Type of Use: Foot
Length/Rating: 0.7-Mile Loop/More Difficult
Other Recreation Activities: Trout-fishing (can only keep 18 inches or more), canoeing, birdwatching, sightseeing, photography, picnicking, camping, mushroom/berry picking, caving.
Nearby Facilities: The trail is a part of Mill Creek Recreation Area, which also features the Kaintuck Horse Trail. The area has a campground with 6 campsites.
Also nearby: Big Piney River Accesses, Spring Creek Trout Area, Lane Spring Recreation Area, Lake of the Ozarks State Park, Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Bennett Spring State Park.
Bright yellow goldfinches fly up and down on the lawn and into the woods. Wild rainbow trout swim in the translucent water that flows over the brownish streambed; sometimes they look stationary against the current, only their tails swaying. The accelerating drumbeats heard on the forested hillside (where the trail is) could be a ruffed grouse. Mill Creek Recreation Area is located in a hollow bottom, adjacent to some farms. There is a campground and a picnic area; the two are separated by the a cool clear stream.
Near the artesian well, Mill Creek Cave Trail starts uphill. Its entrance is decorated by robin's plantain, wild geranium, and phlox, all quivering in an array of purple and blue. Alongside, the white-pink spring beauty also shows off its charms. Sometimes you can find a horsemint, or perhaps a sweet cicely. There is no limit to the display of yellow—buttercup, lousewort, golden alexander, hawkweed, and black mustard (which is not native to the area).
The Cave Trail is short but moderately rugged. In addition to the steepness in some places, rocks and roots of large trees jut into the pathway. It winds through a white and black oak forest; red oak, maple, eastern red cedar, and elm also grow on the rocky soil. Under these trees, you can expect redbud and flowering dogwood. Ferns are widespread, and wild grapes climb giant trunks of various trees. Yellow, black and gray butterflies play on the leaves and flowers.
The highlight of the half-hour hike is Mill Creek Cave. It has a small entrance with low overhead; water drips to the ground from its craggy ceiling. Outside, visitors can sit down on a bench for a timely rest. After the cave the trail is quite smooth. It exits the woods at the County Road not far from the campground.
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