Blue Spring Trail

This very short walk takes you from North Fork Campground to the beautiful Blue Spring. The Trail parallels the North Fork White River and travels into the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness. Among the trees, cardinals and other birds sweep from one branch to another. Flowering dogwood and redbud catch sunshine from the gaps between branches and leaves and display brilliant spring colors. Blue Spring on North Fork River is in an oval shape, about a hundred feet in diameter. It averages 7 million gallons per day of cold, clear blue water. The pool is colorful and the setting dramatic - on three sides, the stone wall made of cherty Gasconade dolomite surrounds the spring and represents the karst topography of the Ozarks.

The trail starts in a wooded area at the end of the paved road. The stone steps, wooden bridges and guardrails are well designed to assist the hikers to walk through the uneven terrain. Wild rye grows on thin soil between the rocks. You will find a variety of oaks, maples, and shortleaf pine tree species. Along the damp footpath, you can find blackberry and abortive buttercup, wild hydrangea, White Mountain mint and white avens and wild sage in the understory. On the riverfront, huge sycamores form a canopy. Stone steps lead visitors to the top of the rock formation.