lands. Missouri State Parks allows any 15 days within a 30-consecutive-day period at any one park or historic site. Count from the day you arrive, and count separately for each agency. 26

An ATV or UTV needs a county permit, and a plated truck does not

Missouri keeps off-highway vehicles off state highways. Counties and cities may issue special permits for ATVs and UTVs on their own roads for a fee of fifteen dollars, and the Forest Service says you may ride Forest Service roads only in counties that issue them, because not every county does. An ATV must also be registered with the Department of Revenue: $8.50 title, $10.25 decal and $18 processing, with the decal renewed every three years. Out-of-state machines are exempt until they have been in Missouri more than thirty days. 28

Fifty inches wide, and no wider

Both designated off-highway trail systems on the Mark Twain National Forest are closed to vehicles over 50 inches wide, and at Sutton Bluff the Forest Service says the bridges cannot carry anything wider. Finger Lakes State Park sets its limit at 64 inches and bans automobiles, pickup trucks, jeeps and dune buggies from leaving the park roadways. St. Joe State Park is the exception that takes four-wheel vehicles, inside a signed boundary. Everywhere else on public land in Missouri, a full-size four-wheel drive belongs on a road. 9

Vehicles stay out of the water, and off the grass

State law allows an off-road vehicle into a stream or river only to ford it at a crossing that is customary or part of the highway system. The Park Service bars vehicles from gravel bars, beaches and the rivers except at approved crossings, and allows gravel-bar camping only to people who float in, for five days at a site, telling anyone camping from a vehicle to use a campground instead. On Department of Conservation areas the Wildlife Code restricts vehicle use to graveled and paved roads and established parking areas unless posted otherwise. 25

Every cave on the national forest is closed

Forest Order 09-05-00-26-04 prohibits entering any cave or mine on National Forest System land inside the Mark Twain National Forest, to protect bats from white-nose syndrome, and runs through August 2031. Missouri has approximately 7,500 recorded caves and calls itself the Cave State, and plenty of them are open to visitors as show caves or in state parks, so the rule is specific: on the national forest, caves and mines are closed. The forest also posts a fire danger status and asks visitors to follow current campfire and brush burning restrictions. 19